Do you think this school went too far by suspending a religious student?
A Nova Scotia student may not graduate high school if he returns to school wearing a T-shirt that says “Life is empty without Jesus.” Grade 12 student William Swinimer was suspended from his Lunenburg County school Monday for wearing the shirt, even though school officials repeatedly told him not to. If he suspended again – this is the seventh time – he won’t be able to finish his last year of high school. Swinimer, his father and the pastor at his church say the staff at the school are bullying the devout Christian teen for his religious beliefs.
Of course, the school board (a one-person board at that!) shows its double standard in this situation. The school’s approved curriculum from the Nova Scotia Department of Education includes the study of yoga, which is “the attainment of a state of perfect spiritual insight and tranquility while meditating on the Hindu concept of divinity or Brahman.”
Under these circumstances, I would say that the school did the right thing. We are not talking about a kid wearing a crucifix, or carrying a bible, or even a T-shirt that says Jesus is Love. This T-shirt essentially says that all other religions are sub-standard.
If they allow the kid to wear this T-shirt, then they can’t tell another kid that he can’t wear a T-shirt stating that Jesus is not the way to heaven.
Hi Ken, I tend to agree with you. If his T-shirt had said, “My life is wasted without Jesus,” then it would be his personal statement. But his current T-shirt statement, whether he realizes it or not, includes everyone, and this will offend some people. Still, do we not have the right to express ourselves, on religious and political matters? Fact is, we do or we don’t. Canada is becoming more like the former Soviet Union. Seems to me that the only people Jesus offended were the religious people (Pharisees) of his day. He was compassionate to the outcasts of his society (tax collectors, prostitutes, and others). mw
you have got to be kidding me. this is the most ridiculous thing i have heard in a long time. talk about trampling on a kids freedom to express his religion.
Hi Craig, yes, the board’s decision is certainly trampling on this kid’s freedom to express his religion. I wonder how the school would react if it had been another religion. One religion (which I won’t say by name, but it’s not Muslim) vilifies Jesus and says he is in hell boiling in excrement! mw
Craig, the school is not trampling on the kid’s freedom of religion. Nobody is saying that he can’t worship in whatever manner he would like. All they are saying is that, in school space, he can’t wear clothes that criticize other religions, which his shirt clearly does. What would your opinion be if the school allowed a kid to wear a shirt that said that all religion is a form of child abuse? There are people who believe this do denying his right to wear it would violate his freedom of expression. Or are you trying to say that religious freedom is more important than freedom of expression?
Hi Acartia, you make a good point when you ask what if a kid wore a shirt that said “all religion is a form of child abuse.” Similarly, what if a student wore a shirt that expressed some of these quotes? E.g., Jesus “limped on one foot” and “was blind in one eye,” “he practiced enchantment by means of his membrum,” “he committed bestiality with his ass,” he was a fool who “did not even know his beast’s mind.” (Talmud, Sanhedrin l05a-105b; Exhibit 108 and 109) The ridiculous and foul misuse of Judges 5:27 about Sisera’s dying convulsions meaning sexual intercourse is here applied to Jesus, with a footnote “explanation” of Judges 5:27: “This is taken to mean sexual intercourse …” I for one would be offended, just the same way I am offended when someone swears about Jesus. mw
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Thanks for visiting. Indeed, everyone is entitled to his/her opinion. But sadly, in Canada, as in other undemocratic societies, some opinions (religious or not) are not allowed to be expressed. You can curse the Christian God until you are blue in the face, but mention something about “holocaust” (not the one in the former Soviet Union that killed 60 million Christians). No, the other one.
Thanks for visiting. Indeed, everyone is entitled to his/her opinion. But sadly, in Canada, as in other undemocratic societies, some opinions (religious or not) are not allowed to be expressed. You can curse the Christian God until you are blue in the face, but mention something about “holocaust” (not the one in the former Soviet Union that killed 60 million Christians). No, the other one.