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Student's 'Jesus' shirt sparks feud with school

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S

ScreenSplitter

Member
He is basically saying that if you're not a Christian, your life is pointless. It's a stupid t-shirt. He's allowed to have his beliefs, but this is a few steps away from "If you don't love Jesus, burn in hell".

Imagine if someone walked into a school with a t-shirt saying "Mohammed is DA BOMB."


Farooq said:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/story/2012/05/07/ns-jesus-shirt-student-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.
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Well yeah, then fuck him. Don't let him back in until he learns his damn lesson.
 
C

corn_fest

Member
P

PuppetSlave

Member
shinobi602 said:
Bullshit. I'm not even religious, but if that kid instead wore a shirt that said "Following Jesus is a waste of life" or something similar, barely anyone here would bat an eye.
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You are not responding to what I am actually writing. Shall I consider that an confession and apology wrapped up in one? Just curious
 
D

Dariee

Member
Gaborn said:
Agreed, if he stands up during class and starts disrupting it by preaching he should be thrown out. Wearing a t-shirt that students are free to ignore? No problem.
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This.

Think the shirt should be seperated from the student's behaviour. Yes, the shirt is also showing a message, but it's not actively approaching people and starting to 'lobby' with them (or even insult, if that occured). You can ignore to read it, for that matter. Ignoring a person talking/preaching to you is a whole different level.
 
G

Gaborn

Member
ScreenSplitter said:
He is basically saying that if you're not a Christian, your life is pointless. It's a stupid t-shirt. He's allowed to have his beliefs, but this is a few steps away from "If you don't love Jesus, burn in hell".

Imagine if someone walked into a school with a t-shirt saying "Mohammed is DA BOMB."
Click to expand...

... and? I think in the 60s students should have been allowed to wear shirts that said "Hey, hey, LBJ, how many kids are you gonna kill today?" and I suspect it would have even been consititutional. Students are allowed to wear political shirts of various types, I'm not seeing the distinction here even if a shirt can be a bit off putting. As you said, it IS a few steps away from that.
 
C

corn_fest

Member
Gaborn said:
... and? I think in the 60s students should have been allowed to wear shirts that said "Hey, hey, LBJ, how many kids are you gonna kill today?" and I suspect it would have even been consititutional. Students are allowed to wear political shirts of various types, I'm not seeing the distinction here even if a shirt can be a bit off putting. As you said, it IS a few steps away from that.
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Public schools are supposed to be environments where students of all religions can feel accepted. Allowing shirts which demean those not of a certain religion compromises that a bit.
 
S

ScreenSplitter

Member
corn_fest said:
Public schools are supposed to be environments where students of all religions can feel accepted. Allowing shirts which demean those not of a certain religion compromises that a bit.
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That, and if it was any other religion other than the all mighty Christianity the kid would have undoubtedly been made a bigger deal of.
 
ShinNL

ShinNL

Member
Kid thinks he's doing something great and mighty by standing up for his rights.

I think he fights for something puny and silly that's not worth a news article nor a thread.

The message doesn't bother me, but it is a wrong message.

If he insists to be obnoxious about the message (like he is right now with the whole drama on the shirt thing), then my reply to him would be: go preach somewhere else.

Edit: lol @ newest update. Yeah, stay away kid.
 
G

Gaborn

Member
corn_fest said:
Public schools are supposed to be environments where students of all religions can feel accepted. Allowing shirts which demean those not of a certain religion compromises that a bit.
Click to expand...

Students of all religions should feel accepted but that doesn't mean other students should be unable to express an opinion even if it's controversial or offensive to other students.
 
S

Superman00

Liverpool01
Farooq said:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/story/2012/05/07/ns-jesus-shirt-student-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.
Click to expand...

Seriously need to be quoted or added to the OP. People in this thread are not reading this. He isn't in trouble because he is wearing the shirt. He is in trouble because he is bothering other students and disregarding authority.
 
M

massoluk

Banned
ScreenSplitter said:
He is basically saying that if you're not a Christian, your life is pointless. It's a stupid t-shirt. He's allowed to have his beliefs, but this is a few steps away from "If you don't love Jesus, burn in hell".

Imagine if someone walked into a school with a t-shirt saying "Mohammed is DA BOMB."




Well yeah, then fuck him. Don't let him back in until he learns his damn lesson.
Click to expand...

You know. The whole school should wear "Mohammed is DA BOMB" just to screw with the kid.
 
G

Gaborn

Member
Superman00 said:
Seriously need to be quoted or added to the OP. People in this thread are not reading this. He isn't in trouble because he is wearing the shirt. He is in trouble because he is bothering other students and disregarding authority.
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Just added it to the OP. as I said there, I'm not sure it changes anything. Those incidents were wrong and should be suspendable, the shirt should not be.
 
