Here in my home state we are having a time coming up with a new automobile license plate design. A contest to select the new plate design has been a bit controversial. Full details can be found here in a local paper item.
It all boils down to that pesky little "In God We Trust" motto. Some of the designs showed it, others didn't. That may have influenced some of the online voting that was allowed in the selection of the design finalists.
As it turns out, that motto is actually a sticker which is available separately for a dollar. (You can't say we don't know how to use the Almighty to increase income in this state!) So now - just to be fair - Georgia State officials are clarifying that and reopening the voting.
This article pointed out something of which I wasn't aware. Department of Revenue Commissioner Doug MacGinnitie states that Georgia State law requires that license plates display either the county or the "In God We Trust" motto at the bottom.
That's dumb.
While I have absolutely no problem with people expressing their personal belief in God, that slogan seems to be another way of saying that our laws should be based on biblical principles. Come on, we know which God is meant when people promote "In God We Trust."
YOU may believe in the God of the Bible. Some of us do not. So isn't it a bit presumptuous to suggest we as a nation believe in that God?
The fact is that we are a nation of man-made laws. Our laws have changed and slowly evolved throughout the history of our nation and in no sense can be thought of as biblically based.
But this is, after all, the Bible Belt. Feedom of religious thought is not fully embraced here.
8 comments:
I don't like any of the license plates. We've continued to lean too heavily on the peach. Heck, the 1941 license plate had a peach on it, but it was nicer looking. I was perturbed about the "In God We Trust" motto appearing to be on the plates, simply because religion and politics shouldn't be mixed. Still as you say this is the Bible Belt and one can expect it from our now heavily Republican state. By the way, I wonder how many of those folks spewing hatred toward the Anthony woman at midnight this morning claim to be Christians?
It must be all but endlessly annoying to be a freethinker living in the Bible Belt. But if so, what do you find most annoying of all?
@ Georgia Mountain Man - I read she has received death threats as well.
@ Paul - Having constantly to defend my right to think for myself. I don't care what Jesus would do or what the Bible supposedly says about this or that, and it annoys the many sheep.
@Paul-
I know your question wasn't directed at me, but since I also live in the Bible Belt (Oklahoma), I thought I'd chime in my two cents.
What I find most annoying about living in the Bible Belt is the assumption that Christians are morally superior and that all non-Christians (especially atheists and agnostics, but anyone of another religion except perhaps Judaism, although there are very few Jews in Oklahoma) is immoral, unethical, dishonest, and untrustworthy. I actually wrote a post on my blog four months ago which discussed why I believe fundamentalist Christians believe in their own moral superiority.
The worst part is that this judgement is automatically assumed, without ever interacting with the person or persons. I even knew Christians who had never ever interacted with a non-Christian, having been taught as a child that they are dangerous and will attempt to "lead you away from Jesus". This unfortunately led to non-Christians often hiding their own beliefs and sometimes even pretending to be Christian.
When I was in middle school, I had an uncle and aunt who lived only a couple of blocks away from us. One day, shortly after a new family moved into the house next to them, my uncle and I were sitting in his driveway and the family walked out of their house and got into their car. As they pulled out of their driveway, my uncle pointed them out to me and said "They moved in a couple weeks ago. They're Muslims, just like the terrorists who flew the planes into the World Trade Center. We had better locks installed for all the doors last week". I was so disgusted by what he said that I was left speechless.
In high school, I considered myself to be an agnostic (I still do, as a matter of fact), but only my closest friends knew. If word got out that I was not a Christian, I knew that I would lose friends (not my close ones, but friends nonetheless) and that some people would consider me to be a bad person, even if they had known me for years and never thought that before. I even had to hide some of my non-religious beliefs, like my belief in the veracity of evolution and the Big Bang theory.
My senior year, a new girl started at my high school in the class right under me. We had Latin class together and she quickly became friends with me and many of my close friends. Unfortunately, her family was from Pakistan and was Muslim. She received a constant stream of threats and taunts. Her locker was graffitied multiple times. The worst incident by far occurred at lunch one day. She was in line at the cafeteria to pay for her food when a group of three boys cut her in line. When she protested, one of the boys called her a terrorist, while another boy said that she would never be a real American and that the government should just deport her. My best friend and I were eating lunch in the Latin classroom when she ran in crying. I cannot even describe the extreme anger I felt. We took her to the principal's office to report what the boys had done. Their punishment? One hour of detention after school.
I find fundamentalist Christian's assumption of moral superiority and their poor treatment of non-Christians beyond infuriating. Their own Bible tells them that God is love and commands them to love both their neighbors and their enemies. Yet they act as if those commandments only apply to people who look like them and share their beliefs. Everyone else doesn't count. They don't practice what they preach.
Overall, I have very little respect for Christians (or anyone for that matter) who treat people different from them callously solely because those people are different from them. It's not just immoral, it's pathetic.
Sorry for such a long comment. I'm extremely passionate about this issue.
The "Bible Belt"---ick. I wouldn't have lasted 17 years there. Those plates...good grief. So I guess GA must have the lowest unemployment, best educated, wealthiest citizens in the U.S.--- what with God caring for y'all. Hang that confederate flag high and keep hopin' the good old days will return, eh? Pathetic.
@ Doug and Sammy: Thank you for your responses. Like everyone, I've heard a lot about the Bible Belt, but a lot of what I hear is kind of "cleaned up" -- or muted like Muzak.
There's a shock -- mild, but still a shock -- in hearing what it's really like to be a freethinker on that turf.
And thanks for the long post, Sammy. I appreciate the time it took.
The weird thing is, the town I live in -- Colorado Springs -- has been a Mecca for fundies ever since James Dobson moved here. And though you can see it coming, it hasn't yet gotten as bad as what you describe. At least not in the old section of town, where I live.
@ Diane - You betcha the stars and bars are sacred here. Jesus would wear them on his robe were he alive today. Just ask any good ol' boy.
But seriously, had I not been brought up in this environement, I've no doubt it would be much harder on me than it is. I understand these folks somewhat. My problem is that so many don't have the gumption to move beyond the past. They try to just shut out anything that contradicts what they've been taught from childhood.
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