Bishop Fulton Sheen once pointed out that the reasons people give for their opposition to something sometimes don’t match up to why they’re really opposed. He told the story of giving instruction in the Catholic faith to a young woman who became violently upset when he started telling her about confession. She ranted that she would never join the Church because of its position on confession. Sheen looked at her and told her that the violence of her objection in no way correlated to what he had said about confession and asked if she had had an abortion. She hung her head and admitted that she had.
I was reminded of this story when I read about the Supreme Court refusing to hear the case of abortion rights groups petitioning to disallow states from issuing Choose Life license plates. On the face of it, the abortion rights cadre didn’t like the idea that the state legislature decided who would get the money made off the plates. That didn’t make sense, so I looked at the article more closely.
"About a dozen states allow drivers to pay extra for the specialty car tags to show the car owner’s opposition to abortion.
"Justices said they would not look at tag laws in Louisiana and Tennessee.
"Abortion opponents contend they have a free-speech right to broadcast their own views on their car tags. Proposals to offer car owners an alternative ‘Choose Choice’ plate failed in both state Legislatures."
Ah, now there we have it. If pro-abortionists cannot ram their "Choose Choice" plates through the state legislatures then they’ll make sure that pro-lifers cannot display their adherence to life on their license plates either. I’d say that such an attitude is childish, but in this context that would be obscene.
Michelle,
I love to see people stare wide-eyed at the personlized license plate on our Suburban: 6 sofar
God willing it will be 7 sofar soon.
Take care and God bless,
Inocencio
J+M+J
HA!
Beautiful, Inocencio!
Choose choice?! It wasn’t rejected because of politics. It was rejected because it was stupid. Here are some other possibilities similar to the pro-whatever tag:
“Live life”
“Love the lovable”
“Eat the edible”
“Be someplace”
“Wherever you are, there you are”
Of course “choose choice”, as stupid as it is, isn’t near as stupid as what is really being promoted: “keep murder legal”.
Small tangent…
Florida’s license plates annoy me (the graphic is the Florida version of the plate). If you ever take a driving trip to Florida and attempt to play the License Plate game, you will start pulling out your hair. There are easily 30 variations of Florida’s license plates — Save the Marlins! Go FSU! Save the Everglades! Save the Manitee! We love oranges! yadda yadda yadda
If for no other reason, I oppose all of these silly “cause” license plates.
April
http://www.meretrice.com
Doesn’t a plate that says “Choose life” implicitly endorse choice? So what are they complaining about?
Oh, wait, someone just explained it to me: “choice” doesn’t mean “choice.”
On second thought, perhaps it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to allow the “Choose Choice” tag. As a safety precaution, the more self-proclaimed idiots that I can easily identify while driving through Florida, the better.
Right on, Seamus. You can choose whatever you want unless it is the one choice I disagree with or if your choice somehow implies that my choice is objectively wrong in any way. That makes me uncomfortable, so I will fight your ability to truly choose. Ugh, the hypocrisy gets so old!
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“If for no other reason, I oppose all of these silly “cause” license plates.”
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I somewhat agree, although my annoyance is pretty minimal and mainly directed towards those “causes” that don’t seem to be that serious compared to all the good causes out there.
It’s similar to bumper stickers and ribbon magnets that are all over the place on cars these days (replacing the “such-an-such on board” signs of the 80s or 90s) and the colored rubber bracelets. Not really my style either, but those who like such things are welcome to them.
And once again some group attempts to make a court force through something that should be left to legislature. Not everything that’s “unfair” is unconstitutional. Since when has the constitution been the deciding rule of fairness??
What’s wrong with you people? The protest was completely legitimate. There are two main positions on abort, yet twelve states only give drivers the option to show their support for ONE of them. Either both or neither, it should be so obvious.
Nihil,
Out of curiosity, what do you think that the license plates for the other side of the issue should say? “Choose Choice” seems rather nonsensical (and I’m not sure if it was a serious suggestion anyway). Remember, the “Choose Life” plates do not say that a woman should not be able to make a choice; they merely encourage women to make a particular choice (i.e., for life, and against abortion). So wouldn’t “Choose Abortion” actually be the correct phrase to fairly counterbalance “Choose Life”, since that would be encouraging women to make the opposite choice?
Nihil,
Anybody from the opposing side is more than free to propose their own license plate defending their point of view. If the opposing slogans are lame, or if nobody wants to buy the other plate, that shouldn’t prevent the pro-lifers from still having their own plates.
Nihil,
Nihil,
The issue here is attempting to use the judiciary to strike down the will of the people on because the people did not consent to their position. Extending judicial review (itself the result of a controversial interpretation) beyond the constitutionality of a law is a dangerous thing. The pro-aborts need to change hearts and minds, not create dangerous oligarchies in order to get rid of license plates that reflect the will of the people.
“Doesn’t a plate that says “Choose life” implicitly endorse choice?”
Well, whether we like it or not every woman DOES have a choice. I’m not just talking about the fact that abortion is legal, either. Even if abortion were not legal, every woman would still have the ability to do the wrong thing. Just like right now, I could make a choice and go and commit a grave sin. If Our Lady were to show up and tell me to “choose holiness” would she be implicitly endorsing sin?
Thanks for sharing the story about Archbishop Fulton Sheen and the woman that aborted her child. I have often suspected that this saint-to-be was, much like St. Padre Pio, blessed with the ability to read souls.
