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Religious laws
The "Principles on which
the U.S. was founded" myth
We have all heard preachers and politicians referring to the time when the United
States was founded. They describe this era as a type of golden age when ethics, morality,
family values etc were at their peak. The next time that you hear this, we urge you to
remember five terms: "racism, sexism, religism (religious intolerance), homophobia,
and transphobia".
In those early years:
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Racism abounded. Persons of African-American descent were considered by many to be
less than human. So were Native Americans. Slavery was legal; people were owned as
property. The Bible was extensively used to sanction the continuation of slavery. It was a particularly brutal form of slavery, much worse then regulated and accepted in the Bible.
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Sexism abounded. Women were denied the vote; it took a 70 year effort
during the 19th
and 20th centuries to achieve universal suffrage. Women were not allowed to enter many
professions. They were given very few basic options: typically marriage, nursing, spinsterhood or teaching.
Women were required to turn over their assets to their husband. Again, verses from the Bible were quoted to justify the oppression of women.
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Religism or religious intolerance Clergy were prohibited from running for
office in some states. At the other extreme, Roman Catholics and members of non-Christian
religions were heavily discriminated against in other states.
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Homophobia: "Crimes against nature" could result in a life
sentence in some states. Such crimes included all gay and lesbian sex,
and many practices common to heterosexuals. Of course, loving, committed same-sex couples were not allowed to marry.
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Transphobia: This is
discrimination against transgender persons. They experience a conflict
between their perceived gender and their genetic gender. The status of transphobia in the 18th century is not a topic
that we have research yet, so we don't know how prevalent it was. |
As the 21st century begins, the legacies of racism, sexism, religism, homophobia,
and transphobia are still with us. But at least there are no
effective laws that discriminate against
people on the basis of faith. The only hold outs are State of Texas
and a few other states whose constitutions still have a religious requirements for holders of public
office or civil service. These laws are still on the books. It is probable that
they could never be removed by a plebiscite of the public because of religious intolerance against Agnostics, Athists, Nota (persons with no religious affiliation), etc. However, they have been
nullified by the Federal Constitution and thus cannot be applied. Sponsored link.
Examples of religious discrimination in the U.S., 1776-1799:
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Delaware; Article 22 (1776) "Every person who shall be chosen a member of
either house, or appointed to any office or place of trust...shall...also make and
subscribe the following declaration, to whit:
'I,_____, do profess faith in God the Father, and in Jesus Christ His only Son, and in
the Holy Ghost, one God, blessed for evermore; and I do acknowledge the holy scriptures of
the Old and New Testament to be given by divine inspiration'."
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Delaware; Article VIII, Section 9 (1792) "...No clergyman or preacher of
the gospel, of any denomination, shall be capable of holding any civil office in this
State, or of being a member of either branch of the legislature, while he continues in the
exercise of the pastoral or clerical functions."
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Georgia; Article VI (1777) "The representatives shall be chosen out of
the residents in each county...and they shall be of the Protestant religion..."
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Georgia; Article LXII (1777) "No clergyman of any denomination shall be
allowed a seat in the legislature."
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Georgia; Article VI (1777) "The representatives shall be chosen out of
the residents in each county,...and they shall be of the Protestant religion..."
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Kentucky; Article II, Section 26 (1777) "No person, while he continues to
exercise the functions of a clergyman, priest, or teacher of any religious persuasion,
society or sect...shall be eligible to the general assembly..."
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Maryland; Article XXXII (1776) "...All persons, professing the Christian
religion, are equally entitled to protection their religious liberty...the Legislature
may, in their discretion, lay a general tax and equal tax, for the support of the
Christian religion."
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Maryland; Article XXXIV (1776) "That every gift, sale or devise of lands,
to any minister, public teacher or preacher of the gospel, as such, or to any religious
sect, order or denomination [must have the approval of the Legislature]"
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Maryland; Article XXXV (1776) "That no other test or qualification ought
to be required...than such oath of support and fidelity to this State...and a declaration
of a belief in the Christian religion."
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Massachusetts; First Part, Article II (1780) "It is the right as well as
the duty of all men in society, publicly, and at stated seasons, to worship the SUPREME
BEING, the great Creator and Preserver of the universe..."
