Preamble.
We, the people of the State of New Jersey, grateful to Almighty
God for the civil and religious liberty which He hath so long permitted us to
enjoy, and looking to Him for a blessing upon our endeavors to secure and transmit
the same unimpaired to succeeding generations, do ordain and establish this Constitution.
Article I.
No
person shall be deprived of the inestimable privilege of worshiping Almighty God
in a manner agreeable to the dictates of his own conscience; nor under any pretense
whatever be compelled to attend any place of worship contrary to his faith and
judgment; nor shall any person be obliged to pay tithes, taxes, or other rates
for building or repairing any church or churches, place or places of worship,
or for the maintenance of any minister or ministry, contrary to what he believes
to be right or has deliberately and voluntarily engaged to perform.
There
shall be no establishment of one religious sect in preference to another; no religious
or racial test shall be required as a qualification for any office or public trust.
No person shall be denied the enjoyment of any civil or military right,
nor be discriminated against in the exercise of any civil or military right, nor
be segregated in the militia or in the public schools, because of religious principles,
race, color, ancestry or national origin.
Article VIII.
Exemption from taxation may
be granted only by general laws. Until otherwise provided by law all exemptions
from taxation validly granted and now in existence shall be continued. Exemptions
from taxation may be altered or repealed, except those exempting real and personal
property used exclusively for religious, educational, charitable or cemetery purposes,
as defined by law, and owned by any corporation or association organized and conducted
exclusively for one or more of such purposes and not operating for profit.
