"…no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States."
That is, except in Tennessee I guess:
Article IX: Disqualifications § 2. Atheists holding office 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.
Hmmm… Well, they don’t allow "Ministers of the Gospel" to hold state-level legislative seats either but that is to ensure that they are "not to be diverted from the great duties of their functions" (Article IX,§1).
Now here’s a lawsuit that should be waiting to happen.
Michael Sauers is currently the Director of Technology for Do Space in Omaha, NE. Michael has been training librarians in technology for the past twenty years and has also been a public library trustee, a bookstore manager for a library friends group, a reference librarian, serials cataloger, technology consultant, and bookseller since earning his MLS in 1995 from the University at Albany’s School of Information Science and Policy. Michael has also written dozens of articles for various journals and magazines and his fourteenth book, Emerging Technologies: A Primer for Librarians (w/ Jennifer Koerber) was published in May 2015 and more books are on the way. In his spare time he blogs at travelinlibrarian.info, runs The Collector’s Guide to Dean Koontz Web site, takes many, many photos, and typically reads more than 100 books a year.
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One Reply to “Religious test for office”
I would imagine such was an action against folks like Alexander Campbell. Although a minister of the faith, he also caused some havoc at the 1830s Virginia Constitutional Convention. He was a big advocate of public education but for reasons we might find strange today.
With folks like that out and about, I can understand the historical need for such provisions. As for current need for such provisions, that is not a matter I can say much on.
I would imagine such was an action against folks like Alexander Campbell. Although a minister of the faith, he also caused some havoc at the 1830s Virginia Constitutional Convention. He was a big advocate of public education but for reasons we might find strange today.
With folks like that out and about, I can understand the historical need for such provisions. As for current need for such provisions, that is not a matter I can say much on.