“In Great Falls, we had a Wiccan witch, a Wiccan high priestess, who brought a lawsuit…the ACLU brought a lawsuit for her because they were opening the meeting at Great Falls – the Town Council – with a prayer, which typically included Jesus, a prayer to Jesus. And they said that was unconstitutional,” McMaster says in the video. “So, we got involved in the case. And we told them that we would fight for them,” says McMaster. “As I have said, under the Constitution, you are allowed to pray the way you want to pray. If you want to pray to Jesus, which of course many people do, then that’s the way that you ought to be allowed to pray.”
McMaster then offers to defend anyone in the state who is “on the receiving end on an ACLU lawsuit”. That this invoking of uppity Wiccans to win votes is tied to the recent “I Believe” ruling is pretty apparent. McMaster was reportedly “utterly disappointed” at the ruling, and was well-known to be an ardent supporter of the license plates, attending pro-plate rallies that featured a greatest-hits reel from Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ”. But for all his bleating on the subject, there is little, legally, he can do at the moment. His current role as Attorney General prevents him from appealing the case, so no doubt his message that he’ll “support” and “defend” anyone in a lawsuit most likely means that he’s looking for someone to get litigious regarding the plates, or public sectarian prayer, so he can get in their corner (and win votes).
What’s troubling is that we don’t know what this will do to Darla Wynne, or other Pagans living in South Carolina. If “Wiccan witches” are being lumped in with the ACLU (one of the great Satans of conservative Christianity), how long will it be before people start blaming us for the perceived slights against their “religious freedom”? Is McMaster invoking something he can’t ultimately control, something that may end up harming the lives of innocent Pagans, just to win an election? I’d hate to think that such a man may soon be governing the entire state, a state that includes many modern Pagans (and several other religious minorities) who are just as concerned about their own religious freedom and safety as any Christian.
“In finding the sectarian plate unconstitutional, Judge Currie held, “Such a law amounts to state endorsement not only of religion in general, but of a specific sect in particular.” The judge noted that legislators and other state officials have unnecessarily drawn the state into an expensive lawsuit.”
I don’t see why non-Christians would have a problem with this.
This case had been a joint effort of local clergy and Americans United who felt the plate amounted to a state-sponsored endorsement of Christianity. This entire process has also been haunted by the Pagans in South Carolina and their own quest for equal treatment under the law. From the local politicians pushing the plates under the assumption that “any” religion could have their own tags, just so long as those tags weren’t from a Pagan faith, to the fact that the judge on this case also ruled in favor of Wiccan Darla Kaye Wynne during the Great Falls invocation saga. Our presence played a small part in reminding politicians, judges, lawyers, and journalists that minority religions exist everywhere, even in the “Christian” South. That a Christian cross emblazoned on these plates sent a message of exclusion, not inclusion.
Of course the saga of Christian license plates is hardly over, the state of South Carolina could try to appeal the decision, and other states, most notably Florida, are engaging in the same shenanigans. But at least a message was sent today that America is not merely a “Christian” nation, but a nation of many religions, or of no religion at all, and you can’t raise one up in the government without pushing the others down in some fashion.
As an addendum of sorts to my previous post, I thought I’d envision what a Pagan-themed Florida license plate would look like. Here’s what I came up with…
Tasteful isn’t it? Now, obviously this would never get Sen. Larcenia Bullard’s vote since it’s a figure with “horns on each side”, but a guy can dream can’t he? I challenge my readers to come up with their own Pagan license plates, and maybe the next time this issue comes up in Florida or South Carolina (or any state) we can send them in and demand that our plates come next!
“If you want Jesus on your license plate, the Florida Senate is looking out for you. Because why worry about a budget impasse or property insurance when you can spend more than an hour talking about Jesus, the devil and license plates? Religious specialty plates offered by Sen. Ronda Storms, R-Valrico, and Sen. Gary Siplin, D-Orlando, made it onto a bill Friday even though many members had not seen images of those plates and none was produced for the debate.”
But those options would come too late for Friday’s debate in the Senate, where Sen. Larcenia Bullard, D-Miami, invoked the devil to make her point: “What if someone comes next year and decides to vote on something that has the devil on it, and horns, horns on each side. I know that people are called the devil, but if the symbol of a devil is on it, I would not vote for that.”
Luckily for people who like their spiritual guides to have “horns on each side”, the ACLU and ADL mobilized after the news broke and managed to get a similar-worded proposal removed from House legislation (preventing, I assume, the plates from seeing the light of day). Meanwhile, some Florida senators are trying to solve the issue by pushing for the removal of all specialty plates in exchange for specialty stickers that would serve the same charitable purpose. Such compromise measures most likely won’t please co-sponsor Sen. Gary Siplin (Democrat) who compared putting Jesus on the plate with other states putting animals on theirs.
For his part, Siplin said FAMU has a snake on its plate and the University of Miami has “a duck or something on their license plate so I think we should have an opportunity for every citizen around the state to be able to purchase a license plate of their choice.”
Christianity, it’s a lot like a duck, or something. Good to know that lawmakers in Florida are so untroubled by our nation’s current ills that they can spend time trying to blur the line between church and state. Oh, and thanks to Pax for originally tipping me off to this story.
I don’t see why non-Christians would have a problem with this.
“‘The ‘I Believe’ license plate is a clear example of government favoritism toward one religion,’ said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. ‘The court drove home an important point: South Carolina officials have no business meddling in religious matters.’ … Americans United brought the Summers v. Adams legal challenge on behalf of four local clergy the Rev. Dr. Thomas A. Summers, Rabbi Sanford T. Marcus, the Rev. Dr. Robert M. Knight and the Rev. Dr. Neal Jones as well as the Hindu American Foundation and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.”
“In South Carolina, Baptists wanted the tag on cars here and pitched the idea to Republican South Carolina Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer’s chief of staff. State Sen. Yancey McGill, a Kingstree Democrat, got the bill passed in a couple of days without even having a public hearing or debate. “It’s a great idea,” McGill said Tuesday, calling it an opportunity to express beliefs. “People don’t have to buy them. But it affords them that opportunity. I welcome any religion tags.” What about Wicca, commonly referred to as witchcraft? “Well, that’s not what I consider to be a religion,” McGill said.”
“Asked by a reporter if he would support a license plate for Islam, Rep. Bill Sandifer replied, ‘Absolutely and positively no… I would not because of my personal belief, and because I believe that wouldn’t be the wish of the majority of the constituency in this house district.’”
