I just saw this story, via DemConWatch of a court case in South Carolina in the USA, whose car drivers are “the first in the nation to be offered license plates that carry the phrase “I Believe” and a Christian cross over a stained-glass window”.
Design for a proposed license plate that Florida rejected in April. The South Carolina law is for a similar plate
The bill authorizing the plate passed the State House and Senate unanimously. (my emphasis)
I thought it was bit dodgy a few years ago when the Queensland government decided to put “the Smart State” on our licence plates, because it was a broader government generated marketing slogan, but this is something else.
I’m all for freedom of (and from) religious belief, but this is ridiculous, especially for a nation which technically has a much more specific separation of church and state than ours.
US Distrcit Court Judge, Cameron McGowan Currie, has agreed to hear a lawsuit filed on behalf of “two Christian pastors, a humanist pastor and a rabbi in South Carolina, along with the Hindu American Foundation” and issued an injunction so that the state cannot take any more orders for the licence plates while the case is heard.
The lawsuit asks the judge to stop the state from making the plates and rule that the law allowing them violates the First Amendment. I suppose this sort of case could be used as just one more part of the extremist scare campaigns we will be subjected to against an Australian Bill of Rights, by saying it’s an example of the courts being used to repress religious freedom. It is nothing of the sort of course, and would be irrelevant in any case, as any Australian Bill of Rights will not be part of our Constitution and thus will always be subject to Parliamentary amendment.
Of course, if a Parliament adopts this sort of law unanimously, just so they can promote one religion, there’s a fair chance they feel they are acting in accordance with the views of a sizeable majority of their consitutents. And if we had a Parliament full of people like the current federal member for Dawson, who knows what laws would be passed. But human rights laws, like any law, should apply to (and for) everybody, not just the majority.
2 Comments
Bit tricky this one. I like your term “freedom from religious belief” that made me LOL. Now that one is a plate I might be interested in. I am not clear on your point (or the Florida plaintiff). Is it the content of the plate or the fact that it is produced by the state? Both interesting. I see these in a similar light to bumper stickers. “Honk if your Holy” or “Forbidden fruits make many jams” and yes there are Islamic equivalents available in the USA. Since governments seem to be OK with commercialisation of registration plates to raise cash I don’t see too much problem as long as we all get a share. It is all advertising. What about the atheist campaign for bus advertising that was blocked recently in Adelaide?(http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/11/26/2430714.htm) It seems that freedom is a one-way street with Christendom. Of course we have all sorts of plates on sale here in QLD. (www.ppq.com.au) Choose from; Horoscope, Looney tunes (this one for government vehicles?), Bart Simpson. But what about this for lack of religious freedom;- I can get Brisbane Lions, Broncos, Gold Coast Titans and Cowboys plates but if I want Collingwood I have to move to Victoria! Will I have to settle for the more ecumenical “Soccer- the world game”. No thanks, “I’d rather be sailing”
Just to separate the issues, I am sure this Bill of Rights debate is set to gather some speed but I need to explore it more. So Andrew, what do you see as the advantages over whatever system we have at the moment? What are the shortfalls at present? Indeed what do we have at present? I would like to see a dedicated post to this one and some practical examples. Likewise I would like to know why some are so opposed to it. I am in neutral at the moment and in common with many Australians I am under the impression that we already had some rights - even if we don’t know what they are.