Indiana isn’t the only state that gets goofy with the license plates. Florida is considering one with the phrase “I believe” and pictures of a cross and a stained-glass window. The plate’s proponent says he would oppose a similar plate for atheists stating, “I don’t believe.”
Personally, I’ve had enough of the specialty plates generally, and the constant drum beat of a certain vocal minority of Christians trying to mark their territory by seeking government endorsement of their religion is quite annoying.
Christians should have a 2nd choice of a plate that also states ‘I believe’,then with a outline of the US Constitution imposed over this same cross and stained glass window. This would be a patriotic and religious plate in my estimation. If we’re going to cater to Christians,let’s at least cater to all of us,and put patriotism and religion into the perspective our founding fathers intended.
Seperation of church and state is one of the primary reasons why I don’t have the plate. If it were a specialty plate that I had to pay extra for; maybe. But I just don’t feel comfortable with the way it was presented. I tell my members that when they ask me why I don’t have an “In God We Trust” plate on my cars.
I’m with you, Doug. I think there are way too many specialty plates out there.
Darn, and I was holding out for MassonBlog plates, too. Spoilsport.
Saw the FL plate on-line. Our plates at least are generic enough to cover the Abrahamaic faiths (probably why there hasn’t been much backlash). There’s looks more like a vanity plate for a specific church; as in “I attend Holy Spirit Gospel Church.”
Some peoples’ love of Jesus cannot be adequately conveyed by bumper stickers alone, and they just want to share that good news with the rest of us.
Or love of Purdue, or love of IU, or love of the FoP, etc…
Yes, I know they have to pay extra for those, but why not pay $80 in cash to those places and buy a $5 bumper sticker instead of $50 to the BMV and $30 to the actual place you’re patting your back for supporting?
The environmental plates have secured lots of land for Indiana Wildlife. It’s a way to make a contribution, and show your support for the environment together.
The specialty plates are nothing unusual. All the states do it these days.
I think the fact that Indiana has a different plate every 2 years is weird. My wife has that “prarie plate”, I have “In god we trust”, and now I see everybody with the plate that has Indiana’s United Nations rip-off flag on there.
The other states I’ve lived in have had the same standard plate for literally decades.
Yes, but how much more land could you secure by sending them the full amount instead of giving the BMV a kickback? (I looked it up this time instead of making up figures like I did in my previous post)
It looks to me that you could save 40% more forest by sending them $35 and buying this bumper sticker for $4, and then pay $1 to visit a state park on your bike. Or, if you really are into that cause, you could give them more than $35.
I just don’t get why the BMV is involved in this business. Their job should be to manage the cars, not be a vendor for all of these different causes.
In Illinois these specialty plates were called ‘vanity plates’ when I lived there and they cost big bucks to get. It seems now that some of these plates ( like in God we trust) have no extra charge and I think Indiana and other states are losing out on money they need.
Giving away these plates just seems like bad business,and politicians should be brought to task for that. Each state needs one official plate ..all the rest should cost significantly extra.
Thanks for this. I’ve been covering the Indiana plate issue on my blog, including some direct updates on the case from the ACLU of Indiana.
Chris
Minnesota still has the same plates they had when the Mrs. and I moved there in 1992. And those plates had been around for a while before then. Seems like I remember seeing those plates passing through the state for the first time in 1981.
Certainly if the state is going to provide plates for one viewpoint–“pro-life”, or “our government is sanctioned by the supernatural”–then they should allow those the opposite viewpoint to have a plate also.
Lucky for them, the opposing viewpoints tend to have less of a license plate fetish and don’t clamor much for equal treatment.
I have the environmental plate. The donation was less, but others seeing it may be prompted to get a similar plate. It has a nice eagle on it. Someone should put that eagle on a lapel pin.
The only thing that bothers me about the environmental plate is that part of the sun behind the eagle is missing. The OCD part of me wants to draw it onto the plate.
T-Never noticed that on the environmental plate until you mentioned it. Now that will bother me when I am following cars with that plate!
So explain the license plate rotation to me. Am I correct in saying that they’re in a 2 year rotation?
Why do they change them so frequently?
I could have gotten the prarie plate, but the BMV chick told me that I’d have to come back in a year to get a new plate.
After the awful experience I had at the BMV (having to take the written test was extremely stressful because of horror stories people told me about it), I didn’t want to EVER go back! I chose “in god we trust”. Obviously, I’m a cheap bastard.
The Indiana UN-ish flag plate wasn’t available yet. I actually like that plate better than mine, I would have gotten that one had it been available.
Indiana has always had this cycle of replacing plates-although I think it is a four year rotation. We’ve had some awful plates along the way–remember Wander Indiana? I’m fairly happy with this one. It’s benign. Don’t know why we’ve always replaced plates, but that’s just the way it is in Indiana.
Don’t know why we’ve always replaced plates, but that’s just the way it is in Indiana.
Who says we resist change?!?
Thanks for setting me straight, Rev.
Rev. AJB,
You wrote:
Ten bucks says there’s a boondoggle at the bottom of it.
We should just put a big ear of corn on it and be done with it. Or a clock.
Or– do like Capital One and send your own photo in for your plates. As long as the numbers are standardized and it says Indiana on it, what does the rest of it matter?
I think that Indiana initially changed license plates annually, then later every four years , because of the way Indiana charges vehicle taxes.
Some states roll the taxes into your auto loan, so the license plate could stay with your car as long as you owned it.
Indiana doesn’t, so to at least spread out the tax burden, the taxes were spread out over the life of the ownership of the car.
A-ha! I understand now. The license plate cycle is the unintended consequence of the dreaded personal property tax. And states that had their plates for decades (Illinois, Michigan, New York) don’t have a personal property tax.
I get it now.
My understanding of our license plate cycle is 3M…they make the reflective material on the plates and make a pretty penny off of it. Yes, we used to cycle plates every year; is it now every four? I though three… Regardless, the current iteration is as ugly as our previous ones in my estimation.