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Pass on the Plate
By John W. Kennedy | June 24, 2008
Unsurprisingly, Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed suit last week against South Carolina over the state’s new plan to issue “I Believe” specialty license plates to Christians willing to shell out the extra bucks.
The suit was filed only nine days after the enactment of a law allowing the “I Believe” plates, which would include an image of a cross and a stained-glass window background.
AU filed suit on behalf of two mainline Protestant ministers, a rabbi, a humanist and a Hindi organization. If AU hadn’t filed suit, the American Civil Liberties Union or some other liberal group would have done so.
Inexplicably, lawmakers in the Palmetto State overwhelmingly passed a bill allowing the first such plates in the nation. Now a lengthy battle involving tax dollars likely will ensue. The Christian cause will no doubt lose, because under the Constitution the government cannot show preference toward one religion over others.
Although the words Jesus, Christ or God don’t appear on the plates, Americans United argues the message is clearly an endorsement of the Christian religion.
In this pluralistic society government has no business being a conduit for religious messages of the masses. If the court allows “I Believe” tags, soon we will have demands for “I Don’t Believe” and “Allah is Great.”
If you want to display your faith, the state shouldn’t be a part of the proceedings. It would be better to buy a bumper sticker, although when you forget to use your turning signal, drive too slow or make rude gestures, a slogan proclaiming your Christianity isn’t the best testimony for Christ.
Rather than announcing our beliefs on the back of our vehicles, it might be a better idea to show our faith in more tangible ways. Loving our neighbor who doesn’t believe is a good place to start.
Topics: evangelism |
June 26th, 2008 at 10:24 am
I don’t believe an argument for pluralism should automatically trump a public proclamation of the Christian faith. The framers of the Constitution would not have had a problem with an early state allowing citizens to express their Christian faith or even with underwriting such expression. Consider all the clear endorsements of Christianity in 18th- and 19th-century legal documents, public proclamations and other state-supported activity. Christianity has been the foundation of America’s strength since its beginning, and that strength has only been compromised by repeated legal attacks over the past 60 years. If Christians begin to buy into the pluralistic arguments of atheist organizations, that compromise will only be accelerated. Personally, I cheer on any legislative body with the courage to buck the trend of recent decades and invite a public revival of faith in the only true God.
June 27th, 2008 at 9:28 am
I sincerely doubt that a “public revival of faith” — to use Mr. Harrup’s words — will be accomplished by vehicle license plates. The point made in the last paragraph of the blog is a valid one. We as Christians need to choose our battles carefully, and at this time in the world — when millions are perishing from hunger and pestilence and earthquakes and floods, people are crying out for deliverance from addictions, marriages are broken and children’s lives are being stolen through sex trafficking — the “right” to have a particular license plate is WAY down on my list of things to do for God’s kingdom.