the summoning of a Marxist atheist

[BethK]

The uk is not a theocracy. America comes closer even though its expressly forbidden to mix church
and state. I wonder what the US would look like if there wasnt that law?

I suspect that the US would look a little more theocratic than Iran without that law, at least in name, and
on a document which plenty of people have sworn oaths of office to uphold and defend.

I fear that it won't continue to be upheld, as long as there are cases in which it is broken and nothing is
done about it - either no one files suit (which is expensive), or someone sues and loses.

Cases in point I'm thinking of include a town in Oklahoma which I recently got out of that uses tax money
to fund Christian community centers, and a jail in South Carolina which only allows prisoners to keep
in their cells copies of the King James Bible, sent from one particular printer of that Southern Baptist
version, and only a leather-bound copy of it. No modern English Bibles. No Catholic Bibles. No Korans.
No Heart Sutra. No Vedas. No letters from their family. No communications with their attorney. No
books concerning the law to help them mount their own defense. No educational materials. No (other
) fiction books. The amazing thing is that this law has been upheld in courts when challenged!

While there are to be no religious tests for public office, in the high military ranks not being a Christian
and of any of several mainline faiths seems to be a requirement for promotion into or through those high
ranks. Irreligious people are seldom elected to public office at the national level, or even high state
levels (e.g. State Governors). According to a Pew Research Center survey on what features make
someone more or less likely to vote for a candidate, 6 in 10 US citizens would not support an atheist
candidate. Professing atheism made one less attractive as a candidate than one who had never before
held public office, was a minority, was a woman, was gay, had used drugs, or had an extramarital affair.
http://www.secular.org/blogs/mike-meno/s...te-atheist

That seems odd to have as a top priority in a country that has no religious test for public office - the
public demands such a test and won't vote for someone who "fails" such a test.