[mysteriousmage09]

Nailed it. This is ridiculous. He's not stepping on anyone by wearing a harmless shirt like this. Are all shirts intended to be read "attention-whoring"?

lol.... for the 5000th fucking time the guy that dressed up like Jesus DID get in trouble. He was rewarded by an Atheist group.

[Enron]

If that shirt is against the rules, it's against the rules. Fuck this little shithead just like that other shithead that came dressed up as Jesus. School's a place to learn, not for you to make statements so you can get pats on the back from your parents/church/other peers/random people on the internet. He knew that shit would be a disruption.

[Johnny Cage In The Shower]

I'm not sure you'd get much learning done in a school where everybody wore their political opinions on the front of their shirts. I'm in favour of standardised school uniforms.

Ironically most Catholic (Christian) schools in Canada make the uniform mandatory, as a (half-decent) Christian myself I am on the "Don't start shit where you shouldn't" camp.

If his personal beliefs are so strong, maybe he should attend a school where most students share his belief, simple as that, there's nothing more dangerous than a teenager (a kid) CONSTANTLY FORCING his personal beliefs and agenda on to other vulnerable kids in a public school environment.

Religious, political or personal belief sharing, exchanging should always be in controlled environments with teachers and counselors present in high schools.

EDIT: I also think that all schools (specially public) should make uniforms mandatory, what individuality? no teenager these days has true individuality, and your stupid fashion statement isn't and shouldn't be the way to separate yourself from the next kid! College will you give you lots of time to dress how you want to, and not be an asshat about it.

[morningbus]

This reminds me of this one incident from back when I was in high school: a girl wore an anti-Nazi shirt to school with a design similar to this one:



She was made to take it off and told not to wear it again. No matter how much I hated the administration at the time, they were no Nazis. The shirt was too provocative and would disrupt the learning environment.

[CRD90]

All schools should just implement uniform.

When I first started at high school, you could wear whatever you want. Then in second year they implemented a mandatory uniform. Everyone was upset at first but after a few weeks nobody cared.

Black trousers, white shirt and the school tie. You didn't need to think about what you were going to wear in the morning, you didn't care if they got in a mess, and apparently it reduced bullying since you couldn't spot the poorer kids that couldn't afford the newest trends.

It also made the school look a lot smarter.

[Suairyu]

That's outrageous. Believing that non-Christians go to "Hell" after they die is not tantamount to suggesting that an entire race of people be murdered. The two statements are not equivalent on their face, one talks about a potential supernatural (AKA not actually happening) harm, one suggests an actual real physical threat to students.

They are both statements of intolerance implying pain and suffering for those that are different from the t-shirt wearer.

One is a statement of racial intolerance.

One is a statement of religious intolerance.

Using your own personal feelings, you are putting them into tiers and saying one is worse than the other. Well, I might very well agree with you there, but that doesn't change the fact both shirts are bigoted and attacking a certain group of people.

It's the same reason I use the civil rights movement when trying to get people to realise how non-heterosexual people have it bad in society today - people automatically tier stuff in their head. Who are you to declare that just because one of those tshirt slogans is based around the supernatural, it's okay?

For the people who believe in the supernatural - the jews, muslims, hindus, sihks, whatevers - it will be just as hurtful as black people seeing a "blacks should be hanged" tshirt.

[Kinitari]

That's outrageous. Believing that non-Christians go to "Hell" after they die is not tantamount to suggesting that an entire race of people be murdered. The two statements are not equivalent on their face, one talks about a potential supernatural (AKA not actually happening) harm, one suggests an actual real physical threat to students.

Do you think people of other religions take the threat of hellfire as imaginary? It doesn't matter to everyone, but even if you don't take the threat of burning in hell seriously, it's not something you want happening in schools period. This shirt doesn't talk about hellfire, but it does talk about group exclusion in a positive/negative light. Absolutely not something that would fly in Canadian schools, and honestly - I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't fly in most US public schools either.

Kid comes into school wearing "Allah is the one and only God" and I guarantee you there would be a stink.

[Kai Dracon]

With the additional information on the story, it seems pretty damn simple tho plenty of people will spin it as religious persecution by librrruls.

Guy is a dick who has a shown a pattern of harassing other kids. The t-shirt is not a statement of free speech. It's his latest tool of harassment, escalating his crusade to tell everyone else they're damned and going to hell.

