Posted on 01/14/2012 11:58:07 AM PST by mitchell001
It is very true that the Constitution says no religious test for holding office shall be required. This has to be understood in the context of the Stuart attempt to force everyone in the UK to profess according to the precepts of the Anglican Communion. When read with the 1st Amendment, we can see the FFs were concerned with the FEDs establishing a Church of the USA and making folks swear allegiance or pay taxes to it before they would be entitled TO RUN FOR OR HOLD HIGH OFFICE. The Constitution restricts the US government, and in certain small matters, the several sovereign states. It emphatically does not restrict the voters’ choices. We cannot legally prevent Mormons or Muslims from the ballot, but we do not have to vote for them, either, if we find their cults offensive and hold them suspect.
I lump Mormons and Muslims together because unlike almost every other faith tradition, they seem to think it is ok to lie to infidels.
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