"Islam Is Of The Devil": Students Sent Home For Wearing Controversial T-Shirts

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A lawyer for a north Florida school district says a handful of students have been sent home from Alachua County schools this week for wearing shirts that read "Islam is of the Devil."

School district staff attorney Tom Wittmer says the shirts might have offended or distracted others and violated the district's dress code.

The shirts are connected to a local church called the Dove World Outreach Center. Church Senior Pastor Terry Jones tells The Gainesville Sun that spreading the church's message is more important than education.

The congregation says a 10-year-old elementary school student was sent home Monday because of the shirt. Three high school students were sent home Tuesday and a middle school student also had to change clothes.

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Information from: The Gainesville Sun, http://www.gainesvillesun.com

Comments

[BaghdadScholar]

Disgusting.

[mudpuddles]

"Church Senior Pastor Terry Jones tells The Gainesville Sun that spreading the church's message is more important than education."

really? are we surprised? if someone is ignorant enough to support this message, I'm sure education is not anywhere near their top priority.

[sweetchuckd]

This story made http://detentionslip.org ! Check it out for all the crazy headlines from our schools.

[Yasmin Belkhyr]

As a muslim myself, I am astonished and disgusted that a pastor, someone who is thought to spread love and acceptance would have his own child wear such a disturbing and horrible t-shirt. This pastor is an ignorant, uneducated and close-minded man. To force such thoughts into a 10 year old child mind is dispicable. What is he teaching her and the world, but hate and intolerance of persons who practice a differnet religion. As James Redmond says, this man needs to take a little trip to a doctors office ASAP.

~Yasmin~

[laminators]

Earlier this summer, the church also used the slogan for a sign on its property:
http://www.governmentalityblog.com/my_weblog/2009/08/florida-students-wearing-islam-is-of-the-devil-tshirts.html

[kwinter]

"Pastor Terry Jones tells The Gainesville Sun that spreading the church's message is more important than education."

Someone is dancing on that invisible line, that crosses over to child abuse!

[JohnFromCensornati]

Apparently, brainwashing one's own kids is not enough for these xians. They want to use their kids to export their xenophobia to other kids. What child wants to wear a shirt like that? None. These people have no regard for their offspring at all. Why warp kids and make them outsiders?

[James Redmond]

Terry Jones should be relieved of his authority as bestowed upon him by his church, and this church needs to apologize to those of Islamic faith or face a boycott. To use children to spread this level of hatred through language on a shirt is preposterously irresponsible.

The irony within the name of that church, to be reaching out globally, is biting. What are you reaching out with? Surely not understanding, compassion or solidarity, and deserving nothing less than a righteous rebuke, and utter castigation, for using children to perpetuate a hateful, thoughtless slogan on a shirt, intended to insult such a huge portion of this world's population.

Instigating such inane wrongs defies the order of what can no longer fit the description of faith, for it is without just that. You are advertising the loss of faith. Loss of faith in humanity, the earth's children, loss of faith in common sense and basic intelligence, loss of faith in our sense of decency, right from wrong, loss of faith in our neighbors and loss of faith in ourselves. That loss of faith is not something to share with anyone, except a shrink, perhaps. That loss of faith is a curse that is spread to make one feel less isolated when one understands it to be both wrong but one is using it to fool one into feeling less so because of convincing greater numbers of people that it is the polar opposite, that it is right. It is not.