I'm not allowed to hold public office in Tennessee!
Article IX, Section 2 of the state's constitution reads (h/t Incongruous):
"No person who denies the being of God, or a future state of rewards and punishments, shall hold any office in the civil department of this state."
Apparently my home state, Pennsylvania, is among six other states with a similar clause (in its case, Article 1, Section 4), although technically it just implies that it is not the case that atheists are not disqualified:
"No person who acknowledges the being of a God and a future state of rewards and punishments shall, on account of his religious sentiments, be disqualified to hold any office or place of trust or profit under this Commonwealth."
Isn't that fun? More reason why I have no intention of ever living in Tennessee or Pennsylvania again!
4 comments:
Why? Do you plan on seeking political office?
PS - sorry I never called back, it's been one hellacious semester.
No, but it would be nice to have that freedom, you know, being recognized as a full and equal citizen and all that.
It is my understanding that those clauses cannot be enforced.
"future state of rewards and punishments" can be secular. There is nothing in the quote that requires theism. For example, I believe that if I harm a person, I'll be caught and will be subject to a "future state of punishments" (or rewards if I am being paid by the state to perform said action. So hopefully by citing the logical properties of disjunctions, you can yet hold office in TN.
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