WHB/6/6
Sponsored by Jumana Ali, Dani Morales of Ravenwood High School
This legislation was filed in the General Services category
Presented as part of the YIG Volunteer 2024 conference
| 1 | BE IT ENACTED BY THE TENNESSEE YMCA YOUTH IN GOVERNMENT: |
| 2 | |
| 3 | Section 1: Terms in this act shall be defined as follows: |
| 4 | A) Atheist: a person who disbelieves or lacks belief in the existence of God or gods |
| 5 | B) Anti-Atheism: Any form of discrimination or persecution against atheists |
| 6 | C) Article IX Section II of TN Constitution: No person who denies the being of God, or a future |
| 7 | state of rewards and punishments, shall hold any office in the civil department of this state |
| 8 | |
| 9 | Section 2: Article IX Section II of the Tennessee State Constitution shall be amended by deleting |
| 10 | the section in order to remove the unconstitutional requirement of religious qualifications for |
| 11 | holding public office. This section inappropriately targets atheists, and shall therefore be repealed. |
| 12 | |
| 13 | Section 3: If passed, this amendment shall further be submitted to the people at the next general |
| 14 | election in which a governor is to be chosen, being the 2026 November general election, and the |
| 15 | Secretary of State is directed to place such proposed amendment on the ballot for that election. |
| 16 | |
| 17 | Section 4: Article IX Section II of the Tennessee State Constitution and all other laws in conflict |
| 18 | with this act are hereby repealed |
| 19 | |
| 20 | Section 5: This Act shall take effect immediately upon passage, subject to the approval of the |
| 21 | proposed amendment by the electorate as outlined in Section 3. If the proposed amendment is not |
| 22 | approved by the electorate, this Act shall be deemed null and void. |
| 23 |