| Information on Maryland House Bill 181 | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: Central Baltimore County Democratic Club (cbcdc cbcdc.org)
|
|
| Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2022 07:24:59 -0800 (PST) | |
Fellow Democrats,
Please see the below letter written by our Vice-President, Dan Meyer, regarding House Bill 181
Hello Fellow CBCDCers,
The MD Constitution contains something called the Declaration of Rights which is kind of like the Bill of Rights, but longer and crazier, you can find a copy here:
https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/43const/html/00dec.html
Among the articles in the Declaration of Rights are Articles 36, 37, and 39 which pertain to religious freedom. Article 36 directly addresses religious freedom as well as the right to serve as a witness or juror in court. Article 37 addresses qualifications to hold public office, and Article 39 describes oaths to be administered. In all the case of Articles 36 and 37 the religious tests are prohibited with the exception that the person may be required to affirm a belief in God (likely the Abrahamic God). In the case of Article 39, oaths must "generally esteem the most effectual confirmation by the attestation of the Divine Being." The language in Article 36 is particularly cringeworthy, stating: that "[no person may be disqualified] on account of his religious belief; provided, he believes in the existence of God, and that under His dispensation such person will be held morally accountable for his acts, and be rewarded or punished therefor either in this world or in the world to come." Article 36 also incorporates provisions stating that it is your duty to worship God, that God is male, and that proselytizing in public schools is perfectly legal.
https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/43const/html/00dec.html
Among the articles in the Declaration of Rights are Articles 36, 37, and 39 which pertain to religious freedom. Article 36 directly addresses religious freedom as well as the right to serve as a witness or juror in court. Article 37 addresses qualifications to hold public office, and Article 39 describes oaths to be administered. In all the case of Articles 36 and 37 the religious tests are prohibited with the exception that the person may be required to affirm a belief in God (likely the Abrahamic God). In the case of Article 39, oaths must "generally esteem the most effectual confirmation by the attestation of the Divine Being." The language in Article 36 is particularly cringeworthy, stating: that "[no person may be disqualified] on account of his religious belief; provided, he believes in the existence of God, and that under His dispensation such person will be held morally accountable for his acts, and be rewarded or punished therefor either in this world or in the world to come." Article 36 also incorporates provisions stating that it is your duty to worship God, that God is male, and that proselytizing in public schools is perfectly legal.
Through a series of unanimous and mostly unanimous (8-1) SCOTUS decisions in the 1960s, much of this language has been deemed blatantly illegal and unenforceable, however our Constitution was never fixed to comply with the law. After many years of wrangling, I have managed to get Delegate Terri Hill of District 12 (Southwest Baltimore County and Howard County) to put in a bill to amend the constitution to remove the troublesome language. The bill will remove all religious tests, while preserving and enhancing religious freedom and government neutrality toward religion, the very precepts by which our country was founded. Additionally, it removes gendered pronouns and replaces them with gender neutral language.
The bill details can be found here:
https://www.billtrack50.com/billdetail/1407657/12543
I'd like to ask anyone who is willing to submit testimony in support of the bill, or to directly contact your legislators or those in your networks, especially if they are on Health and Government Operations. As usual, please be polite. Unfortunately, this is very late notice, written testimony is due by Friday, January 28th at 3PM. You can also opt to given oral testimony via Zoom on February 1st at 2:30. However, written testimony is probably better. Feel free to write whatever you want for why you support it, but generally the points I'd emphasize is that it is important for our government to be pluralistic and treat all citizens with respect regardless of their religious beliefs. Please feel free to email me at numeyer [at] gmail.com if you have any questions.
https://www.billtrack50.com/billdetail/1407657/12543
I'd like to ask anyone who is willing to submit testimony in support of the bill, or to directly contact your legislators or those in your networks, especially if they are on Health and Government Operations. As usual, please be polite. Unfortunately, this is very late notice, written testimony is due by Friday, January 28th at 3PM. You can also opt to given oral testimony via Zoom on February 1st at 2:30. However, written testimony is probably better. Feel free to write whatever you want for why you support it, but generally the points I'd emphasize is that it is important for our government to be pluralistic and treat all citizens with respect regardless of their religious beliefs. Please feel free to email me at numeyer [at] gmail.com if you have any questions.
***
If you have never provided written testimony you will have to go to: http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Account/Register/Tracking to create an account, and then go to http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/MyMGATracking/WitnessSignup to submit testimony. Written testimony should be in the form of a PDF file (i.e. write it in Word and then Print to PDF or export, and then upload the file). It's not as painful as it sounds.
The format for testimony should be:
[February 1, 2022]
HB181 - SUPPORT
Declaration of Rights – Religious Freedom, Religious Tests, and Oaths and Affirmations
Dear Chair Pendegrass, Vice-Chair Pena-Melnyk, and Members of the Health and Government Operations Committee,
HB0181 serves the purpose of altering and removing references to God from certain provisions relating to religious freedom, religious tests, and oaths and affirmations by proposing amendments to the Maryland Constitution, Declaration of Rights, Article 36, 37, and 39. [Summary of the bill]
.
[Insert Testimony]
Respectfully,
[Signature]
[February 1, 2022]
HB181 - SUPPORT
Declaration of Rights – Religious Freedom, Religious Tests, and Oaths and Affirmations
Dear Chair Pendegrass, Vice-Chair Pena-Melnyk, and Members of the Health and Government Operations Committee,
HB0181 serves the purpose of altering and removing references to God from certain provisions relating to religious freedom, religious tests, and oaths and affirmations by proposing amendments to the Maryland Constitution, Declaration of Rights, Article 36, 37, and 39. [Summary of the bill]
.
[Insert Testimony]
Respectfully,
[Signature]
Dan Meyer
VP of CBCDC
- (no other messages in thread)
Results generated by Tiger Technologies Web hosting using MHonArc.