No Religious Test Clause

After requiring all federal and state legislators and officers to swear or affirm to support the federal Constitution, Article VI of the Constitution specifies that “no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.” This prohibition, commonly known as the No Religious Test Clause, banned a longstanding form of religious discrimination, practiced both in England and in the United States, wherein loyalty to a predetermined religion was demanded as proof before one could retain a governmental or official position. The test has also been applied to the state governments under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

KEYWORDS

NO RELIGIOUS TEST CLAUSE

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