Don't count on it.
Section I. Article 19: of the State of Arkansaw Constitution
§ 1. Atheists disqualified from holding office or testifying as witness.
No person who denies the being of a God shall hold any office in the civil departments of this State, nor be competent to testify as a witness in any Court.
A bill to change that Bill HJR1009 was submitted but no action is being taken.
Say a bunch of Christians got slaughtered and the only witness to the crime that can put the killer away is an atheist but they cannot testify and the killer walks. Watch how fast the christian crazy's change the law then.
You know, As strange as that sounds, I have never given it any thought but are there any open atheists?
ReplyDeleteI doubt I would testify against anybody who slaughtered a bunch of Arkansaw Christians. Does that make me an atheist?
ReplyDeletebut are there any open atheists?
ReplyDeleteWe're all closed until after the Rapture. We apologize for any inconvenience.
Where's the Supreme Court and the ACLU?
ReplyDeleteArtilce VI of the U.S. Constitution
The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.
This is clearly unconstitutional.
Trouble is, courts sometimes take that as only applying to federal positions. There are some precedents that say this might apply to the states as well, but the lawyers in other discussions I've seen seem unsure about how true that is.
ReplyDeleteIt really should apply to all government positions in this country, and I devoutly hope (pun intended) that some day it does.