Cecil Bothwell, Atheist may be barred from office[12/11-He was seated]

[MercedesV]

ASHEVILLE — 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.

http://www.citizen-times.com/article/20091208/NEWS01/912080327

[theal3]

Oh no, now it's the I am more godly than you argument. Yikes, the RW is so off the charts. Our Constitution has no litmus test, freedom of and from religion. Yikes. Scary.

[Details]

They should spend some time removing unconstitutional laws from the varying state laws. There's lots of ridiculous laws out there - laws discriminating against women, laws about religion - all kinds of things where an old law is simply ignored and not enforced -but not removed either.

[LisaM22]

ASHEVILLE — 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.

http://www.citizen-times.com/article/20091208/NEWS01/912080327

lol, talk about desperation on the part of the right wing fanatics

this is a test of separation of church and state, the right will lose this one

[LisaM22]

They should spend some time removing unconstitutional laws from the varying state laws. There's lots of ridiculous laws out there - laws discriminating against women, laws about religion - all kinds of things where an old law is simply ignored and not enforced -but not removed either.

makes you wonder about what kinda government those states had at the time those laws were written don't it

[ShooFly]

He was seated. A friend of mine's son in law was sworn in, along with Cecil. Much ado about nothing, once again.

[ShooFly]

lol, talk about desperation on the part of the right wing fanatics

this is a test of separation of church and state, the right will lose this one

Doh.:thumbsup:

[Lyvia]

I'm glad he was seated, but that anyone seriously tried to make this an issue shows me that atheists like me have a lot of work to do.

[LisaM22]

I'm glad he was seated, but that anyone seriously tried to make this an issue shows me that atheists like me have a lot of work to do.

I just think it is incredible they even tried to pull this off, I mean seriously to lose and then say to the winner that your not a christian so you can't win, sorry, that is just crazy talk, this is America not some 3rd world theocracy

[R~O~S]

They should spend some time removing unconstitutional laws from the varying state laws. There's lots of ridiculous laws out there - laws discriminating against women, laws about religion - all kinds of things where an old law is simply ignored and not enforced -but not removed either.

A good friend believes strongly all laws should be stricken from the books & they should start all over.

I was horrified at the thought, then he explained. Someone did a study and found that each and every one of us breaks some obscure law several times an hour just by walking down the street. There are laws on the books everywhere regarding spitting, cussing, even how you can walk and what color you must be wearing while doing so. IOW at any time you could be arrested for one of these weird long ago forgotten laws you didn't even know existed.

His point was that since we're a country built on personal liberty, laws prohibiting any liberty should be used only very sparingly and there should be a limit on how many they can limit to prevent the build up over time we now have. Once they hit the limit they need to decide what law is going to be revoked before they can add a new one.

He has a point, I'm just not comfortable with the gap between striking down all laws & getting the new in place.

As for this situation, I don't think they'll succeed & they show themselves with the attempt. What they show just isn't pretty, IMO.

[syringa]

For all of those who are drecrying this as a crazy "right wing" thing, perhaps it should be noted that the man who brought up this law on the books as a question to if the atheist should be seated is a former NAACP President. (yes, he is a black man)

He did the people of NC a favor by pointing out laws that should be looked into. jmo

[R~O~S]

For all of those who are drecrying this as a crazy "right wing" thing, perhaps it should be noted that the man who brought up this law on the books as a question to if the atheist should be seated is a former NAACP President. (yes, he is a black man)

He did the people of NC a favor by pointing out laws that should be looked into. jmo

Are you getting that summation from this one article? Or have you read something further on the situation? I ask because that's not what I got from this article.

What I did read is Mr Edgerton's opinion on the situation as well as Mr Quinn's with an accounting of fliers that were sent out during the campaign condemning Mr Bothwell for his religious stance and this:

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

Mr Edgerton isn't even saying Mr Bothwell isn't eligible, he is saying the the constitutional question needs to be resolved prior to swearing Bothwell into office, because the board of elections could be subject to a law suit if it isn't.

IOW he's only commenting on the internet griping & potential ramifications. I didn't see it stated he was the spearhead of the griping. But this is the only article I've read on the matter. I've never found religious bigotry to have a racial component, nor was I aware there were no politically conservative blacks. As a matter of fact I can think of quite a few off the top of my head, I believe one of them is running the GOP right now, isn't he?

[Lyvia]

For all of those who are drecrying this as a crazy "right wing" thing, perhaps it should be noted that the man who brought up this law on the books as a question to if the atheist should be seated is a former NAACP President. (yes, he is a black man)

He did the people of NC a favor by pointing out laws that should be looked into. jmo

He's not THE man who brought it up, though. There were others. I am certain some were right-wingers, based on my experiences as an atheist. Edgerton didn't say Bothwell shouldn't be allowed to hold the office, as some were saying. He said that Bothwell shouldn't be sworn in until the Constitutional issue was resolved, to prevent lawsuits. Whereas others were saying he shouldn't be allowed to hold office.

But it's encouraging that the voters elected him. We're making progress since electing a president who didn't think atheists are citizens or patriots (http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2006_03/008488.php).

[LisaM22]

For all of those who are drecrying this as a crazy "right wing" thing, perhaps it should be noted that the man who brought up this law on the books as a question to if the atheist should be seated is a former NAACP President. (yes, he is a black man)

He did the people of NC a favor by pointing out laws that should be looked into. jmo

you don't think black men can be religious fanatics? not sure what your saying there? religious fanatics come in all shapes, sizes and colors, not sure if it was him or his "supporters" that brought this up, but if he did not, he should of said something

[Mahalo]

For all of those who are drecrying this as a crazy "right wing" thing, perhaps it should be noted that the man who brought up this law on the books as a question to if the atheist should be seated is a former NAACP President. (yes, he is a black man)

He did the people of NC a favor by pointing out laws that should be looked into. jmo

Don't get your equating the two? If you're 'crazy rw' you can't be black? Hmmmmmmmm:sneaky:

[Mahalo]

you don't think black men can be religious fanatics? not sure what your saying there? religious fanatics come in all shapes, sizes and colors, not sure if it was him or his "supporters" that brought this up, but if he did not, he should of said something

you beat me to it! Astute observation, Lisa!