Okay, so, awhile ago I mentioned that North Carolina is dangerously republican:
In the state house? The republicans not only held serve but they extended their majority. To the point that they hold a veto proof majority. In fact, they are so in the majority that the republicans are able to submit constitutional amendments to popular vote without even one democrat agreeing.
Well, another piece of legislation has been proposed that will try to take advantage of this republican advantage:
A bill filed by Republican lawmakers would allow the state to declare an official religion, in violation of the Establishment Clause of the US Bill of Rights, and seeks to nullify any federal ruling against Christian prayer by public bodies in North Carolina.
The bill grew out of a federal lawsuit filed last month by the ACLU against the Rowan County Board of Commissioners. In the lawsuit, the ACLU says the board has opened 97% of its meetings since 2007 with explicitly Christian prayers.
Overtly Christian prayers at government meetings are not rare in North Carolina. Since the Republican takeover in 2011, the state Senate chaplain has offered a explicitly Christian invocation virtually every day of session, despite the fact that some senators are not Christian.
I can’t imagine that this bill will pass into law. In fact, I have no idea what the point of the legislation is about. North Carolina already has a requirement in our constitution that speaks to religion:
Sec. 8. Disqualifications for office.
The following persons shall be disqualified for office:
First, any person who shall deny the being of Almighty God.
Serious, under the state constitution, if you deny the existence of God, you are disqualified from holding office. And, as the article mentions, prayer at meetings is not rare; apparently we do it fairly often.
Again, not sure what the point of the bill is, but it certainly will be interesting to watch.