Religious laws and religious bigotryMenuReligious discrimination built into the
Constitutions of seven U.S. states
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Summary:When the U.S. Constitution and its first ten Amendments were written, the
authors included guarantees of religious freedom among the federal civil service
and officeholders. Article 6 of the Constitution states:
"No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any
office or public trust under the United States."
Inclusion of this clause was probably partly motivated by the large
number of non-Christians among the authors of the Constitution, including
many Deists. However, many state constitutions -- when originally written -- required
officeholders to believe in a God (or Gods or a Goddess, or Goddesses, or a
God and a Goddess, or Gods and Goddesses). Most Constitutions didn't specify
the number or sex. After the 14th Amendment to the Constitution was proclaimed on 1868-JUL-21,
its Article 6 became binding on individual states. The religious requirement clauses
in state constitutions became null and void. The 14th Amendment stated:
"No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the
privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States."
Still, the clauses remain on the books in a few states AR, MD, MA, NC,
PA, SC, TN & TX), and are occasionally dusted off in the media when
someone wants to bash Atheists,
Agnostics, etc.
Topics covered in this section:
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Copyright © 2000 to 2009 by Ontario Consultants on Religious
Tolerance
Last update: 2009-DEC-15
Editor: B.A. Robinson.
This essay was partly based on a data file volunteered by visitors to this web site,
for which we are very appreciative.
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