I Believe in License Plates

The AP today is reporting that a Florida group called Faith In Teaching Inc. is pushing for a specialty plate depicting a cross and a stained glass window with the legend “I Believe.” (See Above).

There seems to be a bit of a hubbub over this, as might be expected. The ACLU, among others, see it as a violation of the separation of church and state, an endorsement of Christianity by a constitutionally secular government. I, for one, am vehemently opposed to “In God We Trust” on our legal tender, as well as “Under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance--but I am not opposed to this license plate, necessarily. First of all, the plates would be paid for by the people paying the extra fee to use them, not with tax dollars. Secondly, the phrase “I Believe” is a personal statement, clearly reflecting the views of the owner of the vehicle and no one else. Lastly, I don’t feel that it can be construed as the state endorsing Christianity anymore than the state endorses large mouth bass, Nascar, soccer, John Lennon or any one of the many sports teams in Florida.

Where I do have a problem, however, is that the bill that would approve this plate would also approve one bearing the legend “In God We Trust.” Here, I have o problem with “In,” “God” or “Trust.” I have a problem with “We.” “We” clearly indicates more than an individual. It could just mean the people in the car. It could, however, also mean “we, the people of Florida.” Individual expression of religion on a license plate is fine with me, “we” gets into the gray area wherein it can be construed that the state is endorsing a religion.

Furthermore, the State Representative who is sponsoring the plate, Rep. Edward Bullard, states that he would oppose an Atheist equivalent, with a slogan like “I Don’t Believe.”

Bullard, an Episcopalian Democrat of Florida’s 118th District, says that people who "believe in their college or university" or "believe in their football team" already have license plates they can buy. The new design is a chance for others to put a tag on their cars with "something they believe in." Yet, apparently, Atheists are not counted as a group whose beliefs are as important as your average Dolphins fan. I find it troubling that an Atheist such as myself, who is vociferously opposed to any breach of the government’s secularism, can be willing to accept this license plate, while a man who took an oath to uphold the constitution and its secular nature is not capable of reciprocating in kind.

I have the number to Rep. Bullard’s Tallahassee office and will be giving him a call tomorrow to discuss this, if I can get through to him personally.