The problem with that line of thinking is that it rejects the fact the Founders never intended the US to be a secular state: .... RINOs suck
Point taken. It was an imprecise choice of words on my part.
I hereby change "secular" to "nondenominational" which is exactly what the Founding Fathers intended.
United States Constitution, Article VI, paragraph 3,
" ...... no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.
" ...... no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.
If someone were proposing a Federal law to disqualify Mormons or anyone else from office on the basis of their religion, this passage would be relevant. It restricts the government, not individual voters. An individual voter is perfectly free to reject or select a candidate on the basis of religion, skin color, how they part their hair, the size of their ears [cough] ...
That doesn't mean that it's a smart thing to do, only that the law (quite rightly) has nothing to say about it.
" ...... no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.
What it does NOT say:
" ...... no religious test shall ever be DENIED to a VOTER selecting ANYONE to any office or public trust under the United States.