Category: Secularism

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More Secularists' Fantasies of Fairness

Suspended Nova Scotia student defiantly wears T-shirt with pro-Jesus message

  May 3, 2012 – 8:32 PM ET | Last Updated: May 3, 2012 8:45 PM ET

Ryan Taplin for National Post

Ryan Taplin for National Post

Student William Swinimer wearing his banned shirt. “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,” he says.

For the past six months, a yellow T-shirt with the slogan “Life is Wasted Without Jesus” has been just another shirt in William Swinimer’s wardrobe.

Lately, the 19-year-old Nova Scotian has worn it every single day since the vice-principal at his high school told him he couldn’t, that it was considered offensive, that it spewed, in his own words, “hate talk.”

Instead of peeling the shirt off like they wanted him to, Mr. Swinimer continued to wear it — straight through a series of in-school suspensions and straight through the five-day at-home suspension he’s currently serving.

When he comes back to class at Forest Heights Community School in Chester Basin, N.S., on Monday, he plans to wear it again — even if it means he could be suspended for the rest of the school year.

“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.”

‘There was no profane language, there was no drug references, there was nothing inappropriate on [my] shirt’

The Grade 12 student’s act of defiance has shone a light on the balance schools attempt to strike between accommodating all faiths and differing viewpoints while trying to keep the peace.

It has also reignited the debate about whether students should have the right to express their beliefs at school even at risk offending others.

Mr. Swinimer wonders why his shirt has only now become so controversial, especially when he’s seen other students around school wearing T-shirts with slogans like ‘Hail Satan.’

“There was no profane language, there was no drug references, there was nothing inappropriate on [my] shirt,” he said.

South Shore Regional School Board superintendant Nancy Pynch-Worthylake said students are indeed allow to express their religious beliefs at school.

“I know it’s out there that somehow we don’t allow religious beliefs in school, which is absolutely false,” she said. “The only time is when we have students come forward and say ‘I really feel this is a criticism of my beliefs’ and that’s what happened in this situation.”

The students who complained to the principal took the shirt’s slogan to mean “Your life is wasted without Jesus,” she said, which could reasonably be construed as a judgment.

Mr. Swiniman said it’s a quote from the Bible book Philippians.

This case was handled the same way schools in the board tend to handle any complaint about T-shirt slogans; complaints about offensive clothing do come up every now and then, Ms. Pynch-Worthylake added.

‘Is it obvious that someone would be silly to think it’s offensive? Well no — we can kind of see both [sides]‘

“In meeting with students, we would ask ‘Is it blatantly offensive? And in this case it was ‘No.’ Is it obvious that someone would be silly to think it’s offensive? Well no — we can kind of see both [sides],” she said. “And then in meeting and talking with students we would say ‘The easy way to deal with this respectfully would be to just wear a different shirt.’”

But Mr. Swinimer wasn’t going to wear a different shirt, and defiance —especially repeated defiance — is grounds for suspension, Ms. Pynch-Worthylake said.

The school board issued a statement clarifying that “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.”

The school board is also consulting a human rights expert to assess whether the shirt can indeed be considered offensive, Ms. Pynch-Worthylake said, adding that she hoped Mr. Swinimer will be back at school as soon as possible.

The Grade 12 student said he continues to wear the shirt because he has been “bullied” about his faith in the past. Though he’s not usually one to rock the boat, he felt he had to take a stand this time and defend his views.

Varrick Day, who is pastor at Jesus the Good Shepherd Church in Bridgewater, N.S. where Mr. Swinimer and his family worship, said he encouraged the shy student to speak out.

“This is not about the T-shirt — it’s about our children and our grandchildren having the right of freedom of speech and religion,” he said. “That’s being taken away in our schools.”

National Post

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Perhaps Christianity Has no Intellectual Future in North America . . .

. . . which is to say, no future at all.

Sean McDowell, Truth Matters Tour, a Review.

