On Nov. 3, the voters of Asheville, North Carolina spoke and elected writer and builder Cecil Bothwell to the city council. Now, some who opposed his election are saying that he can't hold public office. Why? Because he's an atheist.Article 6, section 8 of the state constitution says: “The following persons shall be disqualified for office: First, any person who shall deny the being of Almighty God.”
H. K. Edgerton, a former Asheville NAACP president best known for promoting "Southern heritage" by publicly dressing in a Confederate uniform and displaying a Confederate flag, said, “I'm not saying that Cecil Bothwell is not a good man, but if he's an atheist, he's not eligible to serve in public office, according to the state constitution.”
Bothwell is supposed to take his seat today but Edgerton says that the city council should delay his swearing in until the constitutional question is resolved.
According to constitutional lawyers such as Bob Orr, executive director of the N.C. Institute for Constitutional Law, there's no question to be resolved. The US Constitution, with its First Amendment guarantee of religious freedom and Article VI's “no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States,” trumps any state restriction.
“I think there's any number of federal cases that would view this as an imposition of a religious qualification and violate separation of church and state,” Orr said.
During the campaign, Bothwell, who made no secret of his atheism, was attacked for it and for writing a book, The Prince of War, which accused evangelist Billy Graham of using his access to US presidents to push a theocratic agenda.
He was elected anyway and, at 5 p.m. today, will be sworn in as Asheville, N. Carolina's newest city council member.
Photo Credit:
1) Cecil Bothwell (campaign photo)
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Comments
Check out the link above to the Wikipedia article on H. K. Edgerton and read some of his quotes. How did this guy ever get into the NAACP?
Congrats to you Cecil Bothwell. I hope you're not labeled a terrorist because you terrify the Christards in your district.
www.tshirtinferno.com/Blaspemer_Jesus_Christ
I'm proud of the North Carolinians who knew better than to hold a man's beliefs against him, and judged him on the quality of his character alone. AND, found him worthy to be elected. GO NC!
There is no Ashville in North Carolina, only Asheville.
Thanks for the heads-up, Jeff. It should read "Asheville" now.
SEND THE WAAAAAMBULANCE!
The constitutional test is not, "What do I think is right?" but "What does the constitution say?" Article VI unambiguously applies to both state and federal offices, and it isn't even part of the Bill of Rights, it is part of the original constitution. The state constitutional provision was void when adopted. As James Madison observed, when someone proposed making reference to Jesus in a Virginia law "The better part of showing respect for that sacred name would be not to insert it into a legislative enactment."
Asheville, NC. Been there, done that, not going back.
Religion and reason are mostly opposed.
I was wondering how long it would take till someone tried to use one of those broken State Constitutions to try to prevent an atheist from taking office. Now the question is how quickly it'll get tossed out the door because of Article VI.
The city council is screwed either way. If they seat him, they are admitting the vacuous nature of the State Constitution's words regarding oaths vs the U.S. Constitution "No Religious Test".
If they don't, well, let em, see what happens in the courts all the way up to the Supreme Court.
My guess is that they will seat him to avoid exposing the State Constitution on a national scale.
I wonder what these same objectors think of non Shiites in Iran having to swear an oath to Allah?
Asheville NC, where the women folk still wear their hair in big blue beehives, their faces covered in heavy makeup and where undersheriffs reign supreme. Could it have changed so much from when I was there in the early 90's to now where they're electing atheists? Now THAT'S progressive!
What irony - it's the black guy who is trying to deny the civil rights of a fellow citizen.
Nice catch, I wasn't paying attention. I guess civil rights are only worth protecting until it's the other guy's at risk.
Hopefully not only will Bothwell be seated, the outdated constitution will have to be changed..
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