Tennesseans To Vote To Protect Religious Rights In Politics
Photo: Sewanee Memorial Cross – This is the approx. 60 ft. tall Memorial Cross on the campus of University of the South in Sewanee, TN. The cross was built in 1922 in honor of war veterans and is near the edge of a western bluff of the mountain, where you can see it for miles away. Photo Credit: Brent Moore / CC
The Tennessee Conservative [By Jason Vaughn] –
This Fall, voters in Tennessee will be given an opportunity to remove wording from the state constitution that bans religious leaders from being able to serve in the state legislature.
Section 1 of article IX of the Tennessee State Constitution reads, “Whereas ministers of the Gospel are by their profession, dedicated to God and the care of souls, and ought not to be diverted from the great duties of their functions; therefore, no minister of the Gospel, or priest of any denomination whatever, shall be eligible to a seat in either House of the Legislature.”
Senator Mark Pody (R-Lebanon-District 17) proposed the change because he believes that all politics should be open to those with evangelical beliefs.
“Our forefathers founded this nation on Christian biblical values,” Pody says.
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No one seems to know exactly what prompted the wording’s addition to the state constitution. Some historians believe that it may have been an attempt to work towards a legal separation of church and state.
Others, however, are quick to note that even early advocates of the separation of church and state did not all agree to the banning of clergy. Some, such as James Madison, spoke out against it.
“Does not the exclusion of ministers of the gospel, as such, violate a fundamental principle of liberty by punishing a religious profession with the privation of a civil right?” Madison once wrote to Thomas Jefferson.
Some have pointed to heated disputes between church leaders over politics in the past as one of the reasons for hanging on to the wording. People across the state had trouble distinguishing between clergy in general and those they knew well as being divisive.
In 1978, the United States Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the ban was unconstitutional, so it has not been effectively enforced since that time. Chief Justice Warren Burger made a decision stating that Tennessee was forcing individuals to give up a religious right – serving as a minister – in order to exercise a civil right – running for public office.
Most Tennesseans probably do not even realize that this language still exists in the state Constitution. However, it does, and it leaves open a means of refusing to allow those with strong Christian beliefs to run for political office, despite that Supreme Court ruling.
On the November ballot, voters will finally get the chance to step up and protect both civil AND religious freedoms.
About the Author: Jason Vaughn, Media Coordinator for The Tennessee Conservative ~ Jason previously worked for a legacy publishing company based in Crossville, TN in a variety of roles through his career. Most recently, he served as Deputy Director for their flagship publication. Prior, he was a freelance journalist writing articles that appeared in the Herald Citizen, the Crossville Chronicle and The Oracle among others. He graduated from Tennessee Technological University with a Bachelor’s in English-Journalism, with minors in Broadcast Journalism and History. Contact Jason at news@TennesseeConservativeNews.com
