I agree with this, generally. I think where we disagree is when you’re a government employee. When you’re on the job, representing the govt, you’re no longer “just” a private citizen. You’re entrusted with certain powers that no longer make you equal to everybody else. Government employees can destroy lives—just go to any country with high levels of corruption and you’ll see it all the time.

I think the problem with religious wear is that you’re advertising to the world what your values are. In a normal setting that’s fine, but I wonder (and am inclined to believe) that it’s not appropriate to advertise your personal values while administering/imposing the values of the state on ordinary citizens. They do often conflict with each other, so why give out mixed signals when you don’t have to?

I’m not saying that govt employees can’t have values that conflict with those of the state. That’s impossible anyway. But govt employees need to understand that their own personal values shouldn’t influence how they do their work. There’s supposed to be impartial, neutral actors.

Some have said to me that what we wear doesn’t necessarily indicate how we’ll behave. And I think that’s a valid point. But at the same time, how we choose to dress does communicate something.. if not why do uniforms exist or why do we ask employees to dress professionally? I don’t believe that all clothes are neutral. I think most people would question the service they were receiving if the employee serving them was wearing ripped jeans and a tshirt that said “fuck you” on it. It’s still entirely possible that this employee is the best employee in the world. I think most would agree it’s still inappropriate to wear those kinds of clothes. I’m not trying to equate religious wear with a “fuck you” T-shirt... only to show that clothes are not neutral and do communicate values and ideas (whether we want them to or not).

But as I mentioned earlier.. if your religious beliefs are so strong that you can’t put them aside for the sake of your job.. then maybe that’s an indication that the job isn’t right for you. I think the government has an absolute duty to be impartial and to hire employees that will do their best to administer the laws impartially. And I don’t think it’s appropriate for the Govt to accommodate people with religious values at the expense of impartiality. For example, that lady in Alabama who refused to give gay couples marriage licenses because doing so conflicted with her religious values. She should have been fired or assigned to another position. She’s entitled to have her beliefs, and to think that gay people are sinful... but she shouldn’t be allowed to refuse to do her job on account of her religion.