*twinkle toes*: October 2008

’m not a troublemaker, but I do know what matters. Christians are supposed to bring the light of truth to the world, and if we don’t say anything when we’re confronted with sin, we’re not obeying God.

I’ve been involved in politics since I was 5, when I visited the Statehouse in Georgia with my dad. He’s the founder of Teen Pact, a group that trains Christian teens interested in politics, so Dad and I talk to a lot of politicians together. I’ve gone door-to-door with campaign flyers, waved signs and visited state politicians. I even went to Massachusetts this year to try to help them pass a marriage amendment.

Politics is exciting. It’s great to think I can influence our nation in a positive way. Christians should be involved in society, and I think maybe God has called me to be a missionary in politics.

Rights for Teens
A couple of years ago, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) made a ruling that made it illegal for minors to contribute money to federal candidates. They were trying to take away teens’ rights to contribute to their favorite candidates.

Last year, when I was 14, five other teens and I sued the FEC because we believe that teenagers need a way to voice an opinion about politics. We can’t vote until we’re 18, and most kids don’t have time to devote a summer to campaigning, so money is a way for us to be involved.

I didn’t organize the lawsuit. Jay Sekulow, a lawyer with the American Center for Law and Justice, contacted my dad to find out if he knew any teens interested in changing the FEC’s law. I volunteered to participate. One of Jay’s lawyers came to my house and talked to me for two hours. He taped the conversation and submitted it as part of the deposition for the case. The lawyers did all the work. I never went to a courtroom until the case reached the Supreme Court.

The Big Place
Visiting the Supreme Court was an awesome experience. I had heard of and seen the judicial system, but I’d never been inside. The Supreme Court building was amazing. There was a lot of marble on the ceiling, and the room was huge! There was a big curtain behind the justices, and they had aides who pulled out chairs for the justices when they wanted to stand up or sit down.

I always thought the Supreme Court would be mean, gruff and grim, but there was actually lots of laughing and joking. Jay said it was unusual. There were a lot of interesting people, too. It was neat because senators sat in front of us, and I got to talk to them. There were tons of security agents who rotated every 30 minutes and took turns standing up. The tallest one sat right in front of me. Whenever it was his turn to stand, I couldn’t see anything!

The justices didn’t speak to any of us teens. They only talked to Jay, our lawyer. We were there for three hours, and our hearing only took 10 minutes. The rest of the time businesses who were also suing the FEC took their turns talking to the justices, because they wanted to donate more money to political candidates, too. But we were the only ones who won our case! It was a unanimous decision. All nine justices believed that teens should be able to donate money to political campaigns.

Afterward, the media waiting outside the courtroom wanted to interview us. I’d never been on camera before. There were so many TV cameras, and they wanted me to speak. I was so nervous. When I got home, my local TV station wanted to interview me, and some radio talk shows wanted me to talk live to their listeners.

Making a Difference
It was a great learning experience, because we proved that teens can make a difference. I have more time to work on campaigns than most girls because I’m home-schooled. But even girls in regular school can make a difference. Campaigns are always looking for people to make calls for them, go door to door and to make signs. Some teens are pages at their statehouse for their state representatives and senators.

A lot of teens won’t use their rights to support the candidates they like because they’re not interested in politics. Even if they don’t want to take the time to campaign, they can pray. That’s the most important thing a Christian can do, anyway.

No matter what teens choose to do, they’ll make a difference. Since so few teens care, the ones who participate can make an impact.