Question for fellow Americans. I've known for quiet some time now but in the light of recent events I decided to come back to this. How can US state add something such as this to their state constitution: “The following persons shall be disqualified for office: First, any person who shall deny the being of Almighty God.” This is perhaps the most blatant voilation of the US Constitution and yet six or seven states adopted this. Hopefuly in any court case a potential non-believer or believer is something else than the 'Almighty God' would win hands down but it still causes trouble today and people of no faith are being legally harassed. How come this change got passed in the first place?! In six or seven different states?! And it has been there for years?! Doesn't the federal government have the authority and the duty to remove this?
It would be hilarious if it was any nation besides the U.S. Here, it's downright outrageous. What seven states?
Ten bucks says Southern states. Texas for sure. What they're doing there is actually illegal, you can't make a law that contradicts the constitution.
I think some of these instamnces come from constitutions written befofe the U.S. Constitution (or beofre the Bill of Rights was finalized). Or perhaps from changes to the state constitutions of confederate states during the Civil War. I am pretty sure it is exceedingly rare for modifications to state constitutions actually contradicting the U.S. Constitution when they are passed (I wouuld in fact wager that it never happens because it would be a pointless change). Normally what happens is a change made to the U.S. Constitution overides various clauses in state constitutions that are never updated. Higgs I would wonder which states have that clause in their constitution and when it was added to to see if my theory is correct. As for why it's still on the books, most state constitutions are difficult to change and because this is something that is overidden by the U.S. I doubt many people actually thought it needed to be changed and doing so would be a waste of time (I am trying to give people the benefit of the doubt here). As for the Federal Government having the authority and duty to change it, I don't think the government can proactively change any state's constitution. To get it changed without going through the normal constitutional amendment process in a state a person would have to bring a claim to a Federal court and even then I am not sure what proccess would be required to get it changed, though I would hazard a guess that it would probably have to go to the U.S. Supreme Court but I am not positive.
EatMe: I didn't look at every state in particular but apparently TX (what a shocker), AR, MS, TN, SC and MD all have laws that prohibit atheists and/or people of different faith taking public office. LK: There was a supreme court case regarding this in 1960s. As far as my original example goes the excerpt comes from North Carolina's constitution. (http://statelibrary.ncdcr.gov/nc/stgovt/article_vi.htm section 8) Let's just hope that the court will strike down the lawsuit right away.
I just found out that the guy who is threatening with the lawsuit is H. K. Edgerton. For anyone who watched Penn & Tellers Bull****! will know what kind of insane ignoramus he is. Heh. That makes me want to laugh. In fact, I am laughing. I am laughing at this very moment.
Wow, that's uh...that's retarded. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm Christian myself---but that's just flat out bullocks that a law like that was passed in any state.
