Religious laws and religious bigotry

Religious discrimination in the
Constitutions of seven U.S. states

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Quotation:

"...It is objected that the people of America may, perhaps, choose representatives who have no religion at all, and that Pagans and Mahometans may be admitted into offices. But how is it possible to exclude any set of men, without taking away that principle of religious freedom which we ourselves so warmly contend for?" James Iredell, during the debate on the adoption of the Federal Constitution by the North Carolina Convention. ["Mahometans" is an outdated term, now considered derogatory, for Muslims]

Overview:

The Bill of Rights of the Texas Constitution (Article I, Section 4) allowed people to be excluded from holding office on religious grounds. An official could be "excluded from holding office" if she/he does not "acknowledge the existence of a Supreme Being."

This specifically excluded all Atheists and Agnostics from holding public office. It would also exclude:

	Most Buddhists, who do not believe in a personal deity.
	Members of the Church of Satan; they are typically Agnostics.
	Most Unitarian Universalists who regard themselves as Humanists, not Theists.
	Some followers of the New Age who do not believe in the existence of a personal deity.

However, Wiccans and Zoroastrians were apparently acceptable, as they believe in two deities -- twice as many as the minimum that Section 4 requires. Hindus would also have been good enough because they generally acknowledge the existence of millions of deities. The number, gender, shape, size and other attributes did not matter, as long as they believed that a Supreme Being of some sort exists.

This form of religious intolerance was not limited to Texas. Seven other states (AR, MA, MD, NC, PA, SC and TN) all have similar  exclusionary language included in their Bill of Rights, Declaration of Rights, or in the body of their constitutions.

In a few states whose constitutions include the text of the oath of office, the candidate was required to swear an oath to God. Such an oath would have prevented ethical non-theists from taking office. Of course, non-theists who happen to be non-ethical would have had no problems with such an oath.

However, now that these Constitutions include discriminatory and intolerant language, the states are probably stuck with it. The passages will forever affirm that people who follow some minority religions were considered unreliable second- class citizens of questionable morality -- at least at the time that the state constitutions were written. The clauses could only be removed through constitutional change; this requires at least a majority vote of the citizens of the state. With the present political leadership and religious climate towards non-theists in many of these states, this is simply not going to happen.

Fortunately, a 1961 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court makes all of these bigoted religious statements null and void.

Religious discrimination in state constitutions:

We have highlighted the most important sentences in the following articles and sections:

Arkansas Constitution, Article 19 Section 1 of the 1874 constitution: "No person who denies the being of a God shall hold any office in the civil departments of this State, nor be competent to testify as a witness in any court." Comments: This clause denied human rights only to those who actively deny the existence of a God. This would appear to have granted Agnostics and some Atheists full human rights, while excluding rights from strong Atheists.

Maryland's Bill of Rights: Article 36: "That as it is the duty of every man to worship God in such manner as he thinks most acceptable to Him, all persons are equally entitled to protection in their religious liberty; wherefore, no person ought by any law to be molested in his person or estate, on account of his religious persuasion, or profession, or for his religious practice, unless, under the color of religion, he shall disturb the good order, peace or safety of the State, or shall infringe the laws of morality, or injure others in their natural, civil or religious rights; nor ought any person to be compelled to frequent, or maintain, or contribute, unless on contract, to maintain, any place of worship, or any ministry; nor shall any person, otherwise competent, be deemed incompetent as a witness, or juror, on account of his religious belief; provided, he believes in the existence of God, and that under His dispensation such person will be held morally accountable for his acts, and be rewarded or punished therefore either in this world or in the world to come." Comments: In this state, a juror or witness might have been considered incompetent as a witness or juror if they did not believe in the existence of God. Although humans worship many Gods, the Article does not specify which one is being referred to; presumably it is the Judeo-Christian deity. Not only must a person have believed in such a deity, but they must apparently have believed in a Heaven and a Hell, and perhaps in Purgatory. Article 37: "That no religious test ought ever to be required as a qualification for any office of profit or trust in this State, other than a declaration of belief in the existence of God; nor shall the Legislature prescribe any other oath of office than the oath prescribed by this Constitution." Comment: This section permitted the government to limit politicians, government employees, and others to Theists. It is again unclear whether belief in any God is sufficient. Belief in a Goddess, or a non-Judeo-Christian deity may not have been acceptable. The Constitution is ambiguous.

