Delaware Constitution (1776):
<ARTICLE 22. Every person who shall be chosen a member of either house, or appointed to any office or place of trust, before taking his seat, or entering upon the execution of his office, shall...make and subscribe the following declaration, to wit:
"I, A B. do profess faith in God the Father, and in Jesus Christ His only Son, and in the Holy Ghost, one God, blessed for evermore; and I do acknowledge the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be given by Divine inspiration."
ARTICLE 29. There shall be no establishment of any religious sect in this State in preference to another; and no clergyman or Preacher of the Gospel, of any denomination, shall be capable of holding any civil office in this state, or of being a member of either of the branches of the legislature, while they continue in the exercise of the pastoral function.
DECLARATION OF RIGHTS OF DELAWARE
ARTICLE 2. That all Men have a natural and unalienable Right to worship Almighty God according to the Dictates of their own Consciences and Understandings; that no Man ought or of Right can be compelled to attend any religious Worship or maintain any Ministry contrary to or against his own free Will and Consent, and that no Authority can or ought to be vested in, or assumed by any Power whatever that shall in any Case interfere with, or in any Manner control the Right of Conscience in the Free Exercise of Religious Worship.
ARTICLE 3. That all Persons professing the Christian Religion ought forever to enjoy equal Rights and Privileges in this State, unless, under Color of Religion, any Man disturb the Peace, the Happiness or Safety of Society.> 1776DE001
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American Quotations by William J. Federer, 2024, All Rights Reserved, Permission granted to use with acknowledgement.
Endnotes:
1776DE001. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Delaware Constitution, 1776.