Jesse at Pandagon brought to my attention this Tennessean story on a woman’s crusade to have a “Tennessee for the Ten Commandments” license plate:
Griffin, of Dayton, Tenn., has been crisscrossing the state for the past six years, urging county commissions to support the Ten Commandments. She’s now going to head up an effort to create a specialty license plate proclaiming ”Tennessee for the Ten Commandments.”
”I’d like to get it done immediately, if not sooner,” Griffin said. ”The Lord has sent me to do it, and I don’t want to make any money off it. I’m doing it for the pure love of God and country.”
I thought that maybe getting the legislature out of the license plate approval process might be a tolerable compromise to the license plate controversies, but apparently not. It will only be a matter of time before people are lining up for “God is love” and Trust Jesus” plates.
Putting aside the clear constitutional problems here, where’s this woman coming from? Are the Ten Commandments up for re-election and need our state’s support? I’m often amused when people claim God is telling them to do stuff. We’ve got hundreds of people being blown up in the world these days, and God is orchestrating license plate campaigns? His law has been out for thousands of years, is in millions of Bibles, and He’s needing this shore up support?
Why doesn’t this women simply post the commandments on her car? Or better yet spend her time talking to people about the meaning and the importance of the commandments. That’s what will change people, not a license plate slogan or meaningless state symbolism:
“This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the LORD.
“I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.”
Jeremiah 31:33
God wants His law on our hearts, not our license plates.