North Carolina Could Pass Bill That Would Establish State Religion.

(wnd) - Lawmakers are fighting back against the American Civil Liberties Union with a bold piece of legislation that would allow North Carolina to establish a state religion.

It is a bold move because House Bill 494 asserts the First Amendment, which prohibits the federal government from establishing an official religion, does not prevent states, counties, towns or schools from doing so. The bill also contends that a move to establish a state religion cannot be blocked by Congress or the courts.

The Defense of Religion Act was introduced to the North Carolina legislature by Republican Rowan County Reps. Harry Warren and Carl Ford and is sponsored by seven other Republicans. The bill does not specify which religion would become the state religion.

The bill is seen as a response to a federal lawsuit filed by the ACLU last month to stop the Rowan County Commission from opening meetings with Christian prayers.

North Carolina’s state Senate has offered a Christian invocation during most sessions since 2011.

Section 1 of the bill says “the Constitution of the United States of America does not prohibit states or their subsidiaries from making laws respecting an establishment of religion.”

Section 2 reads: “The North Carolina General Assembly does not recognize federal court rulings which prohibit and otherwise regulate the state of North Carolina, its public schools, or any political subdivisions of the state from making laws respecting an establishment of religion.”

Many critics are focusing on the bill’s interpretation of the First Amendment, contending the measure is a violation of the Establishment Clause, which reads, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.”

But the bill’s backers say that clause does not apply to states. The legislators appear to be pinning their hopes on the Tenth Amendment, which reads, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

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