Last Sunday night a few of us attended the “Truth Matters Tour,” hosted at Global Kingdom Ministries. Phil Wickham and Paul Baloche lead worship before Sean McDowell spoke. It was an interesting night for me, because I have not been to a Christian concert since I heard the late Larry Norman around 1998. I know that this wasn’t billed as a Christian concert, but it was intended to be a worship session. During this time McDowell spoke about 20 minutes or so. I was interested in hearing McDowell, because I heard his father, Josh (of Evidence That Demands a Verdict fame) in 1975 at Kansas State University. There the Ahearn Fieldhouse was packed with several thousand university students, and the elder McDowell spoke for a couple of hours, for several nights. I still have the tapes somewhere.

I was excited that anything to do with apologetics was being targeted to young people. We had a few from our church attend, although I tried to get others to go. I’m glad I didn’t get more people to attend, though.

1) The musicians were musically talented. But I would ask them, and other worship leaders today, whether or not Matthew 6:7 was really meant by Jesus. Content-less repetition of words for 1 1/2 hours doesn’t constitute worship. I am not sure if it was intended to induce a trance, but are we not to sing with our minds also (1 Corinthians 14:15)? If this is the state of worship today, and not an anomaly, I am very sad. Not all the so-called “great hymns of the faith” were all that great, but at least they did try to say something of the faith. What I heard was a dearth of content, almost an intentional repudiation of content.  The musicians were, I’m sure, sincere Christians, but they need to lead hearts and minds to think God’s thoughts. During this time, Paul’s command in 1 Timothy 4:13 was ignored. I found myself thinking, if the music was broken up for Scripture reading, would it ruin the mood? Probably, but that would be a blessing. Anytime reading Scripture in worship spoils the worship, we have to ask who and why we worship in the first place.

2) During the concert/worship/whatever,  I was reminded of Winston Churchill’s quote from 1943, “First we shape our buildings, then they shape us.” When we worship in what is basically a modified theatre, in darkness, does our worship become become an audience/performer relationship? I understand why live theatre and movies are presented in darkness, but I personally dislike worshiping in the dark, and find it hard to do so. When all the lights are focused upon the musician, one can feel as if they are very alone; but I didn’t feel alone with God (if that is the intention), just alone with the guy on the stage. Given the kind of instructions Paul offers regarding worship (again, see 1 Corinthians), I wonder if the isolation and individualism of a theatre is such a great way to bring awareness of the body and bride of Christ at worship.

3) The worship session ran about an hour and a half, with the two musicians named above leading. Following McDowell’s short segment, more music followed. I really can’t believe that it must be necessary to provide nearly two hours of music/entertainment/worship to lure high school and university students to hear an apologist speak for 20 minutes. I think McDowell is a very good speaker, and probably knows a lot more than he revealed in his time slot; I also know that apologetics can be intellectually demanding and difficult to get much across in one evening. But 20 minutes? He used his time wisely, and made one point: absolutes exist in morality and religion. If I compare Sean’s talk to what his father’s in 1975 (to a much larger crowd), the precarious future of the faith of the young in North America becomes painfully evident.

For one thing, even in 1975 Josh McDowell’s topics were not considered all that difficult or cutting-edge: he popularised C. S. Lewis’ “Lord, Liar, or Lunatic” argument, and some of F. F. Bruce’s conservative Biblical criticism. I read Josh McDowell in high school, so I know at that level it was not hard stuff. I am afraid that the younger McDowell knew his audience well, and spoke accordingly. I do not blame him for this, but it frightens me if it is true that today’s youth can take much in.

If the crowd in Scarborough Sunday night is typical of a majority of North American young Christians, there is no intellectual future for the Christian faith; faith will become privatised into total irrelevance. Do we wonder why students lose their faith in university? They may have had very little to lose to begin with. I saw many hundreds worshiping with hands stretched upward; do they know much about the God they worship, or why?

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The High Cost of Illiteracy.

2 Timothy 4:3–4 (ESV)

3For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.