[Ryan]

This story happened at a school 10 minutes down the road from where I live. It's made national headlines and has been stirring up lots of controversy. Do you agree with the suspension or not?

Personally, I do agree with it. The shirt is attacking other peoples beliefs which doesn't seem acceptable to me in a public school setting.


http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/...nt.html?cmp=rss

QUOTE (Article)

A Christian student suspended from a high school in Nova Scotia for sporting a T-shirt with the slogan "Life is wasted without Jesus" vows to wear it when he returns to class next week. William Swinimer, who's in Grade 12, was suspended from Forest Heights Community School in Chester Basin in Lunenburg County for five days. He's due to return to class on Monday. The devout Christian says the T-shirt is an expression of his beliefs, and he won't stop wearing it. "I believe there are things that are bigger than me. And I think that I need to stand up for the rights of people in this country, and religious rights and freedom of speech," he told CBC. Officials with the South Shore Regional School Board plan to meet with Swinimer to hopefully reach a compromise. Nancy Pynch-Worthylake, board superintendent, said some students and teachers found the T-shirt offensive. "When one is able or others are able to interpret it as, 'If you don't share my belief then your life is wasted,' that can be interpreted by some as being inappropriate," she said. Refuses principal's order Swinimer wore the T-shirt every day to class for several weeks. The principal told him repeatedly to stop wearing it, but the student refused to comply. Swinimer says the principal would have accepted a shirt with the slogan, "My life is wasted without Jesus." "But I didn't go for that because I have my rights as a Canadian citizen," Swinimer said. Swinimer says he never intended to attack anyone else's beliefs. He says he will continue to wear the shirt and is prepared to be suspended the rest of the year. The board is looking for some guidance on the matter. It hopes to bring in an expert to help mediate the dispute with Swinimer, his family and church supporters. "We'll be looking for some people with understanding in this area to help us with that," Pynch-Worthylake said.

[Girish]

Chances are that he was wearing the t-shirt just to offend the non-believers rather than fortify his own beliefs, in which case, suspending him is justified. I'm pretty sure if someone wore a t-shirt with an atheist remark on it, 99% of the believers would feel highly offended.

[Hell No..]

I dont mind people believe or not believing, but keep the damn stuff to yourself. Pisses me off so much when people in town are shouting into a megaphone banging on about how great god is. Going on what Girish said, you never see an Athiest doing it. (About Athieism, not God, lol)

[NCONiall]

This reminds me of when someone got fired from NASA for promoting intelligent design. I agree that it was phrased in a way that could've been interpreted in various ways. Suspension is a bit far though; was this over a period of time or did they suspend him the day he wore the t-shirt? Usually I thought he would've got a warning, followed by a detention. I go to a Christian school and when we go on trips, in other words when we're allowed to wear our own clothes I sometimes wear clothing related to the evolution of man and the teachers don't care, they just laugh about it. Infact they are more concerned about football jerseys.

This post has been edited by NCONiall on Friday, May 4 2012, 15:50

[Sup3rman]

Atheist shouldn't be bothered by it, at least im not. It's just a shirt, and it's everyones free will what to believe. Ofc it's a bit of a shout to wear a shirt that say like "believe in jesus, because you have to" or something, but a suspension...i don't know. Ofc it all depends on how strict the school is.

[Allen14n]

Let's all go out and wear some sh*tty shirt and get famous. This sh*t is nothing new.

[The Killa]

QUOTE (Hell No.. @ Friday, May 4 2012, 09:35)

I dont mind people believe or not believing, but keep the damn stuff to yourself. Pisses me off so much when people in town are shouting into a megaphone banging on about how great god is. Going on what Girish said, you never see an Athiest doing it. (About Athieism, not God, lol)

This is exactly where I draw the line. I obviously don't have any beliefs whatsoever, infact I'm happy that our "youth generation" - if there are any positives - is the fact that we're finally beginning to move away from religion en masse. That doesn't mean people shouldn't be allowed to believe what they personally feel is true, but there is absolutely no need to shove it down other peoples throat, and begin to deem one's life wasted because they don't believe what you believe.

This post has been edited by The Killa on Friday, May 4 2012, 15:50

[Robinski]

QUOTE (Sup3rman @ Friday, May 4 2012, 15:41)

Atheist shouldn't be bothered by it

Why not? This guy is espousing the view that if you don't believe or, even worse, believe in the wrong god, then your life is worthless. I'd never be as rude as to say someone is wasting their life simply because of their stance on religion, even if all they did was devote their life to a cause I don't believe in.

