"No religious test shall ever 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 acknowledge the existence of a Supreme Being."
(Emphasis added)
This would specifically exclude all Atheists and Agnostics from holding public office, or being a member of the civil service of the state. It would also exclude Buddhists, members of the Church of Satan and some Unitarian-Universalists.
This phrase is a historical relic, left over from earlier times. The federal Constitution's provisions of religious freedom supersedes any statutory law and state constitutions, and thus nullifies the effect of this clause.
However, now that the Texas' Constitution includes this phrase, it is probably stuck with it. And it will forever indicate that people who follow some minority religions were considered second class citizens of questionable morality at the time that this part of the Constitution was written. It could only be removed by majority vote of the citizens of Texas. With the present religious and political climate in the state, this just is not going to happen.
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