Update (May 15, 2009): The house transportation committee deferred action on the bill until 2010.

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Atlanta, Ga., May 12, 2009 ... The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) told members of the Tennessee House Transportation Committee that it has "deep concerns" about a bill that would allow the issuance of special license plates for the Church of God in Christ. HB 2196 is scheduled to be taken up by the committee tomorrow.
 
"For more than 95 years, ADL has been an ardent advocate of religious freedom for all Americans," said Bill Nigut, ADL Southeast Regional Director. "But we believe the best way to safeguard our guarantee to worship as we choose is to honor the separation of church and state called for by both the Tennessee state Constitution and the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
 
"While we are strongly pro-religion, we call on legislators to reject this bill because issuance of a license plate for the Church of God in Christ inadvertently sends a potentially divisive and exclusionary message that the State of Tennessee endorses one religion over others," Nigut said.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.