This is so wrong! Why are my people so oppressed!

The Bill of Rights of the Texas Constitution (Article I, Section 4) allows people to be excluded from holding office on religious grounds. An official may be "excluded from holding office" if she/he does not "acknowledge the existence of a Supreme Being."

This would specifically exclude all Atheists and Agnostics from holding public office. It would also exclude:

Most Buddhists, who do not believe in a personal deity.

Members of the Church of Satan; they are typically agnostics.

Some Unitarian Universalists.

Some followers of the New Age who do not believe in the existence of a personal deity
However, Wiccans and Zoroastrians are acceptable, as they believe in two deities -- twice as many as Section 4 requires. Hindus would also be good enough because they generally acknowledge the existence of millions of deities. The number, gender, shape, size and other attributes do not matter, as long as you believe that a Supreme Being of some sort exists.

Okay just to be clear here. If I don't believe in an invisible man in the sky who is watching everything I do and waiting to judge whether or not I can stay with him after I die, then I am the one who is not fit to hold a responsible public office?

My favorite part of this is that I get grouped with the Satanists, who are grouped with the Buddhists. Really about the only thing that Satanists and Buddhists have in common is that they are not Christians. Oh wait, maybe that's the point.

Now I am not a lawyer, (Sorry Mom) but it seems to me that this would have no hope of holding up in a court of law. I mean how can you insist that somebody believe in a deity in order to help decide whether the city needs a new park or not. You know I would never ask somebody that I was going to hire what their religious views happened to be. Well, you know unless they wanted to sacrifice poultry in the breakroom. But that is really more of a health code concern.

I have worked with Baptists, Mormons (very odd religion. What is with the underwear?), Wiccans (interesting jewelry), Presbyterians, Buddhists, Jehovah's witnesses, Hindus, and many more of which I was probably not even aware. I cannot remember ever really caring. No one group seemed any more responsible or reliable then any other. They were just people.

We often talk about our free society. But, really that is just talk.