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Massachusetts; First Part, Article II (1780) "The governor shall be
chosen annually; and no person shall be eligible to this office, unless...he shall declare
himself to be of the Christian religion."
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Massachusetts; Chapter VI, Article I (1780) "[All persons elected to
State office or to the Legislature must] make and subscribe the following declaration,
viz.
'I,_____, do declare, that I believe the Christian religion, and have firm persuasion
of its truth...'
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New Hampshire; Part 1, Article 1, Section 5 (1784) "...the legislature
...authorize ...the several towns ...to make adequate provision at their own expense, for
the support and maintenance of public protestant teachers of piety, religion and
morality..."
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New Hampshire; Part 2, (1784) "[Provides that no person be elected
governor, senator, representative or member of the Council] who is not of the protestant
religion."
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New Jersey; Article XIX (1776) "...no Protestant inhabitant of this
Colony shall be denied the enjoyment of any civil right...; all persons, professing a
belief in the faith of any Protestant sect...shall be capable of being elected into any
office of profit or trust, or being a member of either branch of the Legislature."
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Examples of religious discrimination in the U.S., 1776-1799 (Cont'd):
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New York; Section VIII (1777) "...no minister of the gospel, or priest of
any denomination whatsoever, shall, at any time hereafter, under any pretense or
description whatever, be eligible to, or capable of holding any civil or military office
or place within this State."
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North Carolina; Article XXXI (1776) "That no clergyman, or preacher of
the gospel, of any denomination, shall be capable of being a member of either the Senate,
House of Commons, or Council of State, while he continues in the exercise of the pastoral
function,"
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North Carolina; Article XXXII (1776) "That no person, who shall deny the
being of God or the truth of the Protestant religion, or the divine authority either of
the Old or New Testaments,...shall be capable of holding any office or place of trust or
profit in the civil department within this State.
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Pennsylvania; Declaration of Rights II (1776) "...Nor can any man, who
acknowledges the being of a God, be justly deprived or abridged to any civil right as a
citizen, on account of his religious sentiments or peculiar mode of religious
worship."
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Pennsylvania; Frame of Government, Section 10 (1776) "And each member [of
the legislature]...shall make and subscribe the following declaration, viz.:
'I do believe in one God, the creator and governor of the universe, the rewarder to the
good and the punisher of the wicked. And I do acknowledge the Scriptures of the Old and
New Testament to be given by Divine inspiration'."
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Pennsylvania; Article IX, Section 4 (1790) "that 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."
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South Carolina; Article III (1778) "[State officers and privy council to
be] all of the Protestant religion."
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South Carolina; Article XII (1778) "...no person shall be eligible to a
seat in the said senate unless he be of the Protestant religion."
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South Carolina; Article XXI (1778) "...no minister of the gospel or
public preachers of any religious persuasion, while he continues in the exercise of his
pastoral function, and for two years after, shall be eligible either as governor,
lieutenant-governor, a member of the senate, house of representatives, or privy council in
this State."
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South Carolina; Article XXXVIII (1778) "That all persons and religious
societies who acknowledge that there is one God, and a future state of rewards and
punishments, and that God is publicly to be worshipped, shall be freely tolerated. The
Christian Protestant religion shall be deemed...to be the established religion of this
State."
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Tennessee; Article VIII, Section 1 (1796) "...no minister of the gospel,
or priest of any denomination whatever, shall be eligible to a seat in either house of the
legislature."
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Tennessee; Article VIII, Section 2 (1796) "...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."
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Vermont; Declaration of Rights, III (1777) "...nor can any man who
professes the protestant religion, be justly deprived or abridged of any civil right, as a
citizen, on account of his religious sentiment...; nevertheless, every sect or
denomination of people ought to observe the Sabbath, or the Lord's day..."
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Vermont; Frame of Government, Section 9 (1777) "And each member [of the
legislature],...shall make and subscribe the following declaration, viz.:
'I do believe in one god, the Creator and Governor of the universe, the rewarder of the
good and punisher of the wicked. And I do acknowledge the scriptures of the old and new
testament to be given by divine inspiration, and own and profess the protestant
religion.'"
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Copyright © 2000 to 2014, by Ontario Consultants on Religious
Tolerance
Latest update: 2014-SEP-24
Author: B.A. Robinson
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