[Xboxless]

QUOTE (Robinski @ Friday, May 4 2012, 15:49)

QUOTE (Sup3rman @ Friday, May 4 2012, 15:41) Atheist shouldn't be bothered by it Why not? This guy is espousing the view that if you don't believe or, even worse, believe in the wrong god, then your life is worthless. I'd never be as rude as to say someone is wasting their life simply because of their stance on religion, even if all they did was devote their life to a cause I don't believe in.

I get that. It's still just a bit stupid to get worked up over it. Yeah a person may say your life is wasted but if you don't think it is then you need to just brush it off and get on with life.

In fact getting worked up over it is actually what is wasting your life.

Personally I don't think he should be suspended precisely for the reason that when you suspend people for slightly controversial stuff you make it less likely for people to get over it. It then becomes a big media story where people get angry over it and it increases the divide between between people shutting the f*ck up and getting over each others differences.

[Jay]

A smart ass teenager being a smart ass.

News,,,,

[Robinski]

QUOTE (Xboxless @ Friday, May 4 2012, 16:04)

In fact getting worked up over it is actually what is wasting your life.

Haha, this is very true. But remember this is high school, where thinking about what everyone else thinks/says about you is literally the most important thing, like ever.

[finn4life]

It depends on the situation.
I am almost certain there is more to it than the stupid article says.

If he was walking around saying how god and jesus are real and every other religion is false, well suspending him was probably right.
If his shirt just had Jesus on it because he wanted to showcase his belief (Similar to wearing a cross) then that is not really fair.

[something_else]

This kind of thing is pathetic from all angles. Who actually gives a sh*t what's written on somebody else's t-shirt? You'd need incredibly thin skin for this to irk you.

[SmC12]

I hope this doesn't turn into a religious debate..

I'm not offended at all, I'm Athiest. If he was at my school and walked past I'd just shrug it off, why would I be offended by a T-Shirt slogan? That's like getting offended at someone telling me my life is worthless over the internet. You shouldn't be offended unless it's directed at you personally.

Maybe if it said "All you non-bleivers go kill yourself" I could see a suspension being justifiable. I just think it's sad how people can be so worked up over such a simple thing on a t-shirt. It could just be a quote, it's not attacking you.

If that is his true opinion, then he's perfectly entitled to express his views via a t-shirt.

This post has been edited by SmC12 on Friday, May 4 2012, 16:25

[trip]

I'm not sure I agree with the suspension. If a school does not have an imposed dress code or uniforms then all students should be able to express themselves within standard decency laws.

Just because someone wears a shirt with a slogan or message, it doesn't mean they are imposing said message on others. We are all capable of thinking for ourselves.

Let the kid wear his stupid shirt. It isn't going to gain him anything other than students labeling him an over the top christian freak.

[leik oh em jeez!]

In my mind, the suspension was justified. He was told repeatedly not to wear it, and refused to comply. You can talk sh*t about your rights all you want when you're out of school, but while you're there you have to play by the rules even if it infringes upon your rights. Freedom of speech? Try blurting out the answers while the class is testing, see how far that gets you. The school has a dress code, you need to follow it. Promoting your own religion is one thing but to try and insult others is a whole different animal and shouldn't be tolerated in school.

@trip: Pretty sure all schools have some form of dress code. How strict the code itself is and how strict the school staff is in enforcing it will vary greatly, even just in different areas of the same code. For example if you came to my old high school with no shoes on they'd turn you around and walk you right out the door. However not a word was said to the 99.5% of students that didn't tuck their shirt in, including me.

This post has been edited by leik oh em jeez! on Friday, May 4 2012, 16:45

[d0mm2k8]

People who were offended should just have worn tshirts saying 'If you believe in Jesus, you are a retard.'

It has more effect since it's true.

[oysterbarron]

What happened to the good old tshirt slogans

T
H E
H A R
D E R Y
O U L O O
K T H E H A
R D E R I G E T

[Moonshield]

QUOTE (Girish @ Friday, May 4 2012, 10:29)

Chances are that he was wearing the t-shirt just to offend the non-believers rather than fortify his own beliefs, in which case, suspending him is justified. I'm pretty sure if someone wore a t-shirt with an atheist remark on it, 99% of the believers would feel highly offended.

Yeah, that's the equivalent of an atheist student wearing "God isn't real" or something similar. Plus it isn't very christian-like to be so "Holier than thou".

Regardless, it's offensive and stupid, but I think the suspension is bullsh*t - let them wear what they want, and believe what they want.

[Ronnyboy]

I remember one time a kid wore a shirt that said "Only Jesus is truly right" to school once. He was forced to take it off, but only after several calls home and to the Administration offices. Next day I wore a "Straight Pride" shirt, I was fine and even hi fived by some older teaches. The kid who wore the Jesus shirt was pissed however.

As for this situation, it was justified. The school administration has the right to deem any clothing inappropriate for any reason. He didn't comply several times, here's the consequences.