	Massachusetts' Declaration of Rights:  Article III: "As the happiness of a people, and the good order and preservation of civil government, essentially depend upon piety, religion and morality; and as these cannot be generally diffused through a community, but by the institution of the public worship of God, and of public instructions in piety, religion and morality: Therefore, to promote their happiness and to secure the good order and preservation of their government, the people of this commonwealth have a right to invest their legislature with power to authorize and require, and the legislature shall, from time to time, authorize and require, the several towns, parishes, precincts, and other bodies politic, or religious societies, to make suitable provision, at their own expense, for the institution of the public worship of God, and for the support and maintenance of public Protestant teachers of piety, religion and morality, in all cases where such provision shall not be made voluntarily." Comments: The constitution allowed individual municipal bodies to tax everyone (Anglicans, Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Pagans, Protestants, non-believers, Agnostics, Atheists, etc.) in order to maintain Protestant clergy. Fortunately, Article III is no longer in effect. Part 1 Article III: "...every denomination of Christians, demeaning themselves peaceably, and as good subjects of the commonwealth, shall be equally under the protection of the law: and no subordination of any one sect or denomination to another shall ever be established by law." Comments: All Christian denominations were considered of equal status, and were to be equally protected under the law. Of course, there was (and remains) no consensus on exactly who qualifies to be considered a Christian. Non-Christian groups appear to have been left out in the cold.
	North Carolina's Constitution, Article 6 Sec. 8: "Disqualifications of office. The following persons shall be disqualified for office: First, any person who shall deny the being of Almighty God...." Comments: "Almighty God" apparently refers to the Judeo-Christian God -- the Trinity. This Section would appear to have disqualifyied anyone who is a strong Atheist, or who followed a religion other than Judaism and Christianity from holding office in the State.
	Pennsylvania a Declaration of Rights: Article 1, Section 4: "No person who acknowledges the being of a God and a future state of rewards and punishments shall, on account of his religious sentiments, be disqualified to hold any office or place of trust or profit under this Commonwealth." Comments: This seems to imply that a person who denied the existence of all Gods or who denied the existence of heaven (or equivalent) or who denied the existence of hell (or equivalent) had no protection from being held ineligible to hold office or be a member of the PA civil service because of their religious beliefs.
	South Carolina's Constitution, Article 4 Section 2: "Person denying existence of Supreme Being not to hold office. No person who denies the existence of the Supreme Being shall hold any office under this Constitution."  Comments: "The Supreme Being" apparently refers specifically to the Judeo-Christian God. This Section would appear to have disqualified anyone who is not a Christian or Jew from holding office in the State.
	Tennessee's Bill of Rights: Article 9: Section 4: "That no political or religious test, other than an oath to support the Constitution of the United States and of this state, shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under this state." Section 2. "No person who denies the being of God, or a future state of rewards and punishments, shall hold any office in the civil department of this state." Comments:  Article 9 was obviously written by incompetents. Section 4 says that there was to be no religious test. Section 2 created a religious test. Nobody who denied the existence of God or heaven or hell was able to hold office. Presumably, anyone believing in a God other than the God as conceived by the authors of Article 9 could not hold office either.
	Texas' Bill of Rights Section 4: "RELIGIOUS TESTS: No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office, or public trust, in this State; nor shall any one be excluded from holding office on account of his religious sentiments, provided he acknowledge the existence of a Supreme Being."  Comments: As noted above in the case of Pennsylvania, non-theists had no protection from being excluded from holding office civil servant in Texas.

Why these religious restrictions are no longer valid:

These phrases are historical relics, left over from earlier times, and no longer enforceable.

The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is a post-Civil War reconstruction amendment. It requires individual states to provide equal protection under the law to all people within their jurisdictions. This requirement supersedes any applicable statutory laws and sections in state constitutions. It thus nullifies the effect of the above clauses. This was confirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1961.

Unfortunately, the clauses retain great symbolic value. Decades or centuries later, they lend legitimacy to the expression of hatred and mistrust towards some religious minorities

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Related essays on this web site:

	Christian's beliefs about non-Christian religions.
	American adult's beliefs about non-Christian religions.
	Religious tolerance and intolerance.
	Recent news items exhibiting intolerance

References:

The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.

1. "U.S. State constitutions and web sites," (except for Alabama) at: http://www.constitution.org/
2. "Google Web Directory: State constitutions," at: http://directory.google.com/
3. "Arkansas Constitution," Wikipedia, at: http://en.wikipedia.org/
4. "Constitution of Maryland," at: http://www.msa.md.gov/

Copyright © 2000 to 2008 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Last update: 2008-OCT-07
Editor: B.A. Robinson.
This essay was partly based on a data file volunteered by visitors to this web site, of which we are very appreciative.

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