http://www.globalnews.ca/opinions+di...876/story.html
Quote:
HALIFAX - Buzz continues to grow over the suspension of a Nova Scotia high school student, sent home for a week after refusing to change out of a T-shirt bearing a religious message.
Nineteen-year-old William Swinimer says he's willing to take whatever consequences come his way in order to stand up for his religious beliefs, including the right to wear a shirt that reads "Life is wasted without Jesus."
[...]
In a press release Wednesday afternoon, SSRB stated:
• SSRSB students may choose to wear clothing that embraces their beliefs. However, it is expected that students will not wear clothing with messages that may offend others' beliefs, race, religion, culture or lifestyle.
• If a message can be reasonably interpreted by a person as negative towards another person's beliefs, race, religion, culture or lifestyle, and if it has offended other students and/or staff, the SSRSB feels that such instances are unacceptable and would ask that the message in question be replaced by a message that clearly communicates the student’s beliefs without disrespecting the beliefs or violating the rights of others.
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I've been thinking about this story for the last 30 minutes, and I still can't decide which side I'm on. I certainly support everyone's right to freedom of religion and freedom of expression, but at the same time, schools have to maintain an environment that isn't considered hostile to anyone's beliefs (or lack thereof). If the student was wearing a shirt that said "God loves me" or "Jesus is my saviour", I don't think a suspension would be warranted.
Likewise, nobody would be questioning the suspension if his t-shirt was emblazoned with a swastika or a slogan that said "God hates fags". We acknowledge there are reasonable limits on what students are free to express in the interest of maintaining an open and inclusive public education system.
So can the expression "Life is wasted without Jesus" be reasonably interpreted as being hostile towards other students? I'm honestly not sure. I personally wouldn't be upset by it, but I very well might have been when I was in high school and struggling with my religious beliefs. What if the situation was reversed and an atheist student worse a t-shirt that said "Christians are wasting their lives"? Would that be reasonably interpreted as being hostile towards Christian students and worthy of suspension?