Written in attention to the Supreme Court members, as well as the following government officials across America,
Regarding the First Amendment, the piece to the right of freedom of religion for us, and the other millions of religious United States citizens, why does the First Amendment still fail to protect religious minorities? In the book What’s Wrong with the First Amendment by Steven H. Shiffrin, he claims, “…they celebrate not only its protection of a basic human right, but also its role as a part of their identity as Americans.” If Americans supposedly take so much pride in their right to the First Amendment, this further begs the questions of its failures to protect religious minorities.
There have been countless reports of Americans feeling discriminated against based on religion, by co-workers, friends, strangers, and people of other faiths. I believe we can do better. The First Amendment was written in the 18th century and has arguably not been changed to effectively protect our citizens of religious minorities. Personally, I have heard more now than ever that Americans are being discriminated against and separated in everyday life and in public. This should have been a problem decades ago. Not Now.
Lucy Elthoft is a seventh grader at Lance Middle School in Pleasant Prairie.
