Our First Amendment Essay Winner – A Great Read!

Our First Amendment Essay Winner – A Great Read!

Thank you for all who participated in our First Amendment Essay contest. We appreciate all your efforts. We had to pick a winner and the winner is Naomi Bernholt. Naomi was homeschooled and graduated in 2017. She will be entering her Sophomore year at Ohio Northern University majoring in Piano Performance and is also working to add a major in Theory and Composition as well.

As the winner, Naomi will receive the $500 scholarship prize. Thank you, Naomi, for doing a great job explaining why the First Amendment is essential! You can read Naomi’s winning essay below.

Why the First Amendment is Essential to American Government

Naomi Bernholt

Contained within the Bill of Rights (the first ten amendments of the Constitution of the United States), is perhaps one of the most profound statements limiting government power—the First Amendment. Its Establishment and Free Speech clauses protect the values most vital to our Republican government.  Under the First Amendment, we are free to believe what we please without threat of force or government punishment and to express these beliefs without fear.  Finally, we are free to disagree with one another and to openly express this disagreement, whether in debate or peaceable assembly.  The liberty to express one’s religious beliefs is vital to a harmonious and diverse country, and the liberty to speak without being shut down or imprisoned is essential to a democratic form of government. While expressed within the First Amendments, these rights of religious expression and of speech stand independent of government.  However, governments can (and often do) infringe upon them.  If we, as a people, are to sustain a strong and moral country, we must—at all costs—preserve the rights established by not only the First Amendment, but also the Constitution as a whole.

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