Religious drive

Associated Press

James Moore/AP

Florida's attempt to have religious license plates failed, but now South Carolina officials have approved legislation to offer them. Photo by James Moore | Associated Press

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina's lieutenant governor announced last week that he is willing to put up $4,000 of his own money so his state can become the first in the nation to issue ”I Believe“ license plates with the image of a cross and a stained glass window.

Civil rights groups are considering lawsuits. An attorney for the New York-based American Jewish Congress, Mark Stern, said the legislation allowing the plates is an obvious endorsement of religion by legislators in an election year.

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford allowed the license plate bill to become law without his signature, noting the state already has a process to allow special plates for any cause as long as enough people come together and put up the money needed to buy them.

Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer helped push the measure through the General Assembly, saying it gives people a way to express their beliefs. The idea came from Florida, where a proposal for an ”I Believe“ tag ultimately failed.

Bauer said religious legislation is an effort to push back against the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups perceived as threatening South Carolinians' beliefs and traditions.

In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court issued split decisions involving the Ten Commandments. The court approved a 41-year-old monument in Texas, calling it part of a secular display, but ruled against framed copies in two Kentucky courthouses, saying they were put up to promote religion. Context determines constitutionality, according to the decisions.