Thursday, February 19, 2009

Anti-Atheist Article may be Striken from Arkansas Constitution

Check out Arkansas bill HJR 1009. This is a bill proposed to ammend the Arkansas Constitution (PDF). The amendment, if passed, will completely strike out Section 1 of Article 19.
1. Atheists disqualified from holding office or testifying as witness.

No person who denies the being of a God shall hold any office in the civil departments of this State, nor be competent to testify as a witness in any Court.
I am giddy with glee that this bill has even been tabled. If it passes, I will be qualified to be the mayor of my town. Also, I will be judged competant enough to testify in court.

I have heard next to nothing about it in the media. I don't think there is even much oppostion to the bill. Considering that my state has just passed a law that prohibits anybody who is not a married heterosexually couple from adopting or fostering children, this bill comes as a breath of fresh air.

However, this bill is still new. I do expect there to be fierce opposition once the news gets out.

Update:
D. Jeff Christenson, an op-ed writer for my local paper has written an opinion piece about this bill. I'm not sure exactly how he stands since his article has a decidedly christian slant. But, it seems that he may be supporting the bill, although he is reluctant to come out and say it. In the article, he mentions several things that have nothing to do with the bill, like the FfRF billboard campaign. So, he may be trying to "poison the well" a bit. He just didn't make it clear enough whether he supports the bill or not.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow! It seems like your corner of the world is slowly leaving the 17th century.

It truly amazes me! Sorry you have to live there. But perhaps you are meant to be a "light" in the darkness.

Robert Madewell said...

Lorena said, "Wow! It seems like your corner of the world is slowly leaving the 17th century."

... and dragging its feet the whole way.

Sadly, Arkansas is not all that different than many other states. Tennesee and Texas still have anti-atheist articles in those constitutions, I think. Several other states do too.

Anonymous said...

That's too bad. I've never been to Arkansas, but I've been to Texas and I love it there. It's the Mexican food I love. Just thinking about it my mouth waters. Yammy!

Yes, I am aware that the Deep South is all "Holy Land."

I hope Arkansas has good food. That's all I care about ;)

Anonymous said...

Articles in the constitution baning atheist is not surprising.
If these articles excluded blacks, jews, they would no longer be in the constitution.
History shows the legacy of religions and follwers to suppress
science or the non believers.
It is the only recoarse they know.
As non believers do not conform to their insecurity, baning and persucution do.
ibex