Now as to the provision which forever bars any religious test as the qualification for any office or place of public trust under the United States. We have already given serious consideration to the great fundamental human privilege which the Constitution guards, the right to worship God according to the dictates of one’s conscience. We have already found that regardless of church or creed each person stands before the law equal in our country. The older you grow, the more fully you realize what religion means to a great many people in this world, the more fully you will appreciate the blessing which came to humanity in these provisions of the Constitution. There are some of us who do not belong to any church organization, and yet we are intensely interested, because there was a time when every person was compelled by law to belong to a church organization, to the state church, the state religion. I have already explained that we find solemn statutes enacted by the British Parliament, as an illustration, which provided for a death penalty for those who did not believe in the religion of the state. There is no religious test which can be made a qualification for any office under the United States; nor for any office for any State in the Union. There should be no individual discrimination in voting for public officials because of the religion or church to which a candidate for office may belong. These are sacred, individual rights. Men must be judged by their conduct, by their character, by their ability, by their capacity to serve the people and their country, not by the religion which one may profess. We must cultivate the spirit of charity toward our neighbors, charity which means love, which enables us to maintain a proper spirit of toleration for those who differ from us in matters of belief. ELEMENTARY QUESTIONS 1. Does a citizen have the same rights in California that he does in New York? 2. Why is religious belief never made a qualification for office? 3. What is impeachment? 4. Are judges representatives of the people? Why? 5. Can the State of Nebraska enact a law imposing a tax upon merchandise shipped into Nebraska from any other State? ADVANCED QUESTIONS A. What is impeachment? B. Describe the manner of trial before trial by jury. Compare the justice of the ordeal end wager of battle with the jury system. C. Show how these provisions make for democracy. D. Why is the spirit of charity necessary in a democracy? E. Write a paper on the following: The Ordeal Wager of Battle How Englishmen Won the Right to Trial by Jury XXIII. WRONGS UNDER KING GEORGE The Story Of The Colonists In The Declaration Of Independence