R

Ravensmash

Member
ReBurn said:
Well, I never supported either of those notions. I'm just wondering...does this school also prevent students from coloring their hair and wearing piercings? Does everyone have to adhere to the same dress code? Is the standard the same across the board? Or is this guy being singled out because of his beliefs? Which decisions are the students able to make on their own and which are they unable to handle?

There is nothing wrong with his shirt. No matter how many times he wears it.
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He's absolutely allowed to express his beliefs. The headteacher even said he could wear a shirt like that as long as "my" was on the front of it.

But with this you're going in to territory where it's targeting others for their belief (or lack of) and implying superiority thus causing division in a school environment.

And the last place you want division is in a school environment (considering how much emphasis they place on making it like a 'community', etc. )
 
T

The_Darkest_Red

Member
If I had a kid in high school I would totally support students wearing shirts like this that expressed beliefs that I don't agree with. Learning to accept people and their differences is an extremely important part of life and I don't think a school should be a complete shelter from that reality of the world.
 
I

IrrelevantNotch

Banned
The_Darkest_Red said:
If I had a kid in high school I would totally support students wearing shirts like this that expressed beliefs that I don't agree with. Learning to accept people and their differences is an extremely important part of life and I don't think a school should be a complete shelter from that reality of the world.
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So you'd be ok with shirt that says "Life is WASTED with black people"?
 
P

Particle Physicist

between a quark and a baryon
The_Darkest_Red said:
If I had a kid in high school I would totally support students wearing shirts like this that expressed beliefs that I don't agree with. Learning to accept people and their differences is an extremely important part of life and I don't think a school should be a complete shelter from that reality of the world.
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Interesting considering that kid was preaching to others and very likely not accepting of other religions/cultures. The shirt itself denigrades any religion not his own.
 
T

travisbickle

Member
The_Darkest_Red said:
If I had a kid in high school I would totally support students wearing shirts like this that expressed beliefs that I don't agree with. Learning to accept people and their differences is an extremely important part of life and I don't think a school should be a complete shelter from that reality of the world.
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School should be an environment where everyone feels equal, an institution where everyone feels safe to better themselves through education. A t-shirt declaring someone is wasting their life because they are not dedicated to Jesus is incongruous to this.
 
D

Dragon

Banned
As long as someone can wear a shirt that says: "Life is wasted with Jesus" I see nothing wrong with this.
 
A

Alrus

Member
The_Darkest_Red said:
If I had a kid in high school I would totally support students wearing shirts like this that expressed beliefs that I don't agree with. Learning to accept people and their differences is an extremely important part of life and I don't think a school should be a complete shelter from that reality of the world.
Click to expand...

That's not the problem with the shirt though. If it had a "My" in front on the text, nobody would care.
 
J

jaxword

Member
Kid wears religious themed t-shirts to be edgy and get attention and piss off the adults (and anyone else he can). What a surprise.


I find it ironic that 20 years ago it was SATANIC MUSIC BANDS 666 DEVIL PENTAGRAM SHIRTS

Now it's devolved to smug passive-aggressive Jesus trolling.

That's pretty sad.

People are cowardly little douchebags about their beliefs no matter what decade it is.
 
S

Stealth Editor

Member
Gaborn said:
ns-hi-jesus-shirt-facebook-8col.jpg
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Swinimer wore the T-shirt every day to class for several weeks.
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This shirt? Every day?
 
M

marrec

Banned
shinobi602 said:
I'm not even religious, so I'm not defending this shirt, but if that kid instead wore a shirt that said "Following Jesus is a waste of life" or something similar, barely anyone here would bat an eye.
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Shut up dude there is close to zero hypocrisy in this thread so far and the certainly wasn't any when you got all hot and bothered by it in your first post. Everyone agrees that we should let the dumb little kid where whatever shirt he wants.
 
P

panty

Member
Do I care about Jesus? Hell no. Would I suspend him for wearing that? Hell no.

What's wrong with this world.
 
K

Kuroyume

Banned
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.
 
F

Farooq

Banned
Gaborn said:
Just added it to the OP. as I said there, I'm not sure it changes anything. Those incidents were wrong and should be suspendable, the shirt should not be.
Click to expand...

I don't know where I stand on this issue, but the kid did wear the T-shirt everyday for weeks.

This along with his behaviour could be grounds for dismissal.
 
E

ElFly

Member
If you read between the lines, you will see he was suspended for his terrible taste in shirts.

Surely he could have gotten a black one with three jesuses howling at the cross or something.
 
Monocle

Monocle

Member
ElFly said:
If you read between the lines, you will see he was suspended for his terrible taste in shirts.

Surely he could have gotten a black one with three jesuses howling at the cross or something.
Click to expand...
I would buy the hell out of a shirt like that.
 
A

Aiii

So not worth it
I can't for the life of me think of a reason this is an issue.

Now I'm sure the Atheists don't care, they don't believe in Jesus so won't take offense to the shirt. Maybe the Jews or the Muslims, but I very much doubt they would care about some guys shirt anyways.

