Dear right-wing uber-conservative Christian fanatics,
Article VI of the United States Constitution reads, “The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.”
“NO RELIGIOUS TEST SHALL EVER BE REQUIRED”! That means there’s supposed to be a separation from religious extremists like yourselves and the Presidency.
But, just in case Article VI isn’t clear enough, how about Article 2, Section 1?
“Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:–‘I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.'”
NOTE, there is no phrase, “So help me God” on the end of the oath of office; so stop pushing for there to be some twisted form of your uber-conservative Evangelical Christianity as the litmus test of who should or should not be elected President! You have two choices here, you either support the Constitution as the revered Founding Fathers wrote it, or you don’t; clearly there was to be a separation.
Furthermore, in spite of Michele “Krazy” Bachmann’s insistence that Washington uttered the phrase “So help me God” following his swearing in, the earliest known source indicating Washington added “So help me God” to his acceptance, not to the oath, is attributed to Washington Irving, who was six at the time of the inauguration, and first appears 65 years after the event; the only contemporary account that repeats the oath in full, a report from the French consul, Comte de Moustier, states only the constitutional oath, without reference to Washington’s adding “So Help Me God” to his acceptance. But if – and it’s a big IF – George Washington added the words that doesn’t make it somehow Constitutional by executive fiat.
While we’re running down this rabbit hole, did you know President Theodore Roosevelt didn’t use a Bible when taking the oath in 1901? Or that John Quincy Adams swore on a book of law? And that Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in on a Roman Catholic missal on Air Force One?
And furthermore, we’ve not had a single Evangelical Christian serve as President, and if Bachmann, Perry, Santorum and Cain are examples of what that would mean, then thank God for that, and it’ll probably be a long time before we do.
The Liberty Tree 