{"id":11832,"date":"2017-08-17T06:59:29","date_gmt":"2017-08-17T11:59:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/god-or-the-divine-is-referenced-in-every-state-constitution\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T03:16:20","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T08:16:20","slug":"god-or-the-divine-is-referenced-in-every-state-constitution","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2017\/08\/17\/god-or-the-divine-is-referenced-in-every-state-constitution\/","title":{"rendered":"God or the divine is referenced in every state constitution"},"content":{"rendered":"

The U.S. Constitution never explicitly mentions God or the divine, but the same cannot be said of the nation\u2019s state constitutions. In fact, God or the divine is mentioned at least once in each of the 50 state constitutions and nearly 200 times overall, according to a Pew Research Center analysis.<\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n

All but four state constitutions \u2013 those in Colorado, Iowa, Hawaii and Washington \u2013 use the word \u201cGod\u201d at least once. The constitutions in Colorado, Iowa and Washington refer to a \u201cSupreme Being\u201d or \u201cSupreme Ruler of the Universe,\u201d while Hawaii\u2019s constitution makes reference to the divine only in its preamble, which states that the people of Hawaii are \u201cgrateful for Divine Guidance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Most state constitutions \u2013 34 \u2013 refer to God more than once. Of the 116 times the word appears in state constitutions, eight are in the Massachusetts constitution, and New Hampshire and Vermont have six references each. Perhaps surprisingly, all three of these states are among the least religious in the country, according to a 2016 Pew Research Center analysis<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n\n

In addition to the 116 mentions of God, there are also 14 mentions of a Supreme or Sovereign Being, seven mentions of the \u201cCreator,\u201d three mentions of \u201cprovidence,\u201d four mentions of \u201cdivine\u201d and 46 instances of the word \u201calmighty.\u201d While there are 32 mentions of the word \u201cLord,\u201d all but one refer to \u201cthe year of our Lord\u201d and so are not direct references to God. (Indeed, the U.S. Constitution also makes reference to \u201cthe year of our Lord.\u201d) There also are seven mentions of the word \u201cChristian.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

A handful of state constitutions<\/a> explicitly prohibit those who do not believe in God from holding public office. However, these bans have not recently been enforced because it is generally assumed that they violate the U.S. Constitution\u2019s prohibition on requiring religious tests for those holding public office.<\/p>\n\n

For this analysis, up-to-date constitutions were obtained from state-run websites and searched for a variety of keywords, including \u201cGod,\u201d \u201ccreator,\u201d \u201cdivine,\u201d \u201cLord,\u201d \u201cSupreme Being\u201d and others. Mentions that were inherently unrelated to religion were removed. For example, Rhode Island\u2019s capital is Providence, so mentions of the capital were not counted in this analysis. At the same time, a mention of \u201cthe good providence of God\u201d in Connecticut\u2019s constitution was counted as both an instance of the word \u201cGod\u201d and the word \u201cprovidence.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

God or the divine is mentioned at least once in each of the 50 state constitutions and nearly 200 times 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