Arlington High School junior and debate club president Justin Surber likes to wear his black T-shirt featuring Friedrich Nietzche's famous words "God is Dead." He wears it to provoke debate, he says, believing that his right to free speech is protected.
The school's yearbook, however, apparently disagreed. Gale Fiege of HearldNet has the story:
Nobody has told him he can't wear the shirt to school. He wears it to provoke debate, he says, and that's why he wore the shirt the day the debate club photo was taken for the yearbook.
Now Surber believes his T-shirt prompted the school's yearbook adviser to ask for a retake of the photo, without the T-shirt.
“I feel I am a victim of censorship,” Surber said.
When a student yearbook staff member came to take a second photo of the debate club a few weeks ago, Surber's friend Reed Summerlin asked for an explanation.
The yearbook staffer indicated she had been asked by the yearbook adviser not to tell Surber the reason for the retake, Summerlin said. “She said it was about Justin's shirt.”
Link (Photo: Dan Bates / The Herald) - via Unique Daily
What do you think? Was that a case of censorship, reasonable yearbook policy, or just a tempest-in-a-teapot indignation of a teenager?
Jimssss thank you for the links. They have added an interesting perspective to this debate.
The article mentions that some of the other debate club members did not want to be in a photo with him wearing the shirt. I agree with the photoshop idea. He could "magically" be wearing a plain black shirt.
Back when I was in high school, we were not allowed to wear logos of any kind (to avoid fighting).
If it is NOT ok for Joe to do something, but Bob can ( because he is not Joe) then it should not be allowed for Bob either.
If Joe is white and cannot have a TV channel exclusively for white people, why can Bob do it because he is black?
IF Joe is atheist and cannot put on a T-shirt sparking debate on the topic, why can Bob do it because he is a Christian?
IF Joe is a random person and has to do community service for drunk driving, why doesn't Bob, just because he's a celebrity?
I wonder if we'll ever be able to hold our heads up and say things are fair. I imagine the world has better odds of ending before that ever happens.
The 'morons' thing was right on, though. When you quote a famous philosopher, don't assume well-known phrases mean what they seem to mean at first glance.