A Religious Test In Order to Hold Office
Kristen Waggoner
The Federalist
“[N]o religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.” Article VI of the Constitution might first been have been penned with quill and ink, but the message is timeless: no federal public office-holder should be screened, tested, or maligned for his or her personal, religious convictions.
It’s a rather forward-thinking constitutional rule. Our country today is diverse and tolerant enough to respect both the deeply held beliefs of a San Francisco club owner and those of a small-town Iowa youth pastor. And if Americans are truly free to hold their own opinions without facing government pressure to conform, religious and non-religious citizens alike should be able to participate fully in public life—up to and including government office—without compromising their deeply personal beliefs.
Unfortunately, several members of the U.S. Senate have recently revealed their desperate need for lessons in both civics and religious tolerance. [Read more]
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