[krypt0nian]

Shirts fine as long as the rest of the class wears "If you're Christian, you believe in lies." shirts.

[The Lamp]

lol.... for the 5000th fucking time the guy that dressed up like Jesus DID get in trouble. He was rewarded by an Atheist group.

Well I know he got in trouble too, but he got an award lol.

[Plywood]

What if his shirt just said "Life is Wasted"?

[Count Dookkake]

Well I know he got in trouble too, but he got an award lol.

This kid gets his reward in heaven.

[Hasardeur]

Canada is, like, the nega-USA

[krypt0nian]

This kid gets his reward in heaven.

;)

[speculawyer]

The ACLU would help him out in the USA, hopefully Canada has a similar organization to help him.

[les papillons sexuels]

people are missing the point entirely.

He wore this shirt for several weeks straight, he was probably told to remove it because it smelt really bad.

But seriously, a week straight of wearing the shirt, attacking students, and being confrontational, I think it's fully deserved. The way it's written is as if he was attacked for his beliefs, but it's obvious that he was the one who was attacking other students.

Imagine being muslim or jewish and being told every day your going to hell, how is that not akin to bullying?

Sounds like people are defending him based on the headline without reading the article, pretty typical.

[vitaminwateryum]

Freedom of speech is generally understood to follow the idea that your right to free speech ends when your speech drowns out others rights to not be assaulted with explicitly vulgar language. Even the US doesn't just allow you to scream obscenities. School speech is further restrained but not as much that a shirt like this would be very problematic.

A restaurant is (usually) a privately-owned place and is under no obligation to tolerate anyone's bullshit. A school is more often than not public, on the other hand. There are a lot of laws that give schools a lot of power over children, basically a school can infringe almost any right it want for it's student, so legally it might be moot, but that's the sentiment people are expressing here. This is not to mention that verbally assaulting people is not protected under any sort of freedom of speech. And I personally am for a democratic school system, so I'm very much opposed to the idea of a school uniform... There are better ways to deal with a problematic student than beating him with good ol' discipline. Freedom of speech is a big deal, one of the biggest deals, and I don't think it's right to teach children from an early age their opinion don't matter and that they shouldn't express them.

Sorry, I probably should have specified more in my post, but I was referring to the preaching and telling people they're going to hell bit, not so much the shirt.

[LuchaShaq]

The begrudging, reluctant acceptance in this thread is hilarious. "Sigh...let the cultists wear what they will." "eh...I guess he can do that if he wants to advertise his small-mindedness." "grumble...I guess him being allowed to display his stupidity like this is ok."

What's your point? I can think something is stupid as hell but also recognize making it illegal/punishing it is also dumb.

[Omegasquash]

The kid is a little shit, but seriously, it's a t-shirt folks. Now, if he signed a dress code or something, then yeah, he ought not to wear it. Still think it's a bit silly, but there's my two bits.

[RurouniZel]

School uniforms. Problem solved.

;P

[tiff]

This reminds me of this one incident from back when I was in high school: a girl wore an anti-Nazi shirt to school with a design similar to this one: She was made to take it off and told not to wear it again. No matter how much I hated the administration at the time, they were no Nazis. The shirt was too provocative and would disrupt the learning environment.

what a world we live in where being anti-Nazi is too provocative.

[Jakabok]

Wonder what would happen if he wore this Cradle of Filth classic shirt?



Not pictured - masturbating nun on front.

[Enron]

I too would be in favor of a school uniform. Problem solved.

[Valhelm]

Although the shirt's slogan was offensive, and basically says "All Non-Christians go to Hell", the kid has the right to wear it. I'm not completely how loose Canadian civil liberties are, but I doubt there are any restrictions on religion or speech.

Still, he's a dick for wearing it.

[Suairyu]

Although the shirt's slogan was offensive, and basically says "All Non-Christians go to Hell", the kid has the right to wear it.

Outside of school, sure. Schools are not public property - laws don't apply as-is.

[nVidiot_Whore]

people are missing the point entirely. He wore this shirt for several weeks straight, he was probably told to remove it because it smelt really bad. But seriously, a week straight of wearing the shirt, attacking students, and being confrontational, I think it's fully deserved. The way it's written is as if he was attacked for his beliefs, but it's obvious that he was the one who was attacking other students. Imagine being muslim or jewish and being told every day your going to hell, how is that not akin to bullying? Sounds like people are defending him based on the headline without reading the article, pretty typical.

