“I have no doubt that every new example will succeed, as every past one has done, in showing that religion and government will both exist in greater purity, the less they are mixed together.”
— James Madison, letter to Edward Livingston 1822
With the recent discussions regarding offensive license plates in the public mind, I’d like to point out another transgressor. In plain sight this particular plate is legion and violates not only the DMV standards but is also at odds with the state constitution. I am referring to all plates emblazoned with the phrase “In God We Trust” (IGWT).
Examples of authoritarian regimes intertwined with religion in both Europe and in the New World gave our founders cause to wisely choose another path. They founded this constitutional republic without ties to religion, a bold experiment in governance.
“E Pluribus Unum,” out of many one. A government that derives its authority, not from a divine source, but from the natural rights and consent of the governed.
The separation of church and state as espoused in the First Amendment (and the Virginia Statute For Religious Freedom which informed it) has always been a target of Christian subversion. They have at times succeeded.
We see this, for example, where the motto “E Pluribus Unum” is now superseded by “In God We Trust.” Research into the subject is sufficient to demonstrate that this is a Christian statement of faith imposed on the entire nation through Christian individuals and majorities in public office.
For the time being, at the federal level, the phrase has not been ruled unconstitutional. Ridiculous as it may sound, some claim that the phrase no longer has religious meaning and simply equates to something like "Hurrah, America!"
It is fortunate for us that our Utah Constitution is more explicit regarding the boundaries that separate church and state, and through the language of this detail the phrase can be judged more plainly. As stated in Article I, Section IV of the Utah Constitution, “No public money or property shall be appropriated for or applied to any religious worship, exercise or instruction, or for the support of any ecclesiastical establishment.”
The use of “In God We Trust” on license plates violates this article as it promotes and privileges Christian phraseology and monotheism over every other system of belief as well as non-belief.
Likewise, if DMV standards for personalized plates forbid any phrase that expresses superiority of religion, it must also be concluded that such a phrase is unfit to appear on a single plate, let alone as an option for standard issue.
For those who disagree, the litmus test is simple. Would it be not be an affront to your standing as a citizen, were you in the minority, for another belief system (be it Islam, Judaism or the Satanic Temple) to place its phrase on a license plate to the exclusion of all others including yours? Do you not bristle at the thought?
The simple solution is for the state of Utah to divest this practice, and avoid religious expression altogether. The Utah Legislature should repeal/amend Senate Bill 97, a bill to limit offensive expressions on Utah license plates, to exclude the use of “In God We Trust” on license plates.
Lincoln Pead
Lincoln Pead, Saratoga Springs, has two degrees from Brigham Young University.
