Amendment To The "No ReligiousTest" Clause

by Jim Harrison
(Elkton, MD)

Mr. President and gentlemen of the convention,
It seems to me that Article VI and paragraph 3 are destined to do great damage to our country in the days and years to follow.

This proposal states in pertinent part: "...no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States."

I propose that we amend the clause to read as follows: "A Trinitarian religious test shall be required as Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States."

If we continue on this path to a supposed neutrality in religion, we will find ourselves in the camp of the enemies of God and man. The clause as written flies in the face of Him who is the prince of the kings of the earth.

We see no present danger here of establishing a national church by merely recognizing the Trinitarian God of the Bible as colonial charters have done in the past and some state constitutions do in the present. Christian men hold these truths to be biblically evident. What is it that gentlemen wish? Shall we defy the Covenant of the past into which our fathers entered, for a false sense of security? Shall we abandon that sacred Compact which acknowledged their chief purpose for coming to these shores?

I hear the sound of rejoicing among the enemies of truth as we consider this doctrine of death. As for me, I must ask why do we not seek God's kingdom and His righteousness lest we fall by the wayside and go the way of all flesh, for we are not wiser than He who holds the destiny of all nations in His mighty hand!