Keeping God Off of Georgia License Plates June 25, 2011

Keeping God Off of Georgia License Plates

By Guest Contributor
June 25, 2011

The state of Georgia is holding an online vote to decide its next license plate:

The winning design will be displayed on millions of vehicles in Georgia and wherever Georgia vehicles travel nationwide.

Wouldn’t you know it, a few of the designs happen to mention God…

Thankfully, they’re not all that silly. But just in case they change the order of the plates around, I suggest you go to the site and vote for this one featuring a couple Georgia peaches:

Why that one? As someone on Reddit said, it kinda looks like a horse’s ass 🙂

Voting ends July 8th! There’s no way to get a running count of which plate is in the lead, so you’ll just have to get other people to vote as well.

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  • Some Lady

    Wait… they can MAKE me have “In God We Trust” on my license plate? This will be the official default design?

  • GregFromCos

    You can vote multiple times if you clear your browser history. If you are using chrome or firefox, simply clear your browsing data for the last hour, and it should be enough!

  • Stephan Goodwin

    There is also an online vote trying to add God to Ohio’s voting stickers. Instead of “I voted today, they want “with God all things are possible.” Nice and inclusive, huh?

    Go here and vote for item 3, it is secular and in the lead:

    http://www.sos.state.oh.us/SOS/ElectYourSticker.aspx?page=1634

    Hemant, I would love if you made a specific post on this to draw attention to it. Honestly, I don’t want to get a God sticker when I go vote next time. I don’t want to have to tell some little old lady that the sticker she’s trying to hand me violates the First Amendment and that I can’t accept it.

  • PJB863

    I never understood why we (in the U.S.) have to make political statements with license plates (or tags, if you’re from the South). Get a bumper sticker, if you feel that compelled to make a political statement with your car – which seems pretty assinine if you think about it.

    Assuming each state has 20 specialty plates (and some have as many as 70+), at a minimum that’s 980 different plates. I left Hawaii out of that equation because I don’t think there’s a lot of car traffic from there to the mainland. It gets pretty difficult for law enforcement to keep them all straight!

    I like the model of Europe, and just about everywhere else – no artwork, no frills, just your plate number, for easy identification when you run me over – accidentally or otherwise.

  • Marguerite

    Echoing Some Lady: this is the primary Georgia plate we’re talking about? The default position, so to speak? If so, ugh. I would be annoyed to be forced to buy a vanity plate in order to avoid having that on my car.

    Pity about that first plate– it’s gorgeous. If they’d just take off the God part, I’d vote for it in a heartbeat.

  • So if they end up with the IGWT plates it will be a race in Georgia among the freethinkers to see who will get the best creative counter message on their vehicle. We got IGWT plates here in Arkansas so here’s what I got put on it.

    https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.386569630778.173507.518260778#!/photo.php?fbid=10150223724715779&set=a.386569630778.173507.518260778&type=1&theater

  • Vanessa

    OMG it does look like a horse’s ass, lol

  • I kind of wonder if “In God We Trust” is a placeholder on some of those designs, because usually that’s where they put the county name. Though I suppose it’s possible that if you don’t have the county on your plate, that’s what it will say instead.

    It would be nice to have some clarification as to whether they’ll be retaining the option to have the county of registration in that space instead.

  • Voted (since I live here in the Peach State) ~ I like the one that looks like a color blindness test… 😀

  • Matto the Hun

    *sighs* i hate this damn state

    thanks for the heads up hemant!

  • Peter Mahoney

    Their website says they received hundreds of entries, but they narrowed it down to 8. Interesting that they picked 3 having “In God we trust” on them.

    This shows why “In God we trust” on money, etc., IS a real problem. It becomes pervasive. The delusion spreads.

    Believers in power think NOTHING of forcing other citizens to have license plates endorsing their (believers’) religious ideas (trusting in a god). Crazy. They would balk if we proposed making them have license plates saying “We trust in NO gods” (not that we would).