That said, pray for the woman Archbishop Sheen spoke to. Pray also for every other man and woman that has ever had anything to do with an abortion. Believe me when I tell you that the guilt for “that” sin lingers for decades after you hear a priest say those precious words, “God, the Father of Mercies, …. ”
My young goth / vampyrophile friend would probably go for a plate that says, “Choose Death”. I remember when she was only twelve, and reasonably open to the Gospel — and to Life. Now she “knows better”
Glenn
Bishop Fulton Sheen once pointed out that the reasons people give for their opposition to something sometimes don’t match up to why they’re really opposed. He was quite perceptive. There’s another story about him. He was preaching a retreat, to clergy IIRC, and one priest in attendance started to rail against the Church’s financial status. After the talk, Sheen called him aside and asked him a question: “How much?” After a puzzled reply, he continued, “How much are taking from the collection every week?” And he had hit that nail right on the head.
That should be “How much are YOU taking from the collection every week?” Even when I preview, I still can’t get it right. 🙁
I know I digress somewhat from the topic, but the Bishop Fulton Sheen story I like best was when he was giving a talk at a university, UCLA I believe. Someone in the crowd heckled him “How could Jonah have survived in the belly of a whale for 3 days?!” Bishop Sheen answered, “I don’t know, but when I get to heaven I’ll ask him.” The heckler shouted back “What if he’s not there?” Bishop Sheen replied “Well, then YOU can ask him.”
“Out of curiosity, what do you think that the license plates for the other side of the issue should say? ‘Choose Choice’ seems rather nonsensical (and I’m not sure if it was a serious suggestion anyway).”
Yes, it is a stupid plate tag. But then, I do find all plate tags / bumper stickers fairly childish. I don’t know what other slogan would work well – I’m not very good at inventing those. I guess there is someone with that kind of creativity among the millions of pro-choicers out there, though. If someone wanted ideas, all he’d have to do would be to set up an online submission contest.
For the sake of this discussion, however, let us stay with the ‘Choose Choice’ proposal. Why was it rejected? You claim it was because it sounds stupid. I’m thinking this unlikely. Why? Because the involved States passed the pro-life tag law first, and only later offered the pro-choice “alternative plate”.
That seems to me a slightly huge tip-off that those state legislatures are very strongly pro-life. If, as you say, they found the ‘Choose Choice’ plate tag stupid, they would have approved it, because it would have discouraged people from using it. But they rejected it instead. Why? How about because, well, because they are pro-lifers? Doesn’t that sound a bit more realistic?
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“The issue here is attempting to use the judiciary to strike down the will of the people on because the people did not consent to their position.”
What you wrote is the same reasoning that would allow racial segregation – in 1960’s Alabama, it was the will of the people, wasn’t it? (mind you, I’m not calling you a segregationist, I’m just saying your reasoning could be used by one). It’s one of the duties of the judiciary system to protect minorities, among other things from the will of the majority when it infringes on their right. In this case, the pro-life majority unjustly discriminated between pro-lifers and pro-choicers for the right to use license plates to express their political position.
A very tiny violation, yet still something that a court should fix.
Hi Nihil,
Thanks for the response. You wrote:
“I don’t know what other slogan would work well – I’m not very good at inventing those. I guess there is someone with that kind of creativity among the millions of pro-choicers out there, though. If someone wanted ideas, all he’d have to do would be to set up an online submission contest.”
OK, but my point was really that if you want to have a license plate slogan that accurately represents the opposite side of the issue from “Choose Life”, then the slogan wouldn’t be “Choose Choice” or anything like that. Rather, it would be “Choose Abortion”, or perhaps even “Choose Death”, or something along those lines. Again, please remember that the “Choose Life” plates do not specifically criticize so-called “choice” — they merely encourage people on *which* choice to make. So the opposite side of the issue would not be to promote “choice”, but rather to promote the *opposite* choice, i.e. abortion. And do you really think that very many people, even pro-choicers, would want to put a “Choose Abortion” license plate on their car?
You also wrote:
“In this case, the pro-life majority unjustly discriminated between pro-lifers and pro-choicers for the right to use license plates to express their political position.
A very tiny violation, yet still something that a court should fix.”
I think I see now part of the reason why we’re not connecting here. You see the “Choose Life” plates as “express[ing] a political position”. I don’t see them that way at all. I see them as an affirmation of the sanctity of life, and an encouragement to others (especially expectant parents) to also respect that sanctity. It’s not as if the plates say “Vote Pro-Life” or something like that. So I don’t agree with you that the plates are making a political statement.
And finally, I’d just like to provide the following question as food for thought:
Some states offer plate designs for specific colleges. So for example, if I went to University of Illinois, I might be able to get a “University of Illinois Alumni” plate for my car. Using your reasoning, if I went to a college for which my state does *not* currently offer a license plate, then can I go to court and sue the state to force them to offer a license plate design for my particular college?
Peace,
Paul
Nihil,
Just to expand on what I said above about how I don’t see the slogan “Choose Life” as a political statement: I have a license plate frame on my car that says, “Children are a gift from God — celebrate life!” Would you also view this as a “express[ing] a political position”? Because that’s not my intent, and I wouldn’t have thought that other people, even people who are pro-choice, would view it that way. But perhaps they do see it as a political statement? I would be interested in your perspective.
(On the other hand, I also have a “We vote pro-life” bumper sticker. Now that one clearly *is* expressing a policitial position.)