” … no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.”

This passage comes from Article VI of the Constitution of the United States of America.

Why mention it here? Because Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump did not shut down a questioner in a town hall audience this week who said he believes President Obama is a foreign-born Muslim.

I’ve been waiting for a long time — during the length of the president’s time in office — for a politician to tell an ignoramus like the fellow at the Trump campaign event that a politician’s religion has no bearing on his or her qualifications to hold public office.

Trump not only did go there, he didn’t even tell the fellow that the president is, in fact, a Christian who was born in Hawaii in August 1961.

Oh, I almost forgot: Trump himself has been questioning the president’s birth and his constitutional qualifications to serve the office to which he’s been elected twice.

Well, whatever. The issue keeps presenting itself. The president’s place of birth isn’t an issue either, given that his late mother was a U.S. citizen, which granted young Barack “birthright citizenship.”

As for a politician’s religion, I keep referring to Article VI.

There should be “no religious test.”

If only that would end this ridiculous talking point.

If only …