You've probably been wondering. It's a valid question. Fortunately, I'm here to answer it for you.

The Constitution of the great State of North Carolina has this to say about North Carolina's standing with respect to the United States:

The people of this State have the inherent, sole, and exclusive right of regulating the internal government and police thereof, and of altering or abolishing their Constitution and form of government whenever it may be necessary to their safety and happiness; but every such right shall be exercised in pursuance of law and consistently with the Constitution of the United States. … This State shall ever remain a member of the American Union; the people thereof are part of the American nation; there is no right on the part of this State to secede; and all attempts, from whatever source or upon whatever pretext, to dissolve this Union or to sever this Nation, shall be resisted with the whole power of the State. … Every citizen of this State owes paramount allegiance to the Constitution and government of the United States, and no law or ordinance of the State in contravention or subversion thereof can have any binding force. …

So it's troubling to see that North Carolina representatives Harry Warren and Carl Ford have introduced the Rowan County, North Carolina Defense of Religion Act of 2013, which proclaims:

SECTION 1. The North Carolina General Assembly asserts that the Constitution of the United States of America does not prohibit states or their subsidiaries from making laws respecting an establishment of religion. SECTION 2. The North Carolina General Assembly does not recognize federal court rulings which prohibit and otherwise regulate the State of North Carolina, its public schools, or any political subdivisions of the State from making laws respecting an establishment of religion.

Especially in light of repeated holdings by the United States Supreme Court that the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution (guaranteeing citizens "equal protection of the laws" and preventing states from withholding "liberty … without due process of law") makes the First Amendment's guarantee that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion" applicable to the states, including North Carolina.

Representatives Warren and Ford are upset that the American Civil Liberties Union has sued the County Commissioners of Rowan County, North Carolina, for opening public meetings with prayers to Jesus Christ. I suppose, if one believes that Jesus Christ is intimately concerned with the goings and comings of the Rowan County Commission, the lawsuit is troubling, because the plaintiffs will be successful. Their solution: that North Carolina, and its subdivisions including Rowan County, should take upon themselves the power to establish a State religion.

Now I'm not a Christian. But if I were, I would suggest to Representatives Warren and Ford, as a Christian, that they should be concerned with their own spiritual welfare rather than that of the Rowan County Commission.

Because the North Carolina Constitution has this to say about oaths:

Each member of the General Assembly, before taking his seat, shall take an oath or affirmation that he will support the Constitution and laws of the United States and the Constitution of the State of North Carolina, and will faithfully discharge his duty as a member of the Senate or House of Representatives.

We know what the United States Constitution has to say about a State establishment of religion. What does the North Carolina Constitution say?

All persons have a natural and inalienable right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences, and no human authority shall, in any case whatever, control or interfere with the rights of conscience. … No person shall be taken, imprisoned, or disseized of his freehold, liberties, or privileges, or outlawed, or exiled, or in any manner deprived of his life, liberty, or property, but by the law of the land. No person shall be denied the equal protection of the laws; nor shall any person be subjected to discrimination by the State because of race, color, religion, or national origin.

Under the plain meaning of the North Carolina Constitution, opening public meetings with a sectarian prayer is "control or interference" with the rights of conscience. It is "discrimination by the State" because of religion.

What constitutional blasphemy is it, then, to propose a law permitting the State to establish a religion? This is not the act of a crank. This is the act of two desperate men, entrusted by the people to hold high office, betraying that trust by attempting to subvert the Constitution. There is, from a constitutional perspective, no difference between Harry Waren and Carl Ford on the one hand, and Aaron Burr on the other. Or Jefferson Davis.

Representatives Warren and Ford, I submit, are oathbreakers. By introducing the Rowan County, North Carolina Defense of Religion Act of 2013, they have violated their oaths to support the Constitutions of the United States, and North Carolina.

The remedy for "malpractice in office," under the North Carolina Constitution, is impeachment.

Jesus Christ, in whose name Warren and Ford wish to establish a State Religion in North Carolina, had this to say about oaths:

Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne: Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.

North Carolina Representatives Harry Warren and Carl Ford should be impeached. They have violated their oaths, before God and man.

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