The First Amendment is what gives us, as citizens of America, the freedom of religion, the freedom of speech, the freedom of the press, and the freedom to assemble. These are some of the most important rights a person can have, and, as Americans, they are guaranteed to us through the Constitution.

I’m sure that most people have never had their Constitutional rights called into question. However, Ariana Iacono, a North Carolina teenager, has been suspended from her school on the basis that a nose piercing that she wears as part of her religion is against the school’s dress code. Iacono, 14, is a member of the Church of Body Modification with her mother, Nikki.

Iacono’s school, ironically also Clayton High School, suspended Iacono on the basis that her piercing violated the school’s dress code. However, the dress code allows for exemptions for religious reasons. Despite this, Iacono was still suspended.

Iacono’s suspension has triggered many responses. The America Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has sued the Johnston County, North Carolina school board on Iacono’s behalf. Their claim? Iacono’s suspension violates the rights given to her in the First Amendment.

The local chapter of the ACLU and their attorneys said, “This is a case about a family’s right to send a 14-year-old honor student to public school without her being forced to renounce her family’s religious beliefs.”

The First Amendment states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”

I think that Iacono’s right to freely exercise her religion has been violated. Even though her teachers and administrators had probably not heard of the Church of Body Modification, that does not change the fact that it is a practicing and valid religion. This case is heightened by the fact that Iacono’s school is a public school, and so therefore has to accept all people regardless of religion.

The Church of Body Modification, while being small and relatively unknown, has a national following of 3,500 members. The church has a clergy, a statement of beliefs, and a process for initiating new members into the church. It started about two years ago and took on the name of an inactive church of the similar beliefs.

“We don’t worship the god of body modification or anything like that,” said the Iaconos’ minister, Richard Ivey. “Our spirituality comes from what we choose to do ourselves. Through body modification, we can change how we feel about ourselves and how we feel about the world.”

Even if you agree or disagree with the ideals of the Church of Body Modification, you have to respect the right of a girl to express her spirituality without being harassed by administrators at her school. Many people have never heard of the Church of Body Modification before. Also, the idea that to use piercings or tattoos to express your spirituality is pretty radical for many people. But, that doesn’t mean that this religion is as valid to the people who practice it as yours is to you. Also, Iacono’s nose piercing would not affect anyone else in her school, so why should she not be able to have it?

Iacono’s right to express her religion, as outlined in the First Amendment, should be protected in this case. Her nose piercing is a sincerely held religious belief of hers, and therefore she should be allowed to keep it in when she is at school, or anywhere. What would the world become if we weren’t allowed to practice our faith too?