Critics Attempt to Keep Atheist Councilman from Taking Office

[BRG253]

http://www.citizen-times.com/article/20091...EWS01/912080327

North Carolina's constitution is clear: politicians who deny the existence of God are barred from holding office.

Opponents of Cecil Bothwell are seizing on that law to argue he should not be seated as a City Council member today, even though federal courts have ruled religious tests for public office are unlawful under the U.S. Constitution.

Voters elected the writer and builder to the council last month.

“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,” said H.K. Edgerton, a former Asheville NAACP president.

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.”

Rights enshrined in the U.S. Constitution trump the restriction in the state constitution, said Bob Orr, executive director of the N.C. Institute for Constitutional Law.

“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,” said Orr, a former state Supreme Court justice.

In 1961, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Maryland's requirement for officials to declare belief in God violated the freedom of religion guaranteed by the First Amendment.

Additionally, Article VI of the U.S. Constitution says: “no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.”

Bothwell's campaign treasurer, Jake Quinn, said everyone should be entitled to their own beliefs.

“The test occurred on (Nov. 3),” Quinn said. “It was called an election.”

Fliers mailed before the election criticized Bothwell over his atheism and his book, “The Prince of War,” which denounces evangelist and Montreat resident the Rev. Billy Graham for pushing what Bothwell says is a theocratic agenda.

Now, denizens of Internet message boards and the blogosphere are arguing over whether he can legally serve.

Edgerton said City Council should hold off swearing Bothwell into office until a constitutional question can be resolved.

“If they go ahead, then the city of Asheville and the board of elections could be liable for a lawsuit,” said Edgerton, who is known for promoting “Southern heritage” by standing on streets decked out in a Confederate soldier's uniform and holding a Confederate flag.

Bothwell didn't respond Monday to requests for an interview, but he wrote in an e-mail to the Citizen-Times: “I am not ‘an avowed atheist.'”

He has told the Citizen-Times in the past he believes in the Golden Rule, not a deity.

Bothwell labels himself an atheist on his MySpace page, though he wrote in an online post last week on fellow incoming councilman Gordon Smith's blog, Scrutiny Hooligans, that he prefers the term “post-theist.”

Bothwell added: “I don't ‘deny the being of Almighty God;' I simply consider the question of denial or acceptance irrelevant.

“Could make for a very interesting court case, seems to me.”

[Q.E.D.]

I'm disgusted by all parties described in this article. There's not much else to say.

[Jake]

I don't have time to Google-up the reference right now, but there was a similar case in Maryland decades ago. Article IV of the Consitution requires that no religious test shall be required for public office. I believe the result of the Maryland case was that the Constitution trumps any state attempt to enforce religious belief.

[Jake_Ellison]

I don't have time to Google-up the reference right now, but there was a similar case in Maryland decades ago. Article IV of the Consitution requires that no religious test shall be required for public office. I believe the result of the Maryland case was that the Constitution trumps any state attempt to enforce religious belief.

The Maryland Constitution is in line with the Federal Constitution on most issues. The Carolina Const. apparently does the exact opposite, and denies the first amendment. I'm glad the powers of the federal judiciary are still in place though, even against such abomination.

I wonder how much that will last though, with all this states rights talk that never once acknowledges that power the Fed. Courts have.

[TheEgoist]

I don't have time to Google-up the reference right now, but there was a similar case in Maryland decades ago. Article IV of the Consitution requires that no religious test shall be required for public office. I believe the result of the Maryland case was that the Constitution trumps any state attempt to enforce religious belief.

Funny that such a law would ever be established in Maryland, the first colony to establish religious freedom.

Anyway, I think, you can all guess my opinion

Edited December 14, 2009 by TheEgoist

[Mixon]

I am pleasantly surprised that a fellow atheist was able to win public office in an area with so many religious conservatives.

[kainscalia]

Porca Miseria. And to think I spent four years of my life in that dreadful place known as the South. IN Asheville, too!