Also known as the "No religious test clause", this states that "no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States." Although it clearly exists, one just has to find a copy of the Constitution to read it, many Far Right Conservatives (especially in the Christian Right) try to deny that it exists in an effort to make the US look like a country that is for Christians only.
American Family Association
- The American Family Association has urged members to contact Congressmen to pass a law stipulating that all oaths for federal office must invoke the Bible (1).
- Even if Congress passed a law doing just that, it could not be enforced, the language in that section is quite strict, "no religious test shall *ever* be required as a qualification to any office or public trust."
Pat Robertson
- Pat Robertson said in his book, "When I said during my presidential bid that I would bring only Christians and Jews into the government, I hit a firestorm. 'What do you mean?' the media challenged me. 'You're not going to bring atheists into the government? How dare you maintain that those who believe in Christian values are better qualified to govern America than Hindus and Muslims?' My simple answer is, 'Yes, they are.'" (2)
- This section covers all government offices in the United States, so even if the President were to appoint someone without Congress' approval, he could not go up to him/her and ask "You're a Christian, right?" What is particularly unsettling is that as noted above, Robertson did run for President, but yet displayed such a blatant disregard for the Constitution he would have to swear to uphold if elected.
- Gary DeMar, head of American Vision, wrote America's Christian History: The Untold History, and in it he doesn't deny the existence of the clause, but instead considers it to be a "mistake" that the Framers of the Constitution made.
- At the Constitutional Convention when the Constitution was being written, there was little fighting and arguing over the "No religious test clause", it passed unanimously and became part of our Constitution without any challenges.
(1) http://www.afa.net/aa112806_2.asp
(2) The New World Order, page 218
(3) http://www.publiceye.org/magazine/v08n1/chrisre1.html
Categories: Christian Right, Hoaxes, Right Wing Revisionism, Constitutional Ignorance
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