South Carolina has been getting all the attention.

So NC is doing some of their own backwards **** to make sure they're
not out of the running in the battle to be the dummest southern state.
South Carolina has a huge lead...


ASHEVILLE — North Carolina's constitution is clear: politicians who
deny the existence of God are barred from holding office.

Opponents of Cecil Bothwell are seizing on that law to argue he should
not be seated as a City Council member today, even though federal
courts have ruled religious tests for public office are unlawful under
the U.S. Constitution.

Voters elected the writer and builder to the council last month.

“I'm not saying that Cecil Bothwell is not a good man, but if he's an
atheist, he's not eligible to serve in public office, according to the
state constitution,” said H.K. Edgerton, a former Asheville NAACP
president.

Article 6, section 8 of the state constitution says: “The following
persons shall be disqualified for office: First, any person who shall
deny the being of Almighty God.”

Rights enshrined in the U.S. Constitution trump the restriction in the
state constitution, said Bob Orr, executive director of the N.C.
Institute for Constitutional Law.

“I think there's any number of federal cases that would view this as
an imposition of a religious qualification and violate separation of
church and state,” said Orr, a former state Supreme Court justice.

In 1961, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Maryland's requirement for
officials to declare belief in God violated the freedom of religion
guaranteed by the First Amendment.

Additionally, Article VI of the U.S. Constitution says: “no religious
Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public
Trust under the United States.”