Rachel Shocker: 7 States You Can't Be Elected In Unless You Believe In God

[tomm2thumbs]

Run time: 06:36 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gf6lLHBOkmg   Posted on YouTube: December 15, 2009 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: December 15, 2009 By DU Member: tomm2thumbs Views on DU: 2400

 
Is Your State one of them??

Arkansas, Maryland, Texas, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee

Enshrined in their constitutions, office holders MUST believe in God or cannot hold office.

Yes.
In this year.
Prohibited by law.

As example, North Carolina's Constitution specifies disqualifications for Office - '... any person who shall deny the being of an almighty God'

[sakabatou]

1. Yay theocracy!

:puke:

[napi21]

2. That surprised you? In NC? I was actually surprised it wasn't more than 4 southern states!

You really have to live here for a while, and you'll understand.

[tomm2thumbs]

9. cab driver in NC asked 'you DO believe in Jesus Christ as your savior?' -before the fare

long story, short... next cab please

the guy with the religious radio blaring in the car rental van was bad enough, but that cab driver was the final straw

[damonm]

12. Shoulda said

"That is between God and me - and I'll thank you to keep your nose out of my affairs", as you left the cab.

[tomm2thumbs]

22. it's like trying to teach a pig how to sing - wastes your time and annoys the pig

it really is another world - can't say I'd want visit any time again soon

[Versailles]

3. Well crap....

I was quite seriously thinking of running for political office around here in South Carolina. Guess as an atheist I'm barred from winning...could be fun to ride that one all the way to the supreme court though! :D

[napi21]

10. Hmmm...has the SC ever overridden a state constitution?

I'm not knowledgable to know, but I ca't remember ever hearing of them ever doing so.

[Versailles]

11. I'm gonna go with yes...

I don't know for sure, but I'm putting my money on it. Considering that it is in the constitution that the US Constitution overrides the any state laws it is at conflict with, if I were to fight it, it probably wouldn't make it past the statewide level of legal battles at most. I'm sure that somewhere in the legal annals of the US there is a situation similar to this that would create a precedent. It's like movies - there is no more originality anymore! :)

[uberllama42]

15. Off the top of my head, Romer v. Evans

A referendum in Colorado barred any city or state law from creating "homosexual status" as a protected class. Basically it denied gays equal protection of the law by an amendment to the state constitution. In a 6-3 decision, the Court ruled that there was no rational basis for a law preserving the right to discriminate against gays. They declined to create sexual orientation as a protected class under the Fourteenth Amendment, however.

[uberllama42]

19. After further research, the controlling precedent in this case:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torcaso_v._Watkins

In 1961, the High Court handed down a ruling in Torcaso v. Watkins, barring states from imposing religious tests for office. They ruled that such tests deny citizens equal protection of the laws, as prohibited in Sec. 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment.

The Court did not rule, however, that the Sixth Amendment provision explicitly banning religious tests for federal offices also applies to the states.

ETA: Justice Hugo Black, who penned the Court's opinion in Torcaso, held that every provision in the Bill of Rights was binding on the states after the passage of the Fourteenth Amendment. That holding was not endorsed by the other members of the Court, so there is no language to that effect in Torcaso.

[stopbush]

4. The US Constitution has supremacy and renders all of these anti-reason statutes moot.

That doesn't stop the fantasy crowd from trying to enforce this shit.

[AspenRose]

5. Surprised that VA, WV, GA, AL, OK, FL, KY aren't on that list

Maryland! Shame.

[Ichingcarpenter]

17. Maryland was a Slave State

and south of the Mason Dixon Line

Not really a surprise, Virginia had Jefferson
to help influence its constitution

[Wizard777]

20. Maryland is where the north meets the south.

During the civil war Maryland had a mix of people that were loyal to the south or the north. So Maryland was a front line battle ground. But there was an essential neutrality. Because Maryland was where the north met the south in more ways than one. Maryland was also a diplomatic front during the war.

[kenny blankenship]

6. Religious tests for office in states are made unenforceable by the US Constitution

and the matter has already been to the Supreme Court. The use of a religious test was prohibited for any federal office by the original text of the Constitution and the Supreme Court has held that since the passage of the 14th Amendment, the rule applies to the states as well.

[AspenRose]

8. The yahoos who are attempting to remove him probably know that as well

They just want to harass him and prevent him from doing his job, and pave the way for some christofascist to take his place. They would, unfortunately, probably win in the court of public opinion in a Bible belt state.

[DAMANgoldberg]

23. Won't happen in Asheville

Asheville is as BLUE as NC gets, beyond Chapel Hill. African-Americans make up less than 15% of the population, but re-elected a sista as mayor, and has a pretty good radio station, 880 The Revolution (WPEK-AM) as well. What's not to like.

Even in my conservotown, Charlotte, the extremes don't win many elections here, and we have our 2nd A/A mayor after 14 years of brother Pat. 4 Congressmen in the Metro area, 3 of which are Democrats (Watt-12, Kissell-10, and Spratt-SC5).

[Double T]

7. YOU can be elected in ALL 50 states if YOU believe in.........

GREED. Got to 'love' that southern bible belt. What ever happened to separation of church and state?

[damonm]

24. As far as they're concerned...

It doesn't exist in the Constitution. How scary is THAT?

[Golden Raisin]

13. How quaint and Taliban-esque.

Can you believe in almighty Zeus and hold office?

[Mithreal]

14. Why not? He's a sky friend.

[Divine Discontent]

16. sadly, I'd say all the Dems who are elected who believe in God would say that the disqualification

on religious beliefs was crap - but, the repubs who believe in it, all would say they believe in God - and more than a few are just doing it for votes. I never could stand listening to the flag-waving "Gawdddd" crowd, and I love my Savior, but those people make me nauseated.

[ScottLand]

18. Not being an atheist, I'm still appalled.

At the persistent mockery of our ideals concerning the separation of church and state.

[BennyD]

21. Most of the state constitutions written immediately following the revolutionary war REQUIRED the

perspective office holder to declare and agree with Christian doctrine and beliefs. Below is a brief summary.


The New Jersey Constitution of 1776 restricted public office to all but Protestants by its religious test/oath.
The Delaware Constitution of 1776 demanded an acceptance of the Trinity by its religious test/oath.
The Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776 had a similar test/oath.
The Maryland Constitution of 1776 had such a test/oath.
The North Carolina Constitution of 1776 had a test/oath that restricted all but Protestants from public office.
The Georgia Constitution of 1777 used an oath/test to screen out all but Protestants.
The Vermont state charter/constitution of 1777 echoed the Pennsylvania Constitution regarding a test/oath.
The South Carolina Constitution of 1778 had such a test/oath allowing only Protestants to hold office.
The Massachusetts Constitution of 1780 and New Hampshire Constitution of 1784 restricted such office holders to Protestants.
Only Virginia and New York did not have such religious tests/oaths during this time period.