Texas, Land of the Free-to-Shred-the-Constitution

According to the Republican Party of Texas, atheism disqualifies citizens from holding public office, and probably actually disqualifies them from jury duty or even from testifying in court.

Candidate for the Sixth Court of Appeals, Ben Franks, is reported to be a professed atheist and apparently believes the Bible is a “collection of myths.”

During debate over a plank in the State Democrat Platform, members of the Platform Committee debated dropping “God” from a sentence on the first page of the document. The plank stated: “we want a Texas where all people can fulfill their dreams and achieve their God-given potential.”

According to an article published in the El Paso Times, Ben Franks states: “I’m an atheist…”

All elected or appointed officials in Texas must take the oath prescribed by Art. XVI, Section 1(a) of the Texas Constitution:

"I, _____ , do solemnly swear (or affirm), that I will faithfully execute the duties of the office of _____ of the State of Texas, and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States and of this State, so help me God."

Should Franks be elected in November, one would have to conclude that he will hold true to his out of touch “atheist” belief system and ignore the laws and Constitution of Texas. Mr. Franks is a personal injury trial lawyer practicing in Texarkana, Texas and is the Democrat nominee for the 6th Court of Appeals.

The very oath of office makes liars out of atheists. And since they're liars, they can't be trusted. Worse, this "out of touch 'atheist' belief system" encourages ignoring the laws and the constitution. Because you know, no one who believes in God would ever lie or ignore the law. According to this logic, the Constitution of Texas forbids atheists to hold office (surely a violation of the US Constitution), but we're just asking you not to vote for them.

And what's up with putting "atheist" in quotation marks at the end? Like they suddenly don't know what it means? Or it's fake? "Franks's so-called atheism"?