Some 2301 students have noted in last week's written assignment that the Texas Bill of Rights contains a clause that says: No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office, or public trust, in this State; nor shall any one be excluded from holding office on account of his religious sentiments, provided he acknowledge the existence of a Supreme Being.
This makes it clear that atheists cannot hold public office in the state, and is very different than language in the US Constitution that preculdes such limitations.
This clause was negated however in the 1961 court case Torcaso v. Watkins, which argued that it violated the establishment clause which, they argued, protects people from being compeled to profess a belief in a church or religion. It was also held that the requirement violated the Constitution's mandate that religious tests not be used as a qualification to hold office.
This applied not only to Texas, but to other state constitutions that had similar clauses that allowed for discrimination against atheists.
