The state still formally forbids non-believers from holding public office in its constitution, even though this is unconstitutional at a national level. An attempt to end that anomaly just failed. But it's not as if Arkansans can't move with the times: they did just pass a law to allow people to bring guns into church.
The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two Sons, and an Unlikely Road to Manhood 
Copyright © 2009 by The Atlantic Monthly Group. All rights reserved.
Yeah, you need the guns in church to shoot the atheist candidates for office. Either that or protect yourself from the loonies who bust into churches and start firing away. Except that the people who want the guns in the church are the very people the loonies wouldn't want to shoot.
My head hurts.
Coates, April Fool's is a month and a half away but this was a good try, especially the guns...hahaha! Good one!
k1
ryanculver.blogspot.com
I don't want to get into small town bitterness here, but the best that even our current President of the United States, inagurated into office 233 years after our nation was founded with the European "enlightenment" as its philosophical backdrop, is to term atheists as "non-believers," which surely is only a step up from "infidel," however much it is a complete flight above invisible. Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition.
Frankly, I'm surprised that AK doesn't have laws on the books that officially prevent women and non-whites from holding office.
All I can say is this is yet another reason that I really can't get behind the whole "states rights" mantra that is so popular with the Libertarians.
yeah, this is why they call it flyover country. sometimes i feel bad when i think about the fact that i've been to more foreign countries than U.S. states....but reading this....not that bad.
Why is this allowed in Arkansas? Why hasnt it been struck down by the SCOTUS? Am I missing something here? I don't really care about the gun stuff; I just want it to work both ways. If they can allow guns in church than DC should be allowed to ban handguns. GOPers are always screaming for more local control except when it's something they are against. I know their hypocrisy is a shock.
Why is this allowed in Arkansas? Why hasnt it been struck down by the SCOTUS?
Such requirements were struck down by SCOTUS in 1961, so the AK ban (and similar ones in places like Texas and Tennessee) are officially unenforceable. This was an attempt to take this unconstitutional part of the state's constitution out of it...sort of like Mississippi did with the ant-miscegination part of their constitution in 2000.
even our current President of the United States, inaugurated into office 233 years after our nation was founded with the European "enlightenment" as its philosophical backdrop, is to term atheists as "non-believers,"
But there are plenty of non-believers who don't consider themselves atheists.
Just for the record, and because I know we don't want to see anything else get blamed on Sarah Palin, Arkansas is AR.
This atheist lived in Arkansas for 2 years. Try not to judge the citizens too harshly. There are a lot of nice people there. The problem is the crazies that run the government and the fact that the citizens haven't known enough atheists to get a sense of who we are.
Mock the officials not the state and its people.
Just for the record, and because I know we don't want to see anything else get blamed on Sarah Palin, Arkansas is AR.
Damn, I always mess this one up.
Deleted. Come on man. If you're going hijack, at least give me a link.
"Mock the officials not the state and its people."
I agree that every citizen of Arkansas shouldn't be judged by this, but these officials ARE elected.
I actually support the notion of the right to carry arms to churches that want to allow such things (while letting churches reserve the right to ban weapons from their property should they choose to do so). After all, being armed is not necessarily antithetical to religious behavior, especially when it is remembered that "arms" includes things like kirpans and athames, although I'm sure that most Arkansas legislators didn't exactly have those things in mind.
This atheist lived in Arkansas for 2 years. Try not to judge the citizens too harshly.
I was there for 4 years in grad school, and I wholeheartedly encourage the mocking, if only because the ones you'll be directing it at won't realize you're mocking them and the ones who agree with it will understand.
I kid, but only a little.
It doesn't feel like a different country to me at all. Of course, I live in Texas.
I agree that every citizen of Arkansas shouldn't be judged by this, but these officials ARE elected.
Molly Ivins had a great line in one of her columns years ago. I won't get it verbatim, but basically she said, "If you took all the crooks and idiots out of the legislature, it wouldn't be a representative body anymore."
Arkansas doesn't *quite* feel like a different country, but it's sure different from the Dallas/Ft. Worth area where I grew up. But I've never been to one of the cities, just the small town where my wife grew up.
By the way, if you really want to annoy a Razorbacks fan, say something like "Here, pig pig pig pig!" when they talk about "calling the hogs". Just be prepared to run when you do...
why do they need guns in church? won't their god protect them from evil doers and gays?
Eriely reminding me of iran...sheeeesh...is this what "real" america is all about??
Well, remember that until a few years ago 30+ states could break into your bedroom and arrest you if you were doing anything other than missionary position. In many states, it was a high crime.
Also, methinks smoking pot used to be illegal, years and years ago.
"But it's not as if Arkansans can't move with the times: they did just pass a law to allow people to bring guns into church. "
How much of a scare would it take to get a church-load shooting all at once?
Everyone from or in Arkansas I have ever met has been lovely. I would trust them with guns more than most people. Still....think of the headlines.
to term atheists as "non-believers," which surely is only a step up from "infidel,"
I don't have a problem being called a "non-believer." It seems like a pretty accurate description.
Then again, I've only ever lived in liberal metro areas, so the worst I've had to put up with is the very occasional ignorant remarks from Christians. And, of course, national politicians using me as a scape goat.
I believe the theory is that there has been shootings in churches so a well-armed congregation might be a deterrence or stop things. I don't really agree, but that's probably the theory.
I was born in Arkansas and I'm going down home this weekend. It's a beautiful state full of some diverse and wonderful characters. Back in the mountains there were interesting artists, hermitty types, monks, bakers, and so forth. As well as the eccentric types who went to Trek conventions and listened to the Moody Blues. There's also a growing Hispanic population.
However it does have a good deal of racists and anti-Catholic bigots. Up to the 1970s Protestant revivals occurred at public schools and students were expected to attend them. Also a disdain for Vietnamese immigrants and racial epithets. The Anti-Catholic xenophobicky element does relate to the hardcore Fundamentalist portion of the people. Look up a guy named Tony Alamo. And I couldn't get an education down there.
Still I miss it in many ways even though I left at five. The land, the oddballs, etc.
Thomas R writes: "I was born in Arkansas and I'm going down home this weekend. It's a beautiful state full of some diverse and wonderful characters. Back in the mountains there were interesting artists, hermitty types, monks, bakers, and so forth. As well as the eccentric types who went to Trek conventions and listened to the Moody Blues. There's also a growing Hispanic population.
However it does have a good deal of racists and anti-Catholic bigots. Up to the 1970s Protestant revivals occurred at public schools and students were expected to attend them. Also a disdain for Vietnamese immigrants and racial epithets. The Anti-Catholic xenophobicky element does relate to the hardcore Fundamentalist portion of the people. Look up a guy named Tony Alamo. And I couldn't get an education down there.
Still I miss it in many ways even though I left at five. The land, the oddballs, etc. "
I really enjoyed reading that bit, TR. You're an observant dude.
I've never thought of myself as an atheist, but I'm definitely a non-believer
Heck, I don't swing that atheist way myself--lessee, Jewish by birth, Taoist philosophically, Goddess-worshipper for political reasons, admirer of Coyote's sense of humor, that Afro-Cuban music goes on in the temple of my spirit, had an epiphany walking home from school at 9 about the awesomeness of creation that has stuck with me all my days, and hope I have the time to devoting myself to a little Zen near the end of my days. Like being a sympatheic straight person, I swing the non-believer not atheist way. Amazing how us non-believers of non-atheist persuasions, we, need to bother pointing out our bonifides. Bluish? I don't smell bluish.