State Constitutions of the US and religion

[reprise]

When I was reading the "cultural stereotypes" thread earlier, I realised that many people outside of the US are only exposed to US federal politics via the media and don't realise the extent to which the individual state governments influence the day to day lives of US citizens (for that matter, even their local governments often exert a great deal more influence than is found in other nations).

So I found this IIDB thread on How does your state constitution treat atheism? (http://www.iidb.org/vbb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=64730) fascinating. I'd always realised that it would be difficult for an atheist to gain high public office in the US, but I didn't realise that some state constitutions specifically prohibit atheists from holding public office.

Are there other ways in which state constitutions exert influence on American life which those of us outside the US might find surprising?

[espritch]

I've lived in NC all my life and I just found out that I can be disqualified from public office for denying the being of Almighty God. The things you learn! :eek:

Thanks for the link.

[Abdul Alhazred]

Originally posted by espritch
I've lived in NC all my life and I just found out that I can be disqualified from public office for denying the being of Almighty God. The things you learn! :eek:

Thanks for the link.

These state constitutional provisions are nullified by the 14th amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

Of course, while you aren't legally disqualified by being an Atheist, they still won't vote for you. :rub: :p

[Some Friggin Guy]

Actually, I am fairly certain that here in Tn, they would still try to disqualify me for being an atheist.

Because of this, I am tempted to run for public office just so I can bring it to the Supreme Court.