ABSTRACT
A critical function of the Religion Clauses of the First Amendment is to protect the rights of members of minority religions against quiet erosion by majoritarian social institutions that dismiss minority beliefs and practices as unimportant, because unfamiliar. The US Supreme Court applied Sherbert in Hobbie v. Unemployment Appeals Commission, where it found that even though Hobbie became a Sabbatarian during the course of her employment, the state's refusal to grant unemployment insurance benefits constituted an undue burden on her religious freedom. The free exercise clause of the First Amendment declares that Congress shall make no law prohibiting the free exercise of religion. Although the First Amendment explicitly recognizes "religion," religious conduct is an integral facet of the "exercise of religion." The South Carolina Supreme Court sustained the commission's denial of unemployment benefits, rejecting Sherbert's argument that the unemployment act abridged her religious liberty.
