Religious Garments in School

Although some individuals view students wearing religious garments in school as an offensive act, I am indifferent and believe that students who have different religious affiliations should be able to freely express themselves through their religious clothing. One student during a class discussion a couple of months ago argued that students who have religious affiliations should not be able to wear their religious garments in public post-secondary institutions because it taints their relationship with other students and sequesters them from other individuals. Although seemingly true in parts, I believe that if a student is asked to remove their religious garment, it will cause social tension amongst everyone and ultimately create a feeling of discomfort for the student. I view asking someone to remove any important piece of clothing to be disrespectful and selfish.

Personally, I believe that if you ask a student to remove a garment or piece of clothing representative of their religious beliefs, it will taint interactions between students as well. Restricting individuals' freedom of expression by saying they cannot wear religious garments because they affect your social interaction with them will "taint" the student and perhaps cause culture shock. To restrict one’s sovereignty for a few individuals is egocentric. Regardless of whether an individual wears anything representative of their religious beliefs, it is sometimes obvious that they have a different religion from your own, so to say that a student should not be able to wear religious garments in school is not practical nor logical.

As American students, atheist or religious, are allowed to wear blue jeans, skirts, dresses, and tennis shoes, students who have religious affiliations should be able to wear their religious garments as well. One has to think about how someone from another country would fill to see clothing that may not be prevalent or widely dispersed in their country. To ask someone to remove their religious clothing to satisfy someone who does not show a public religious affiliation is unfair and extremely selfish. As a Christian who wears crosses occasionally, I would tell someone who asks me to remove my religious garment or any item that shows my religious affiliation to stop being one-dimensional, or to relocate to a country outside of the United States. This is because in the United States, I am free to express myself and wear whatever I want as long as it does not violate the rules or laws set in the United States Constitution.