The Right To Be Religious

In a country like Canada it is a given that anyone may practise the religion of their choice.  We have those rights guaranteed us through the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.  We have the right to do as we wish, the right to speak, the right to free assembly, the right to practise the religion of our choice: 

freedom of conscience, and religion; freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication; freedom of peaceful assembly; and freedom of association.

All Canadians are held to be equal under the law, with the right to equal protection and equal benefit without discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability.  Of course there are perceived societal constraints, and there are also unspoken and generally accepted social restraints on impinging on the rights of others.

In an effort to be entirely fair to minorities, there is a social effort to make people who represent minorities feel welcome and slightly more entitled than the mainstream majority, when it comes to gender identification, colour, religion, that kind of thing.  Everything is not as equal as we would like it to be.  For to entitle one group we manage to disentitle another.  Christians in today's world where one is enjoined to be politically correct, suffer a kind of undercurrent of discrimination.

Which leads some to become assertively defensive about their beliefs.  Above and beyond how some, believing that their religion alone is the one true and authentic religion, have an unfortunate tendency to scorn and deprecate the values of others who do not subscribe to their particular vision. 

When 19-year-old high school student William Swinimer was given a five-day suspension from his Nova Scotia school for wearing a T-shirt that some other students complained about, public sentiment was clearly with him.

Another instance of a devoted Christian being faulted for the quality and intensity of his devotion to his religion.  Wearing a yellow T-shirt with the wording "Life is Wasted Without Jesus", is just another slogan, why take offence, as other students clearly must have, to complain to their school administration.  After all, William Swinimer was simply exercising his right to express his belief.

The administration of Forest Heights Community School in Chester Basin, Nova Scotia, changed their mind.  They informed young Swinimer that he could, after all, wear that T-shirt on his return to school after his suspension, given him for defying the vice-principal's explicit instruction not to continue wearing the offending garment to school.

The publicity surrounding the event, and the embarrassment suffered by the school administration was occasioned by the young man contacting the media after having been given that disciplinary suspension.  Disciplined unfairly because he expressed his devoutness, simply unfair and un-Canadian.  But his father has decided to remain in high dudgeon over the matter, declaring his son would not return to school.

The school had initiated a few forums for students and teachers and any other interested individuals to discuss the issues involved.  The Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission along with the province's justice and education departments, psychologists and school staff were all to be involved, to bring greater understanding to the issue, and possibly, peace.

This has become for the Swinimers, however, a more complex issue.  They are defending their brand of religion against the Philistines of the education system.  Swinimer senior contending that he sends his son to school for an education in the basics of language, mathematics, science, not religious and social enlightenment. 

Swinimer junior contends the wearing of the T-shirt day after day resulted from his right to freedom of religion having been violated.  "I don't know about other schools, but I've been very discriminated against because of my Christianity.  There are all kinds of religions in my school ... [but] just for talking about Christianity, I've been called up to the office many times", he complained.

And then, a few words from the vice-president of the student council who explained her version about the shirt and its offshoot response.  "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."  Perhaps young Mr. Swinimer is a bullying, righteous proselytizer?

Don't others who attend his school have the right to expect that their views about religion or lack of it should be respected as well?