Why Is Section IV Important To The Texas State Constitution?

Article I Section IV of the Texas State Constitution rules that candidates running for public office must believe in a higher power while simultaneously deeming religious tests to verify this claim as unconstitutional. Because of the self-contradictory nature of the provision, Article 1 Section IV is unenforceable in the terms of proving a potential candidate’s religious sentiments in the boundaries of constitutional righteousness, is discriminatory toward those who do not believe in a higher power by granting religious freedom to only those who are religious, and is redundant by the implementation of the Supremacy Clause in the Federal Constitution. This ultimately not only causes confusion in the legal process surrounding the selection of

According to Governing Texas, Article I Section IV in the Texas Constitution states that "No religious test shall never be required as a qualification to any office, or public trust, in this State; nor shall anyone be excluded from holding office on account of his religious sentiments, provided he acknowledges the existence of a Supreme Being." While many argue that Article I Section IV has not negatively impacted citizens on the account of discrimination, the amendment is still nevertheless, contradictory to its own goal on the accounts of enforcement, religious freedom, and the federal constitution and should be removed from the Texas State

Because previous cases in other states have been closed accordingly, it can be inferred that dealing with Article I Section IV on a federal level will yield to similar consequences and actions, where Article I Section IV is abrogated throughout the state of Texas. This is due to the enforcement of Article VI, Clause 2, known as the Supremacy Clause, in the Federal Constitution that states if there is a conflict between state law and federal law, the federal law will overrule state law on the account state laws are to abide by the boundaries of the federal laws which is referred to as the supreme law of the land (Champagne, Harpham et al., 2017 p.46). Article I Section IV in the Texas Constitution fails to abide by the Fourteenth Amendment in the Federal Constitution that states that "equal protection limits the State and Federal governments' power to discriminate in their employment practices by treating employees, former employees, or job applicants unequally because of membership in a group, like a race, religion or sex" because it discriminates against atheists and agnostics in account of