I'm not personally missing the point.

I still think banning the shirt is dumb. Suspend him for his behavior, not a shirt.

(good post BTW, but you can still disagree with simple shirt bans either way)

People usually assume these cases involve knee-jerk reactions... and they usually do involve something causing a problem before anything gets "banned." Like the kids wearing American Flags on some day celebrating Mexico in California or something.. people ignored that they were doing it purposefully, and it had caused disruptions in school.

The kid in this case, IMO, is the disruption. But I will regress a bit, sometimes a "ban" is necessary simply to solve a problem.

Making sure the school operates effectively is more important than your "right" to wear a particular shirt IMO..

I still think these things very often backfire; but it's when they are based on nothing.. as opposed to based on an actual disruption (like this case) in the operation of the schools intended purpose.. to teach.

[Showmeyamoves]

That shirt reminded me of this one time when I was minding my own business playing my DS when all of a sudden this guy comes up and says "Why are you wasting your life on that when you should be worshiping/believing in Jesus." I told him I believed in him and he was like "NO! You don't believe in him enough like we do." I was like okay then. Then his phone rang and he said "I got another one" to the guy he was talking to or something like that. Now that pissed me off. Was I nothing more than another potential money giver to "his" church/religion and he didn't actually care about me at all?

[HP_Wuvcraft]

The kid really didn't understand that the shirt was an ultimatum on other people's beliefs?

Yeah, right.

[jet1911]

Schools are not places to push your religious belief, whatever it is.

[GungHo]

School uniforms solve all these problems. Never understood schools that didn't have them

Who pays for the uniforms? What if the families are poor? Are you ok with "welfare" for school uniforms? Are your neighbors? Will you raise taxes to support this initiative? What if some kids don't keep them maintained? What if some kids intentionally destroy them?

I am good with uniforms as well, but I've seen a lot of school board and community fights over this. While uniforms solve some problems, they introduce a host of others. It's not a slam dunk.

Are all shirts intended to be read "attention-whoring"?

Are we talking about those "clever" ThinkGeek shirts that say "I never finish anyth"? If that's all you have in your closet? Yes.

[CrushDance]

Why don't they just beat him bloody instead of crying about it to officials. High schools sure are different over there. I can understand going to the principal after the first or second offense, but someone who is such an ass and defiant like that is asking for it.

This a joke?

[morningbus]

what a world we live in where being anti-Nazi is too provocative.

I know. What a brave statement. Fuck you Nazis. What you did was pretty bad.

[CrushDance]

One time in high school the principal came into my class, and told this burnout with an offensive shirt to turn it inside out right away and then to go home at lunch and change into a different shirt. The student was a prick, but he didn't argue one bit. He just did it. Anyway, it seems lately the crazy religious base in Canada has been getting antsy and is testing the limits of public acceptance. Our local transit system has come under fire recently for accepting and putting up religious propaganda in the form of advertisements. It's kind of awkward when you walk into the subway, a public space, and see an ad that declares "There Is No God But Allah". Then there's the Christian ads that give "advice" to troubled kids in the form of "suck it up and pray".

I swear it wasn't like this several years ago. I sometimes get a nagging feeling that it's due to the influx of Americans moving here. Things are slightly different culturally and things that aren't big problems here are now getting blown out of proportion.

[TAJ]

I don't see anything inappropriate about the shirt. That 'Jesus Is A Cunt' shirt would rightfully be banned from schools for cursing and pornography. Another atheist here.

This is the best Jesus shirt...
http://tshirtdaily.com/abstinence-99...in-mary-jesus/

[HP_Wuvcraft]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-s...nt-school.html

His dad sounds like a wackjob.

Schools shouldn't have extra-curricular activities?

[SquiddyCracker]

I agree with pretty much everyone here, that t-shirt is pretty tame and not worthy suspension whereas telling other students to go to hell and interrupting classes is.

[TAJ]

His dad sounds like a wackjob. Schools shouldn't have extra-curricular activities?

I wonder if that includes Key Club. :teehee

[BeesEight]

They are both statements of intolerance implying pain and suffering for those that are different from the t-shirt wearer. One is a statement of racial intolerance. One is a statement of religious intolerance.

This is exactly it. Why else would the principal allow the shirt if it were changed to "My life is wasted without Jesus?"

