Anti-Atheist Article may be Striken from State Constitution

[RobertMadewell]

Here's an article that I wrote and posted at my blog.

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.

An Op-Ed writer for our local paper has written an opinion piece on the bill. He rambles a bit, so I'm not sure what point he's trying to make. He also brings up the FfRF billboard campaign (which has nothing at all to do with this bill). I think he's saying that the constitution should stay as is, and that the government should take a don't ask/don't tell attitude toward atheism. I commented on the story. I'd like to see some more freethinkers from Arkansas comment as well.

[Dardedar]

DAR
You're right. He doesn't say anything at all. They really couldn't muster an argument against it because there is really no case. But then, they really don't have any case against giving gays and lesbians full and equal rights either. All they have is emotion. It doesn't "feel right."

D.

[RobertMadewell]

Here's another article I found about the bill.
The writer doesn't have a heck of a lot to say, but the commenters sure do. If you want to know what people truly think, read blog comments. No holds barred there! There's several Psalms 14:1 quotes in there.