Church prints "Islam is of the Devil" shirts for members
Gainesville, FLORIDA (Al Arabiya)
A handful of school students in the American state of Florida were sent home this week for wearing t-shirts with the words "Islam is of the Devil" printed on the back in red and refusing to change out of them or cover the message.
The controversy started after members of a local church, the Dove World Outreach Center, which printed the shirts, showed up for the first day of school wearing the controversial t-shirts, which officials said violated a ban on clothing that may offend or distract other students and "disrupt the learning process."
"Students have a right of free speech, and we have allowed students to come to school wearing clothes with messages," school district staff attorney Tom Wittmer told Florida's the Gainesville Sun newspaper, adding "but this message is a divisive message that is likely to offend students."
"The next kid might show up with a shirt saying 'Christianity is of the Devil,'" Wittmer said, which Dove church members said they would not like but said every student has the right to do as they please.
Dove's Senior pastor, Terry Jones, said he believed spreading the church's message was more important than education and told the paper no local company "had the guts" to print the shirts, forcing him to go online to have them made.
More -->
Gainesville, FLORIDA (Al Arabiya)
A handful of school students in the American state of Florida were sent home this week for wearing t-shirts with the words "Islam is of the Devil" printed on the back in red and refusing to change out of them or cover the message.
The controversy started after members of a local church, the Dove World Outreach Center, which printed the shirts, showed up for the first day of school wearing the controversial t-shirts, which officials said violated a ban on clothing that may offend or distract other students and "disrupt the learning process."
"Students have a right of free speech, and we have allowed students to come to school wearing clothes with messages," school district staff attorney Tom Wittmer told Florida's the Gainesville Sun newspaper, adding "but this message is a divisive message that is likely to offend students."
"The next kid might show up with a shirt saying 'Christianity is of the Devil,'" Wittmer said, which Dove church members said they would not like but said every student has the right to do as they please.
Dove's Senior pastor, Terry Jones, said he believed spreading the church's message was more important than education and told the paper no local company "had the guts" to print the shirts, forcing him to go online to have them made.
More -->
No comments:
Post a Comment