Maddow elucidates the Cecil Bothwell affair

You’ve probably heard of Cecil Bothwell, the openly atheist man who was elected to the Asheville, North Carolina city council despite an archaic and unenforceable law in the city’s constitution banning anyone who “[denies] the being of Almighty God”. It’s a landmark for atheists that Bothwell was elected, yet this could possibly turn sour soon – not because he risks being thrown off the council per se, but because he now faces a possible lawsuit as a result of his lack of beliefs in God. And no-one likes a legal mess, whether they’re right or not.

Rachel Maddow commented on the story and interviewed the legal director of the ACLU of North Carolina, Katy Parker. It’s worth the watch: both for seeing just how unconstitutional any opposition to Bothwell on the grounds of his atheism is, and (for a tingle of joy) seeing Bothwell take an oath with no mention of God.

To summarize:

1) Six states, including North Carolina, have constitutions that ban atheists from holding public office.

2) Whereas, the U.S. Constitution, the highest law in America, states that “no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States”, thus explicitly forbidding anyone from being denied public office simply because of their beliefs, or lack thereof.

3) Also, as if this wasn’t evident enough already, the U.S. Constitution has the Supremacy Clause, which explicitly states that the U.S. Constitution trumps state constitutions and that any conflicts that arise between the two will see the federal constitution as victor.

I think it’s easy to see where this is going.

It’s exasperating to see that such silliness can still be an issue in these modern times, but they are, so we need to deal with them properly. With a little luck, the stupid old law(s) banning atheists from serving in public office will be removed soon enough. It’s shameful that we even have to deal with this by now.

(via Friendly Atheist)

Technorati tags: politics · Cecil Bothwell · atheists · state constitutions · Rachel Maddow · Katy Parker · U.S. Constitution