Act-Style Prompt
Religious Liberty
The relationship between religious liberty and individual rights has often been a problematic one
throughout American history. Today, for example, many businesses feel compelled to refuse service to
homosexuals because of the religious beliefs of the business owners. Some argue that this refusal of
service constitutes unlawful discrimination. Public school boards are often uncertain which religious
holidays to add to the academic calendar. Should a Christian student, for instance, have to miss school
because of a Jewish holiday? How should the state balance the need to respect religious liberty with need
to preserve the rights of all members of society?
Retrieved from “Robert Kohen, Ph.D.: Private Tutoring”
Kohen, R. (2015, September 23). Ten New ACT Essay Question Prompts. Retrieved May 19, 2020, from
http://www.koheneducationalservices.com/three-new-act-essay-question-prompts/
Read and carefully consider these perspectives. Each suggests a particular way of thinking about the
increasing presence of intelligent machines.
Perspective One
The state must
accommodate all religions to
the fullest extent possible.
This means school days off
for all major religious
holidays and protecting the
right of business owners to
refuse service based on
religious beliefs.
Perspective Two
The government has no
special obligation to
protect religious liberties
when they interfere with
the freedoms and wellbeing of the public at
large.
Perspective Three
Government should seek, to
the greatest extent possible,
ways to accommodate both
religious liberty and individual
rights when the two find
themselves in conflict.
Essay Task
Write a unified, coherent essay about the increasing presence of intelligent
machines. In your essay, be sure to:
• clearly state your own perspective on the issue and analyze the relationship
between your perspective and at least one other perspective
• develop and support your ideas with reasoning and examples
• organize your ideas clearly and logically
• communicate your ideas effectively in standard written English
Your perspective may be in full agreement with any of those given, in partial
agreement, or completely different.