<Tr> <Td> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> The No Religious Test Clause of the United States Constitution is a clause within Article VI, Clause 3 . By its plain terms, no federal officeholder or employee can be required to adhere to or accept any particular religion or doctrine as a prerequisite to holding a federal office or a federal government job . It immediately follows a clause requiring all federal and state officers to take an oath or affirmation to support the Constitution . This clause contains the only explicit reference to religion in the original seven articles of the U.S. Constitution . </P> <P> The ban on religious tests contained in this clause protects only federal officeholders and employees . It does not apply to the states, many of which imposed religious tests at the time of the nation's founding . State tests limited public offices to Christians or, in some states, only to Protestants . The national government, on the other hand, could not impose any religious test whatsoever . National offices would be open to everyone . No federal official has ever been subjected to a formal religious test for holding office . </P>

Religious tests for officeholding are prohibited by the