But really, just seems like people making a fuzz about nothing, probably comes down to a single person, maybe two, taking offense because "fu, I'm offended" is a thing nowadays which people use to validate themselves and their opinions.

Let the guy wear his shirt, I don't believe in Jesus and I don't care, why should anyone else.
 
T

The_Darkest_Red

Member
IrrelevantNotch said:
So you'd be ok with shirt that says "Life is WASTED with black people"?
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I see your point, there is a line to be crossed somewhere. I'm guessing a shirt like that wouldn't be legal to wear in a school, right?

quadriplegicjon said:
Interesting considering that kid was preaching to others and very likely not accepting of other religions/cultures. The shirt itself denigrades any religion not his own.
Click to expand...
I'm only talking about the shirt, not the preaching. As I said earlier in the thread I'm not really a fan of the shirt to begin with but I don't think there is anything wrong with him wearing it.

travisbickle said:
School should be an environment where everyone feels equal, an institution where everyone feels safe to better themselves through education. A t-shirt declaring someone is wasting their life because they are not dedicated to Jesus is incongruous to this.
Click to expand...
I think school should also be a place where people learn that not everyone agrees with their beliefs. As long as the disagreement is peaceful and isn't posing any immediate threat to anyone's ability to learn then I don't see the issue.

Alrus said:
That's not the problem with the shirt though. If it had a "My" in front on the text, nobody would care.
Click to expand...
I don't think there is a problem with the shirt either way. I would feel the same if it were a Muslim's shirt with a similar message.
 
S

Stealth Editor

Member
Dude Abides said:
Kid should be allowed to wear his dumb shirt. Shouldn't be allowed to disrupt the classroom by preaching.
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Students said William Swinimer has been preaching and making them feel uncomfortable, and the shirt was the last straw so they complained.

Anyone actually reading the article? Clearly his father is a major wacko and the behaviour will continue.

Christians loves feeling like victims anyway
 
L

LegatoB

Member
Gaborn said:
Only if you assume he didn't wash the shirt for weeks too.
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Or if you determine that he's been wearing the shirt every day for a week because he feels like it's a pretty obvious way to get attention, and possibly a way to get around any other restrictions placed on him preaching at the other students. The problem doesn't seem to be the message of the shirt, instead the problem's using the shirt as an intentional harassment tool. I mean, it's a bright yellow shirt with an aggressive message about salvation; seems like a great way to get the Word out without directly violating any requests to cease preaching.

The wording in the article is somewhat vague, but I got the impression he was suspended for repeatedly refusing to cease an activity after multiple requests from his classmates and administrators. That he's also got tacky taste in T-shirts is a secondary concern at best.
 
F

Farooq

Banned
Gaborn said:
Only if you assume he didn't wash the shirt for weeks too.
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Yea, there really isn't anyway to know that unless you are there.

I do think the school administration could have handled this situation better. However, it was clear he was making the other students uncomfortable. Could it be that the T-shirt was making the students uncomfortable given his history?

If that is the case, does the school have an obligation to ask the student to take the T-shirt off?
 
S

Stealth Editor

Member
Gaborn said:
But as has been noted he was suspended for the shirt, not for the preaching.
Click to expand...
Katelyn Hiltz, student council vice-president, agreed the controversy didn't begin with the T-shirt. "It started with him preaching his religion to kids and then telling them to go to hell.

School uniforms yo! Y u not wear them?
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His school most likely is considering it because of this. If it happened, he will the world most unpopular high school kid.
 
A

Aiii

So not worth it
Stealth Editor said:
Katelyn Hiltz, student council vice-president, agreed the controversy didn't begin with the T-shirt. "It started with him preaching his religion to kids and then telling them to go to hell.
Click to expand...

Then suspend him for that. Don't wait until he wears a t-shirt and suspend him over that.

Also, if you don't believe in his version of hell anyways, why would you care if he told you you'd go there? That's just silly.
 
J

jorma

is now taking requests
lol i totally misinterpreted that shirt, i thought being WASTED was a good thing that the lack of jesus in his life made him privy too.

so i automatically thought that the offended parties where christians

that's what you get for being Swedish i guess.

I'd totally wear that shirt when wasted.

edit: oh and please all citizens of the world, for the love of jesus - stop being so fucking offended all the time. Let that shit slide, even if it makes you SOOO angry.
 
D

Dragon

Banned
IrrelevantNotch said:
::shrugs:: But if you are for exposing your children to differing opinions then racist outerwear should be perfectly acceptable.
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That's if you treat every opinion as if it's equal.

Aiii said:
Then suspend him for that. Don't wait until he wears a t-shirt and suspend him over that.

Also, if you don't believe in his version of hell anyways, why would you care if he told you you'd go there? That's just silly.
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Well young kids usually don't have as much confidence in their beliefs as us adults.
 
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