If you allow "In God We Trust" on a license plate, then you really have to let an atheist put a "No GODS" license plate on his car. Just seems like the fair thing to do in a society that guarantees our freedom to practice the religion of our choice whether that means acknowledging God or rejecting him.
Hemant Mehta says that the plate was rejected because it was offensive. Actually, I don't think the license plate is offensive, I just think it's part of a sentence that I can finish myself, "No GODS but God" :-) I wouldn't mind seeing that plate because it's a reminder that I worship the Almighty God.
But in Louisiana they are a lot more tolerant. They approved an atheist's "GODLESS" license plate after rejecting it.
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I'm not sure our official motto ought to be on a license plate either, for a different reason.
Moonshadow, I'm not sure if your question was rhetorical, or what you mean by a genuine atheist.
I think we've been here before, in saying that a genuine atheist - one who is sure there is no God - would not even think to put this on a license plate.
I would disagree that apathetic atheists aren't real atheists. If you want to say the anti-theists are misnamed, that's fine. But I think we all appreciate people who are "themselves" and not put-on - the anti-theists come across as the phonies, imo.
Whoever rendered the decision saw it for what it was and made the proper choice.
But I'm not offended ... that's what they want so they can cry "foul." michele is being too accommodating ... but I'm not surprised, she's simply too nice ...
peace.
they need to check and see if the in god we trust was paid for by public money. if it was, then no gods as just as much right to be there as a car plate. This is a wonderful example of how some want beliefs promoted but others denied. I hope they take it to court. I'm tired of specific Christian sects promoting their beliefs using public money and denying others. it's all or nothing.
Moonshadow, I don't think you and I had this discussion before. But given all the atheist advertising lately, I'm sure you covered this before.
So, Moonshadow, atheists, a group you are not a member of, are to have both their membership and identity defined by both you and the State Government. Government officials are to issue custom plates based on their assessment of the mindset of the party involved and if they determine if that person is a member of that group?
So, will this apply to everyone, to everyone but Christians, or just atheists?
The next time someone wants an 'In God We Trust' plate, will an official be able to make a personal determination 'That person only wants the plate to upset another group and they aren't a 'real' Christian, because real Christians don't assume that God only blesses one particular country, and might not always be blessing America, for that matter'
Myself, that's not a role I care to assign, or a power I wish to give to a bureaucratic functionary, but other's mileage may vary.
In other words, it isn't any of their business why a person wants a plate. It isn't any of their business if a person is a particular faith, philosophy or of none. If they're not going to administer a religious test in order to grant the religious plates, it isn't their job to do so for non-religious ones. Either the plate, in and of itself, is considered acceptable or it is not.
Are you saying that, in and of itself, someone saying 'There is no God', if they were walking down the street, is so offensive you would want to take away their right to say it? If not, then why their right to display it on, of all things, a license plate?
Oh, and by the way, the only definition of 'atheist' is 'not a theist', period. A theist is someone who believes in a god. An atheist is not a person who believes in a god. It doesn't have a thing to do with how they deal with, or what they do, or don't do, based on that.
An atheist is entirely capable of making a statement, verbal or written, about their position.
I don't believe in unicorns, but if I lived in a world where there were people who did, who made assesements about my moral capabilities based on the fact that I did not, I'd care a lot more about the whole unicorn issue than I do currently.
I don't do so personally, but I'm certainly not going to kick people out of being 'atheists' for what they put on their license plate.
IOW, we ask again, "Why does an atheist seek to put this on his car?" Just to be offensive. There's no other reason. Ask him. A genuine atheist wouldn't care.
Presumably you also think that the folks who select Indiana's "In God we Trust" plate or put Jesus fish or bumper stickers that warn that the driver might just disappear are also being intentionally offensive.
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