It was brought to my attention by the Fayetteville Freethinkers website that the Arkansas Constitution has a peculiar article within it. Go ahead and download a copy of it for yourself because I think you actually have to see this in writing to realize it is there; not so much because it is surprising, but just the sheer blatancy of it. On page 56 (74 of 159 in the pdf), Article 19 Section 1, of the Arkansas Constitution states:
Article 19, section 1 of the Arkansas Constitution: 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.
This is the fucking state Constitution that secures MY rights? Anytime you’re in Arkansas feel free to come mug me or kill my family. We don’t believe in a god so it’s ok. And I wasn’t really ever interested in being Governor anyway. I am just so busy raping farm animals and burning churches. Who has the time to do all that and corrupt my children at the same time? Honestly, we probably shouldn’t even be allowed to have children. We haven’t been properly brainwashing them about invisible sky man anyway. They’ll probably just grow up and finish that screenplay I’ve been writing about a gay Jesus. (I’m thinking of calling The Sermon on the Brokeback Mount.) Thanks Arkansas, for codifying just how much you are bunch of ignorant backward bigots! My family and I should have been valued members of your state. We are well educated and even though we do not fear a spanking from your zombie overlord, we still manage to lead highly moral lives. But perhaps we will move to a place less blatant about their intolerance. Someone told me just earlier today I should try moving to Afganistan.
edit – I’d like to apologize for the vitriol I wrote this with. It doesn’t really reflect very well on me or the site. I apologize.
The points still remains, though, that this is wrong and it has no place in modern America. Allowing laws like this to stay in the constitution are doubly troublesome. On the one hand, we are supposed to have religious freedom in this country. But the deeper legal issue is that by selectively enforcing parts of the constitution we undermine its value as a legal document. Anyone that values the law should realize that they are only effective if they are applied uniformly across the board. If a law is outgrown, it should be repealed or amended. We have the machinations included in the Constitution for just such cases. Whether you are a Christian or an Atheist or whatever this law (and all laws that go unenforced) concerns you. If we can ignore this part of the Constitution, we can ignore any part we want.
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