As of this week, people in North Carolina have a third option for a default (i.e. free) license plate design. While citizens could have chosen from plates saying “First in Flight” or “First in Freedom,” they now have the option of one that says “In God We Trust.”

The national/state motto registration plate will include the United States motto, “In God We Trust” printed at the top of the plate above all other letters and numbers and the state motto, “To Be Rather Than To Seem.” “We are excited to offer this new additional plate to customers as part of our continued effort to maintain the highest level of customer service,” said NCDMV Commissioner Torre J. Jessup. ​“This plate will allow our customers more options to choose from.”

It’s adorable how they simply call it a motto when this is really just another way to make Christianity the government’s official religion. Rep. Bert Jones, who sponsored a bill to create this plate in 2017 was the same lawmaker who proposed putting the phrase in public schools. He was just following the Project Blitz playbook. Neither bill actually became law.

The reason this plate exists now is because the language Jones used in his failed bill was stuck into last year’s state budget.

This is also the second “In God We Trust” plate the state offers. They also offer a slightly fancier Bald Eagle-clad vanity plate with that phrase for $30. That one is still available. (The Raleigh News & Observer says those plates have raised more than $80,000 for the National Guard Soldiers and Airmen Assistance Fund.) There’s just another free option now.

Damn, it’s good to be Christian. It’s not like the state is making a “Keep church and state separate” plate — much less a default one that everyone can have for free.

But in any case, because the religious one is optional, there won’t be any lawsuit over the matter.

“We hope the same lawmakers who supported the creation of this plate will also support requests to create plates that express the views of people with different or no religious beliefs,” spokesman Mike Meno said in an email.

Remember that Mississippi now has “In God We Trust” on its default license plate — and that’s the only option people have. A lawsuit hasn’t been filed there. Yet.

