1. United States
2. Pa.
3. Letter

The United States Constitution establishes an unambiguous standard: Article VI, Clause 3 prohibits any religious test for holding public office, and the First Amendment's Establishment Clause strictly forbids the establishment of a state religion. Public servants take an oath to support and defend the Constitution—not any specific theology, creed, or holy text. Imposing religious litmus tests on candidates or demanding that citizens of minority faiths repeatedly prove their civic loyalty, while simultaneously seeking to codify sectarian religious doctrine into civil law, violates the foundational tenets of American constitutional republic. Religious freedom is a two-sided guarantee: the absolute right to practice one’s faith free from government suppression, and the absolute guarantee that no citizen will be subjected to laws dictated by another person’s religious orthodoxy. As your constituent, I request a clear, public reaffirmation of your commitment to these fundamental constitutional boundaries: that you reject the establishment of any state religion, oppose any attempts to read sectarian dogma into federal law, and defend the principle that all Americans—regardless of religious faith or absence thereof—stand equally before the law.