    This B.S. needs to be nipped every time it appears.

  • Jeff

    Here in GA, specialty plate holders can also buy an “In God We Trust” sticker (at cost: $1) to cover the county part of the tag. There is not an option for those who are not monotheists.

    I don’t think the IGWT on the examples is supposed ot be part of the design, as a previous commenter has mentioned. It’s in the spot where the county goes, so unless they are doing away with that requirement (I haven’t heard anything about that), it’s probably just there because the designer wanted to put something there without specifying a county and potentially losing votes.

    On a side note, the Boy Scouts of America specialty tag already includes an “In God We Trust” printed on it.

  • G Wiz

    Stephan Goodwin said “Hemant, I would love if you made a specific post on this to draw attention to it. Honestly, I don’t want to get a God sticker when I go vote next time. I don’t want to have to tell some little old lady that the sticker she’s trying to hand me violates the First Amendment and that I can’t accept it.”

    – He posted about the Ohio stickers several days ago –


    http://friendlyatheist.com/2011/06/22/voting-against-god-in-ohio/

  • I’m in GA and if we are forced to use these plates, I’ll be putting a clean piece of tape over that – as well as writing more letters to these people who cannot seem to grasp that not everyone believes in this silliness or wants it on their cars. Ridiculous.

  • Alex

    Here’s what happens in Florida when you buy a new tag. You stand in line, with Fox News blaring behind you and the clerk which is wearing a cross and has various Xian items displayed on her desk asks you if you want the in God We Trust tag. The State has just given you a religious test and everyone around you gets to know you turned down GOD!

  • Brandy

    I also live in Georgia and just voted for one of the non-in god we trust plates but it’s a pity that the nicest plates have that ridiculous slogan on them. AARGH! I hate this state sometimes. It is always trying it’s best to go backwards instead of forwards. For those that don’t know, Sunday alcohol sales are still prohibited (except in some restuarants in some counties) in Georgia. I don’t even drink but still it infuriates me.

  • L.Long

    I think is may be appropriate.
    They sure don’t trust anyone else!
    Try getting the car registered or get a drivers license on your word! Of course they would trust g0d, everyone else has to prove everything 3 different ways and pay cash.

  • Ross Cunningham

    Why does the top one have IGWT on it? It’s amazing otherwise, and I would love to have it on my car. Is it at all possible to get that one without IGWT?

  • Chakolate

    In firefox it’s not your browser history you have to clear, it’s your cookies. Deleting the last hour’s cookies lets you vote again.

  • smackdye

    im pretty sure the county name will cover the in god we trust right?

  • Nick

    I voted. If they force me to have IGWT on there, I’ll pay extra and get my plate to say “IDENYGOD”

  • Dmitri

    Wow… that one really does look like a horse’s ass!

    I’m another Georgian, so I’ll definitely be voting on this in a few minutes.

    As for whether the motto is actually part of the plate… It could be. We have specialty plates available for teachers that say “EDUCATOR” where the county should be.

  • Stephan Goodwin

    I found the old post about the Ohio stickers, thanks Hemant even though I apparently missed it back then. This is probably what saved it from going to the God sticker.

  • longstreet63

    Indiana already has these things.
    They are kind of useful, in that any car wearing one can be presumed to be driven by an idiot. Their driving behavior tends to bear this out. If somebody cuts you off, check the plates. Practically guaranteed.

    Let’s face it, the entire prupose of these plates is to say ‘fuck you’ to non-christians. Since the Supreme Court ruled the phrase legal, they’ve been pushing them. Not because people suddenly feel an attachment to the national motto, but because it’s something Christianists can get away with to have the state declare ‘other people’ to be less than they.

  • DaveS

    Seriously? There is NO way I’ll be driving around with IGWT on my plates. (yea – I also have the misfortune of living in the Peach State) Gonna need a sticker to change god to FSM if one of these biblethumper plates gets voted in! ugh.

