(Michigan) License plates may honor God, teams

[Bozita]

Source: Detroit Free Press

License plates may honor God, teams
BY DAWSON BELL • FREE PRESS LANSING BUREAU • MAY 21, 2009


If you're a duck hunter who loves the Red Wings and believes in God, this news may make you cheer and drive you nuts at the same time.

The Legislature is halfway down the road to approving specialty license plates to allow Michigan drivers to celebrate, in no particular order, Ducks Unlimited, Detroit's four major sports teams, scouting, the Humane Society, Habitat for Humanity, trust in God and belief.

The last may sound redundant if God gets a plate. But Sen. Roger Kahn, R-Saginaw, said God might be found too explicitly religious by the courts, while "I Believe" is vague enough to pass constitutional muster.

Kahn is the sponsor of the "Believe" and scouting plates. His were among a group of seven specialty-plate bills approved Wednesday by wide margins in the Senate.

Read more: http://www.freep.com/article/20090521/NEWS06/905210684/License+plates+may+honor+God++teams

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The Michigan Senate is run by the GOP.

[rurallib]

1. What about the Traverse City Cherry Pit Spitting Contest?

[MineralMan]

2. Well, then, "I Disbelieve" should be available, too...

Right? No?

[DavidDvorkin]

11. Good point

I hope someone will demand such a plate.

[timtom]

12. Absolutely!

[ComtesseDeSpair]

13. Indeed it should!

[hugo_from_TN]

14. I'm an atheist and I don't care if someone has an "I Believe" plate.

And I certainly don't want an atheist plate. If specialty plates adds a few extra dollars to the state coffers, go for it. Nothing wrong with expressing yourself.

[Blue For You]

3. "God gets a plate, and all I get is this lousy T-shirt" -Zeus

[salguine]

4. I wish I lived in Michigan so I could sue for an Allah plate. And I'm not even Muslim.

[tomm2thumbs]

6. oh you need to send that idea to someone who can - that's brazilliant!

symbols are everything and they need to realize just because they like 'theirs', that another may like 'their own' as well. I personally would like to see 'There Is No God' and see how they like it. It is simply a counter statement to theirs so no harm, no foul.

[tomm2thumbs]

5. Let's dump the plates altogether and use barcodes to make it easier for police

That slimy slippery slope that these religious fanatics always want to get on only hurts their cause. I think a license plate FRAME will suffice - let's get rid of all picture plates and let folks buy frames that suit their inner needs.

[blue_onyx]

7. Why would anyone...

pay extra money to have a specialty license plate? You almost never see it. I'm glad to know that with our budget deficit, Cobo, and many other issues facing MI that they found time for this issue. Of course this comes from the Senate. So many bills die in the Senate but this gets through. :eyes:

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

15. It's a luxury item. $25.00 per year here in Arkansas.

Some years a go I had a cute one (forget what it was) then I got sticker shock ...still shocked.

[Robb]

8. Yaaaaaay!!

...What? It's not about UFOs? :D

[DeSwiss]

9. Ignorant bastards.

The irony in all of this is that those license plates (no matter whether this ultimately passes or not) will now be affixed to foreign cars. Makes one wonder why the legislature isn't spending its time trying to get their goddamned state out of the shithole instead of dealing out crap like this.

[GillesDeleuze]

10. Habitat for humanity is CHRISTIAN!!!!!!!!

Lets see:

i can either be a dumbass jock or a believer. no third option.

i hate this shit

[notadmblnd]

16. "I Believe" puts me in mind of Peter Pan,

not God.

[donco6]

19. I'm thinking X-Files. n/t

[proteus_lives]

17. Ok, let's do it all.

We should be allowed to put anything on our plates as long it's not profanity. If you allow one thing, you gotta allow everything.

[hatmaker510]

18. This is a blatant violation!

I just found out about these plates and both my husband and I were just appalled! Such a blatant violation of the First Amendment's establishment clause. (Great site that addresses this specifically is: http://www.abpnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3710&Itemid=53). They tried getting the "I believe" ones by in S. Carolina and Florida, without success (at this point).
This is clear government-endorsed religion - where are the plates for non-christian faiths as well as no faith? The government MUST remain neutral. I've notified my Representative as well as the organization that got the plate production in S. Carolina stopped. They are Americans United (for Separation of Church & State). That quote in the article by Senator Kahn in which he said the "trust in god" might be too explicitly religious, but "I believe" might be vague enough to "pass constitutional muster"! That tells me that he KNOWS it's wrong!

[Arugula Latte]

20. Good points, hatmaker. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[47of74]

21. Does that mean license plates in Michigan will now display 0-16 on them?

Just curious?