Christians try to remove atheist from City Council in North Carolina

**Smaland** · 12-25-2009, 08:05 PM

The United States Constitution, Article 6, Paragraphs 2 and 3, are as follows:

"This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.

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."

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This is a key question: what is the exact meaning of "the United States", as used in Paragraph 3? Does it refer to the federal government only, or does it also refer to every state and local government?

This paragraph clearly distinguishes between "the United States" and "the several States (individual states)". Therefore, "the United States" refers to the federal government only. The last section of the paragraph does forbid religious tests, but only for "any Office or public Trust under the United States." In other words, religious tests are disallowed only for federal offices. The paragraph is silent about the same for state or local offices.

If the Constitution is silent on an issue, then there is nothing in it to rank above state constitutions, state statutes, or local ordinances. It cannot be supreme when it has nothing to say. In that case, any relevant state or local law remains in effect, including Article 6, Section 8, Paragraph 1 of the North Carolina Constitution.

It states that "The following persons shall be disqualified for office: First any person who shall deny the being of Almighty God." Since Mr. Bothwell is an atheist, it follows that he is ineligible to serve on the Asheville City Council.

**~~SwordoftheVistula~~** · 12-26-2009, 03:16 AM

But the 1st Amendment prohibits 'establishment of religion' and the 14th Amendment extends these restrictions against the states.

Maryland's state constitution used to have a similar provision, and was ruled invalid by the Supreme Court in 1961 :

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bi...=367&invol=488