182
submitted 1 year ago by RotatingParts@lemmy.ml to c/atheism@lemmy.ml

We need to stand up and be counted.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] Akasazh@lemmy.ml 8 points 1 year ago
[-] AvailableFill74@lemmy.ml 8 points 1 year ago

The states are Arkansas, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.

The U.S. Constitution states in Article 6 that "no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States."

In 1961, the Supreme Court ruled in Torcaso v. Watkins that a person could not be denied the office of notary public for not being a believer because it "unconstitutionally invades his freedom of belief and religion guaranteed by the First Amendment and protected by the Fourteenth Amendment from infringement by the States."

Source: (no paywall) https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/politifact/2021/11/10/7-states-ban-atheists-office-but-bans-unenforceable/6352254001/

[-] Akasazh@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 year ago
[-] kent_eh@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 year ago

Yup. The law is still on the books. It's been determined to be unenforceable, but that law still exists.

this post was submitted on 25 Jun 2023
182 points (95.0% liked)

Atheism

1960 readers
2 users here now

founded 4 years ago
MODERATORS