[tpaine]

-- notice my 'bold' quote from the test clause of Art VI; the clause clearly says that no test shall ever be required for "-- any office or public Trust under the United States. --"
-- State & local officials hold many offices of public trust in the USA. The clause applies to them, just as it applies to fed officials.

Article VI, stating that "no religious Test shall ever be required as Qualification" for federal office holders, is about all the Constitution had to say about religion.

My quote shows it to apply to 'ANY office'. You simply deny the wording?

The Bill of Rights dealt very specifically with limitations on federal powers.

Your contention is unsupported by the actual language of any of the first ten amendments, nor the preamble. In fact the Preamble makes clear the BOR's are to be considered "as part of the said Constitution. --"

[T'wit]

>> My quote shows it to apply to 'ANY office'. You simply deny the wording?

My understanding is, and remains, that the original Constitution did not set conditions for state and local offices. The phrase "under the United States" means the federal government, not the several states.

[T'wit]

>> The Bill of Rights dealt very specifically with limitations on federal powers.

> Your contention is unsupported by the actual language of any of the first ten amendments, nor the preamble. In fact the Preamble makes clear the BOR's are to be considered "as part of the said Constitution. --"

Well, of course they are part of the Constitution! Who said otherwise? They were added to enumerate certain liberties and rights for the several states and individuals, in order to make the Constitution ratifiable. Certainly they were meant to restrain the enumerated federal powers.