Christian legislators lose battle to put In God We Trust on all Tennessee licence plates:

[beam me up scottie]

A TN Bill Putting “In God We Trust” On All New License Plates Has Been Amended To Make It Optional
March 30, 2017
by: Hemant Mehta

After Republicans in Tennessee threatened to put the words “In God We Trust” on every license plate issued by the state, that phrase will now be optional.
The change was made by the bill’s sponsor, State Rep. Bill Sanderson, after Attorney General Herbert Slatery III told legislators that mandating the phrase could be considered unconstitutional.

A Tennessee lawmaker has amended his bill to make the phrase “In God We Trust” optional instead of required on all license plates after an attorney general opinion found the requirement “constitutionally suspect.”

***

It’s the right move, and it’s also the option that should have been offered from the very beginning. There was never any rational, secular reason to force every Tennessean to promote God on their cars, just as it would’ve been unfair to put “In God We Don’t Trust” on all the plates.

Let’s hope this saga is finally over and the legislators have learned their lesson.

Oh, who am I kidding. They’re Republicans from the South. They’ll probably just file the original bill again next year when they think no one’s paying attention.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2017/03/30/a-tn-bill-putting-in-god-we-trust-on-all-new-license-plates-has-been-amended-to-make-it-optional/

It never fails to amaze me how people can be so ignorant about the history of this motto, even some liberals seem to think it's acceptable for a secular nation to keep this silly remnant of the cold war era. And their ignorance isn't the trait that bothers me most about these troglodytes - it's their elitist privilege. The desperate insistence that this is Christian nation and constant attempts to shove this belief down our throats is a form of Christian supremacism.

You have to be a special kind of stupid to want to align yourself with the Christian Identity movement.

[Eliot Rosewater]

1. Each day these idiots have positions in power is sickening. There is no god, there is

however a planet full of idiots.

[Warpy]

2. And if a god exists

She/he/it is absolutely unconcerned with micromanaging the affairs of a bunch of primates on a little planet circling a small star on the outskirts of a so-so galaxy in an immense universe. It's completely impersonal, people, which is why they need to bag to stupid license plates (mine would sport electrical tape the day I got it) and learn to be nicer to each other because that's who we've really got to trust in.

[RKP5637]

3. Humans, are so damn backward! n/t

[beam me up scottie]

5. You'd have to be an idiot to think your deity of choice cares about a stupid motto.

These are the same morons who want to put the ten commandments on government property.

Some folks seem to be naturally drawn to authoritarianism - they need to be told what to think so they seek out this trait in gods and politicians.

Silly humans, myths are for kids.






*Disclaimer: this is the Atheists and Agnostics group where we like to poke fun at religion.

[RKP5637]

4. Even he agrees it's stupid!

[beam me up scottie]

6. Twitler loves that kind of stupid - it's what got him elected.

The majority of atheists and other non-Christians didn't want that thing anywhere near the white house.

How the faithful voted: A preliminary 2016 analysis

The 2016 presidential exit polling reveals little change in the political alignments of U.S. religious groups. Those who supported Republican candidates in recent elections, such as white born-again or evangelical Christians and white Catholics, strongly supported Donald Trump as well. Groups that traditionally backed Democratic candidates, including religious “nones,” Hispanic Catholics and Jews, were firmly in Hillary Clinton’s corner.

***

White Catholics also supported Trump over Clinton by a wide, 23-point margin (60% to 37%), rivaling Romney’s 19-point victory among those in this group. Trump’s strong support among white Catholics propelled him to a 7-point edge among Catholics overall (52% to 45%) despite the fact that Hispanic Catholics backed Clinton over Trump by a 41-point margin (67% to 26%).

Like Hispanic Catholics, religious “nones” and Jews were strong Clinton supporters. Indeed, nearly seven-in-ten religious “nones” voted for Clinton, as did 71% of Jews. Most people who identify with faiths other than Christianity or Judaism also favored Clinton over Trump, 62% to 29%.

Exit polls also follow another pattern from recent elections: Most weekly churchgoers backed Trump over Clinton, 56% to 40%. Those who said they attend religious services more sporadically (i.e., somewhere between a few times a month and a few times a year) were closely divided. And, those who said they don’t attend religious services at all backed Clinton over Trump by a 31-point margin (62% to 31%).

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/11/09/how-the-faithful-voted-a-preliminary-2016-analysis/

[mountain grammy]

7. We saw one the other day, and even my husband who

usually doesn't give a shit, said, what the fuck is that about? It shouldn't be on our money either, or in the pledge of allegiance.

[beam me up scottie]

8. It's a ridiculous motto but I have no problem if it's optional.

What does that even mean, anyway?

In which god do we trust? Thor? Vishnu? The Flying Spaghetti Monster?

Mandatory pledges and mottos that invoke God are just another way of trying to force people to participate in Christian nationalism.

[mountain grammy]

9. The branding of the money took place in the 50's

the addition to the pledge, and national prayer breakfast too. Ike opened the door to the Christian right. First Amendment be damned, we will be christian, by god, with Jim Crow and the Klan, praise the lawd.

Last time religion ruled: the Dark Ages.

[beam me up scottie]

10. Yep - during the height of the Red Scare. They thought atheists were a threat to Christianity:

Putting 'In God We Trust' on our money and courthouses is like villagers putting garlic over their doors and windows - it's just another way for the superstitious to ward off nonexistent monsters.

[rurallib]

11. I don't understand why being optional makes it ok?

it is still a religious motto on a required piece of material from the state.
If that is ok to be put on there optionally, why not anti-religious sayings also? Such as "Prayer doesn't work" or maybe "Prove You God Exists".

Or perhaps as you noted there should be options for those who have other deities such as Allah or Vishnu or the good old FSM. Heck, why not Elvis?

If the state is going to condone a message about religion to be placed on a required state issued license, then they should also be very flexible in what that "optional" motto is.

Better they just drop it and let people be.

[beam me up scottie]

12. It's okay because other vanity options are also available.

I might not pesonally approve of all the options but if someone wants to advertise their ideology on a license plate let them have at it. Just as long as they don't try to force everyone else to display their ignorance. Those of us who live in the bible belt need to pick our battles and while I wish superstition wasn't so pervasive in our society it is what it is.

Would I prefer religious sayings weren't an option at all?

Certainly, but that's not a hill worth dying on today.

[rurallib]

13. I could agree if it is like vanity plates where you can make up your own

but if there is but one approved "optional" motto I don't see where that is much different that the state promoting one particular religious view.

[beam me up scottie]

14. In this context it wouldn't be considered our national motto, just another vanity category.

Offering this as an option isn't a state endorsement any more than plates for sports teams indicate an endorsement of those teams.

There are over 100 different types of plates available in Tennessee and this would just be another.

Like I said, I would prefer it not be an option but I don't think offering this option is a violation of the establishment clause.

[mwooldri]

15. If this is a Christian nation...

... then I want the rest of Christianity along with it.

Like the parts about feeding the hungry, healing the sick, sheltering the homeless...

But legislators want to put Biblically inspired quotes on car number plates.

Give me a Euro license plate any day. Number, and flag of origin and country initials. Yellow on back, white on front.

[beam me up scottie]

16. I prefer European plates as well.

If you want to advertise your opinions on your vehicle that's what bumper stickers and emblems are for.

[FiveGoodMen]

17. That would be something, wouldn't it?

Jesus wouldn't stand a chance among his 'followers'.