His teachers wanted to stop William Swinimer from displaying “Life is wasted without Jesus.”.
A Nova Scotia student at the centre of a controversy about religion and public schools will have the right to wear a shirt with the message: “Life is wasted without Jesus.”
William Swinimer was suspended from the Forest Heights Community School in Chester Basin for five days on Monday, after he defied the principal’s instruction not to wear a yellow T-shirt sporting the phrase. It was his seventh T-shirt-related suspension in the space of a month.
Swinimer had received support from N.S. Progressive Conservative Leader Jamie Baillie, as well as a Bridgewater businessman who donated enough money to have 100 of the T-shirts made.
A facilitator was called to help bridge the divide between Swinimer and the high school, and the suspension was reversed on Friday.
After Swinimer’s story grabbed headlines across the country and beyond, Supt. Nancy Pynch-Worthylake told The Canadian Press that a forum was organized for Swinimer and his detractors to debate the issue.
Swinimer had worn the shirt to school several times without incident until, two weeks earlier, he was told another student had complained. That was when he was told to leave the shirt at home.
Swinimer said he never intended to be rude or disrespectful, but he wanted to keep wearing the shirt because he stands behind its message.
“That’s my opinion, but under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms I’m allowed to have my opinion and express my opinion,” the Grade 12 student told CTV’s Canada AM on Friday.
“The only reason I’m wearing the T-shirt continually now is because I’m standing up for my rights as a Canadian citizen.”
Source: Ottawa.ctv.ca
My comment:
Christians who do not take the words “Jesus” in their mouth do not have to “worry” about their life on Earth. They will not be persecuted for their faith.
Many of them will neither make it into the Kingdom of Heaven.
When Jesus set up His seat of judgment, he will spit lukewarm claimed to be “Christians” out of his mouth.
Revelation 3:15-19
I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.
It is true that life is wasted without Jesus. I will get my self one of these t-shirts, and wear it.
I will encourage you to do the same.
Written by Ivar
ivarfjeld.com 
Wearing a T-Shirt that promotes Jesus Christ, will be perceived as ‘antigonizing OTHER faiths’ (smile) ..and many will say that is not walking in love…(smile)….
Who cares what people think that’s how we got here. Walking in LOVE is being strong and telling people it’s a choice and saying it in how ever you need to say it He chose to say it with his shirt
Sandra, Amen…..I was speaking on the ‘other side’ of the coin…(smile) what many will do and say …we are in the days of Evil so blatantly it’s amazing these people were not spawned from the pit of hell instead of growing up and switching sides to the Enemy yet many more will also fall away to the ‘easier side’…(I call it …It’s harder to sin than to not sin, the more we’re walking with Jesus..)
The principal was clearly in the wrong here. She said that if he had just worn a shirt saying, “I love Jesus” or some such, that it would have been okay—that it would have been clear that was an opinion. But since he wore one that appeared to “attack” other religions, that it was not okay. Ridiculous. Everyone knows that what one wears on one’s t-shirt is the opinion of the wearer.
If it is like the typical high school, there were likely other students’ t-shirts that displayed all manner of disgusting images and ideas—why single out this boy? There is an anti-Christian agenda in the public schools of Western nations that has a LONG history. Fewer than 3% of public school teachers claim to belong to the Christian faith. What does that tell us about the path on which our children are being led? I actually don’t even believe that another student complained about the shirt.
Students did complain about the shirt and created their own opposing shirts as a reaction. If he has any hopes of becoming an evangelical preacher of any sort, he’s off to a bad start. All he has managed to do is drive other students away or turn them against him.
His own argument was used against him for shirts like a “A life with Jesus is wasted” and “A Christian life is wasted”. I suspect those are the same students that complained. The truth is that this would have continued into a means for students to slander each others belief (or anything else) citing freedom of speech.
I had not heard that other students created their own t-shirts in response. But, those who are living a lie will often react that way to the truth. The gospel offends those who are perishing. He hasn’t really driven “other students away”—and they were already widely separated from him and turned against him. What does light have to do with darkness? Let them slander away. Those who are His will see which is truth and which is falsehood. Amen?
When this happens the offending official should be disciplined-in fact she should be dismissed due to discriminating against the Christian lad and he should be able to claim damages….his civil liberties have been infringed. More proof that women simply should not be given a job with such authority…the power trip goes to their head.
>>More proof that women simply should not be given a job with such authority…the power trip goes to their head.<<< That is the Dumbest thing to say!