GOD. From the Saxon god, good. The source of all good; the supreme being. 1.
Every man is presumed to believe in God, and he who opposes a witness on the
ground of his unbelief is bound to prove it. 3 Bouv. Inst. u. 3180.
2. Blasphemy against the Almighty, by denying his being or providence,
was an offence punishable at common law by fine and imprisonment, or other
infamous corporal punishment. 4 Bl. Corn. 60; 1 East, P. C. 3; 1 Russ. on
Crimes, 217. This offence his been enlarged in Pennsylvania, and perhaps
most of the states, by statutory provision. Vide Christianity; Blasphemy; 11
Serg. & Rawle, 394.
3. By article 1, of amendments to the Constitution of the United
States, it is provided that "Congress shall make no laws respecting an
establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." In the
United States, therefore, every one is allowed to worship God according to
the dictates of his own conscience.