  • ATL-Apostate

    I’m all over this. Thanks for the link!!

  • Rabid

    Designs? For car license plates? They’re there to be legible, not decorative.

    What in the seven netherhells is wrong with you, America? Half the time I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. :\

    Also, they’re all ugly anyway.

  • Justin

    Unfortunately, there appears to be no out whatsoever for those who do not believe in peaches.

  • tinstag

    If you use the incognito browser function in Chrome, you can vote multiple times, like me 🙂

  • Andrew

    As a GA resident, I’d like to weigh in on the tag designs.

    Recently, I’ve noticed that drivers were allowed to have a ‘In God we Trust’ sticker instead of one that states the county you reside in.

    With these designs, the ‘In God We Trust’ is in the place where the county is supposed to be stated. It’s my guess that the sticker will still be optional.

    Details about the matter:
    patch.com

  • grover syck

    The first 3 are unconstututional.
    Remove ingodwetrust, and they would be good. I personally like the fourth one with the peach.

  • Brandy

    Entirely off-topic but where are all my fellow atheists in Georgia? I live in the northwest side and have yet to meet any atheists in my area (aside from my husband). It is lonely over here and I’m sorry for changing the subject.

  • Ouigui

    Another Georgian (Athens) here, who’s pleasantly surprised to see all the fellow atheist commenters.

  • Jay

    It’s on your money…so you not want money either?

  • Girlie

    @Brandy & OuiGui – It appears the answer to Brandy’s question is: scattered all over the state. I’m down here in the bottom right corner, and let me tell you, it’s a lonely place for those of us who don’t believe in ghosts.

  • Brandy

    Girlie, Tell me about it! That’s why I keep trying so hard to meet others in my area. I know there has to be some but it’s hard to go up to everyone and say “Hi! I’m an atheist. Are you one also?” Most people around here would be very pissed. LOL Andrew, I sincerely hope that the pics are showing the optional sticker on the plates instead of making it mandatory but the way these are displayed is confusing.

  • Sara

    @Brandy — Check out the Chattanooga Freethought Association!! Not sure if there’s a website, but they’re on Facebook.

  • Alex

    Goddammit, they are wasting their time and our money on re-designing our perfectly good license plates again. What’s wrong with the old design?! More colors != better design.

    And by the way, there are already plates with the stupid IGWT meme. Whatever. Makes it easier to watch out for dicks on the road.

  • Chris

    We’ve had the IGWT plates here in Indiana for years…some of my favorite combinations include the IGWT plate with an Obama bumper sticker, the ever common “My Man Mitch” bumper sticker, and the Kingsway Baptist logo that belongs to the local megachurch. We also have a “Choose Life” license plate as well…

  • Brandy

    Thank you Sara!

  • ThreeT

    Never fear…the phrase will be a sticker, and they’re charging extra for it!

    New GA Plates Update

  • addie

    You really need to do your research before you post false articles like this. The “In God We Trust ” is an optional sticker than can be purchased at an additional cost and added to the tag, no matter which one wins.

  • pir8capn

    It’s not a “false article.” The state failed to make it clear that the phrase would be available on a sticker and displayed some designs with the phrase and some without. The state has now clarified that some graphics were intended as a representation of a plate with the sticker attached. Unfortunately it wasn’t posted anywhere on the site that this was the case so some plates appear to have “In God We Trust” as part of the original design.

    What makes me sad is that as a result, the artists didn’t get a fair shake in the voting process since the “In God We Trust” logo was displayed on some and not others – meaning that some got votes solely because of the phrase (or lack of one) on the picture, judged by poltics and not on the basis of the artwork.

  • pir8capn

    Heh. Replying to myself. FWIW, an article on the sticker kerfluffle and the state’s clarification on the matter can be found on the Atlanta Business Journal’s site.

    http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/morning_call/2011/06/ga-car-tag-that-includes-in-god-we.html