Crucifixes on License Plates in South Carolina ???

Thanks to SCantiGOP for this tip.

Edit for more info:

"I wonder: Would South Carolina allow atheists to buy license plates that say, "I Don't Believe"?

http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/05/christian-license-plate-killed.html

crucifixes feature christ on the cross. These are just crosses. SC is full of PROTESTANT evangelical and mainline christians. They don't GO for the crucifix because their belief is that catholics leave christ on the cross, while they believe the cross is empty because he died and rose again. This is a big deal to that type of chrisitan. I was one at one point.

I was aware of that, but in my "cut and paste" zeal I forgot to mention it.

The headline on the Fox news story was: "South Carolina Senate Passes Bill to Provide Crucifixes on License Plates"

I apologize for not correcting the Fox error.

Maybe not those exact words, but this plate is available. It's the one we have on our vehicle.

And I am glad you have that option.

But remember, preference for one religion is discrimination against all others. This is not just Christianity vs. Atheism. If you are going to open the door to one religious license plate, you need to have one for every religion and one specifically for no religion.

to have their symbol on a license plate, they'd get it. Equal opportunity and process is that's required: Offering it to them would be inappropriate.

It stikes me that a private opposition is being expressed, however, not an equipollent one. At least by default. That is, you can express a religious affiliation or not express one; I'm not sure the distinction is between expressing a religious affiliation and expressing the lack of one. That's how it works for the other kinds of license plate--having a pro-environment license plate doesn't mean there should be an anti-environmental one.

On the other hand, I assume if enough anti-green people wanted a license plate the system could accommodate them. Same for atheists.

Religion is mentioned in the first clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution. Religious views are protected by that constitution, environmental views are not.

I'm an atheist, but if I were a gung-ho Christian, I'd demand a tau on my plate. I'd realize there would have been no way Jesus could have carried a heavy t-cross on his back to Calvary. He probably could have carried the top bar of a tau - a T-shaped cross - though. A tau would have been handier for his executioners too, because all they'd have had to do once he arrived at the crucifixion site would be to lift the center-slotted top bar of the tau, with him on it, onto the post - the vertical part of the tau - that would have already been fixed in the ground.

I wasn't a firm believer in that aspect. Greek word is "stauros", meaning stake, etc., etc., as you say. I considered it likely, but not proven.

In most cases the convict carried the crossbeam. He'd be attached to it, and then it would be plopped and affixed on the top of the stake. Voila, T.

But exegetes arguing for the t-shaped cross found examples in which the crosspiece wasn't affixed to the top, but to some point below the top. Everything else would be the same--the prisoner would be affixed to the crosspiece, which would be hoisted and attached to a ledge or projection. Voila, a t.

Probably a T. Almost surely a T. But not necessarily a T. (It wasn't a big deal, my church didn't really bother with crosses.)

Do you support the separation of church and state?

Do you believe that all religions should be treated equally by our government?

There are some believers who don't want Wiccan or Islamic symbols on license plates.

I'm glad you don't share that opinion.

on the back of your car, buy a bumper sticker.

The DMV should be in the business of registering vehicles and handing out driver's licenses. Nothing else.

It needs to be all or nothing. States like doing this because the charge a little extra, more than is needed to cover their costs. It can be a hefty little revenue source.

I wonder if they have to track stats of vehicles defaced by plate type.