The New Jersey Decision

First off, you should know that communism was the new “great threat to the American way of life” when New Jersey adopted its latest constitution in 1947. To prove that the state of New Jersey has nothing in common with the godless Commies there are more instances of “Almighty G-d” in this constitution than your average Baptist sermon.

New Jersey State Constitution 1947
Article I – Rights And Privileges:

3. No person shall be deprived of the inestimable privilege of worshipping Almighty God in a manner agreeable to the dictates of his own conscience; nor under any pretense whatever be compelled to attend any place of worship contrary to his faith and judgment; nor shall any person be obliged to pay tithes, taxes, or other rates for building or repairing any church or churches, place or places of worship, or for the maintenance of any minister or ministry, contrary to what he believes to be right or has deliberately and voluntarily engaged to perform.

4. There shall be no establishment of one religious sect in preference to another; no religious or racial test shall be required as a qualification for any office or public trust.

5. No person shall be denied the enjoyment of any civil or military right, nor be discriminated against in the exercise of any civil or military right, nor be segregated in the militia or in the public schools, because of religious principles, race, color, ancestry or national origin.

The Religious Reich are doomed in the state of New Jersey. They keep making their case in religious terms, and the state constitution has gone to such lengths to protect religion that they have to automatically reject any religious argument.

While Article I follows the Bill of Rights to a great extent, New Jersey has gone well beyond the establishment clause. While it could certainly be argued that atheists have no rights in New Jersey under this constitution, anything that calls itself a religion has many more rights than under the US Constitution. Because homosexuality has been labeled a religious issue, the state has to avoid any appearance of partiality, or they would be advancing the cause of one religious sect over another. Making marriage sacred guaranteed a decision the Reich didn’t want.

I really don’t see how you could write a single amendment that would exclude homosexuals from enjoying the rights and privileges of marriage. They have put religion in the mix and the state of New Jersey is really excluded from messing around with matters of religious doctrine.