The shirt was just a continuation of the student's disruptive behaviour and intolerant views. The appropriate steps were taken, the student didn't comply and he was suspended. If the parents really don't like the school he's enrolled in, I'm sure they can send him somewhere else.

[Hamplin]

If he is ok with me wearing a t-shirt that says "Jesus likes it in the rear" followed by a picture of jesus bending over and lifting his tunic, then he can wear his stupid t-shirt.
Both should ofc be allowed, I just don't think this dude is about "free speech" at all. Alas, that's just my bigotry-radar talking.

[HP_Wuvcraft]

I wonder if that includes Key Club. :teehee

That entire family just sounds.... angry.

[Avixph]

I would suspend him for wearing a dirty shirt.

[MidgarBlowedUp]

Wouldn't have been a problem in Spain or Mexico

[Devolution]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-s...nt-school.html This was a culmination of things. He was preaching at the school and annoying students by telling them they are all going to hell. The t-shirt was the last straw.

Hahaha what a douche.

[Conciliator]

Yeah so...not sure where this stands, but wearing that hideous-ass t-shirt should be cool; telling people they're going to suffer eternal torment is basically a threat and so should not be cool.

EDIT: I went to school in the south so people told me about fucking Jesus all the time, and it got on my nerves but it never crossed my mind that they were infringing on my rights or anything. I have the right to ignore them or tell their beliefs are dumb at best and terrifying at worst, but I didn't have the balls to do that. I actually did have one guy who told me that he was 'concerned' for me because he 'didn't want to see me end up in hell'. If you grew up in the South you know the type of dude I'm talking about; tall, athletic, good-looking, into sports and video games and laid back, but then after you get to know him he's suddenly like 'Hey bro, I was just wondering if you have a relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.'

[OttomanScribe]

To promote individuality?

I don't know that that works. It usually promotes division more than it does individuality. Who has richer clothes etc.

[les papillons sexuels]

Wouldn't have been a problem in Spain or Mexico

because jesus is one of the students in the class, and he is probably wasted.

[ElectricBlue187]

I can understand why the headteacher felt it was inappropriate; as it DOES imply superiority over those who aren't Christian. I can also understand why he was suspended if he continually defied orders from authority to not wear it.

Who cares? Nobody.

[Choppasmith]

I believe that the notion of a school being a free-for-all centre for freedom of speech is ridiculous anyway, so I agree with the school's expulsion. Schools have a responsibility to maintain an environment that makes all students feel welcome and included so that they can go about their learning in peace. If that means not allowing people to wear stupid tshirts, so be it. Just implement a school uniform or something then the students can't be all (intolerably wrongly) "my rights!!!" if they're wearing a stupid shirt.

I agree with this, plus I really don't care for the passive-aggressive Christian trolling in general. If it were just a shirt he wore here and there, that would be one thing. But wearing it EVERY DAY (eww, I wonder if he washes it) and rubbing it in people's faces is uncalled for.

[nib95]

Suspend him for telling people they'll go to hell sure, but for the T Shirt? Poor form for the school and the Principal for continually asking him to stop wearing it. He's not affecting anyone's rights by wearing it, just the ass hurt feelings of some overly dramatic and ironically rights defeating atheists.

If the T Shirt read, "non believers you're going to hell" or something, maybe there'd be a better argument here. But damn, if someone wore a T Shirt that said, "a life is wasted without being aethist", I'd be like, yea bit of a weird thing to have on a t-shirt, but its your right and belief, cool. And I'm religious.

[gabbo]

Suspend him for telling people they'll go to hell sure, but for the T Shirt? Poor form for the school and the Principal for continually asking him to stop wearing it. He's not affecting anyone's rights by wearing it, just the ass hurt feelings of some overly dramatic and ironically rights defeating atheists. If the T Shirt read, "non believers you're going to hell" or something, maybe there'd be a better argument here. But damn, if someone wore a T Shirt that said, "a life is wasted without being aethist", I'd be like, yea bit of a weird thing to have on a t-shirt, but its your right and belief, cool. And I'm religious.

In my high school (in the later years anyway), the way 'Wasted' is written to appear like alcohol would have caused him as much grief as the Jesus part, due to the no alcohol references, brands or slogans being allowed on clothing. He'd have been gone long before it got to that for preaching, but that's besides the point.