Constitution written with strict religious neutrality

In a letter (May 23) Manuel Madrid said, “The colonies also acknowledged that all authority came from God and not of man.” He also expressed we are dismantling the Constitution, its framers would turn over in their graves and implied God was in the Constitution. Unfortunately, there are many misconceptions about the founding members of the United States and their beliefs. This is only one.

The entire document was written with strict religious neutrality. There is no reference to God or any other deity. There are two references to religion. Article 6 says “No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.” This simply means it would be unconstitutional for there to be a requirement for an elected official to be a particular religion.

There is also the First Amendment that states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” This amendment means the government should not establish, support, or otherwise involve itself in any religion.

So, I agree with Mr. Madrid. We should follow the Constitution. We should follow it the way it is written, not with his false information.

This story was originally published May 27, 2017 at 2:10 PM with the headline "Constitution written with strict religious neutrality."