Nova Scotia Teen in Trouble for Wearing ‘Life is Wasted Without Jesus’ Shirt
Nova Scotia Teen in Trouble for Wearing ‘Life is Wasted Without Jesus’ Shirt
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Swinimer is surprised his “Life is Wasted without Jesus” shirt has been at the center of so much controversy:
“I believe this is worth standing up for — it’s not just standing up for religious rights, it’s standing up for my rights as a Canadian citizen; for freedom of speech, freedom of religion. I don’t think this is right.”
I’m all for students having freedom to express their beliefs. But that doesn’t mean I approve of this shirt. There’s a pretty clear reason why:
It insults people who don’t believe in Jesus. It says very directly that they’re wasting their lives and that they’re worthless. It’s a form of bullying. (It’s also completely false — How many brilliant people have made contributions to our world without believing in Christian nonsense? It’s a shirt anyone can refute with about 2 seconds of thought.)
If Swinimer wore a shirt that said, “Life is great with Jesus,” I don’t think I would care much at all. That’s a personal message with positive tones (at least in theory). It’s no different than students expressing themselves by wearing a cross. Or atheists saying we can be good without god. It doesn’t say anything negative about people who don’t agree with your beliefs.
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For what it’s worth, the Centre For Inquiry in Canada put out a statement in support of Swinimer:
“While CFI sponsored the Atheist Bus Campaign, we are a strong champion of freedom of speech and freedom of religion,” said National Communications Director Justin Trottier. “This shirt causes no harm and is a perfectly acceptable contribution to the marketplace of ideas.”
More:
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2012/05/04/nova-scotia-teen-in-trouble-for-wearing-life-is-wasted-without-jesus-shirt/
= new reply since forum marked as read
--imm
I wonder if he was hoping no one would notice the "without Jesus" part. (Just look at how much smaller those two words are.)
I also wonder if he'd be supportive if someone wore this to school:
Somehow, I think not.
Specifically this:
Sounds like the 'freedom of religion' he was talking about was referring only to his OWN religion:
It also sounds as if his dad wants him to be free to preach at/condemn his fellow students without having to consider how that might be offensive to them. He wants the school to "
get) back to teaching the basics" when that's what they've been doing this entire time--his son is the one who tried to inject something other than "the basics" into the daily lives of his fellow students!
Edited to add:
Ri-i-i-i-i-i-ight.
Update on Student Who Wore ‘Life is Wasted Without Jesus’ Shirt
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More stories are coming out about the shirt-wearing son’s behavior:
Students said William Swinimer has been preaching and making them feel uncomfortable, and the shirt was the last straw so they complained.
“He’s told kids they’ll burn in hell if they don’t confess themselves to Jesus,” student Riley Gibb-Smith 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. A lot of kids don’t want to deal with this anymore,” she said.
The Swinimers clearly prioritize getting an education (Mike Dembeck - The Canadian Press)
More:
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/
