You’ve got to be kidding, right?
That was my first thought when I read the headline. Followed quickly by, “huh, slow news day?”
In case you don’t want to read the whole article – super short summary: Home Depot employee wears a “one nation under God, indivisible” pin on his apron. He’s been wearing it for over a year. He starts toting a Bible to work to read on his lunch break. Home Depot says: Hey, you can’t wear that pin, we only allow company approved pins. Here’s a “united we stand” pin to wear instead. Man refuses and is fired.
And of course, Trevor Keezer, the guy in question, is turning it into a freedom of speech and religion platform.
First off – Home Depot, or any business for that matter, has every right to tell employees what they can and cannot wear when in uniform. The concept of a dress code is not an alien language is it? With several friends who are or were Home Depot employees, I know their dress code is pretty well spelled out and very straight forward. I don’t know too many companies who happily allow their employees to sport buttons, shirts or whatevers that indicate any form of religious or political association – never mind how patriotic it may be.
Second – sure, it’s a direct quote from the Pledge of Allegiance. I seem to recall the “under God” part was an add on not originally in the Pledge. In fact, the darn thing has gone through at least four revisions and there have been recurrent arguments about whether or not to continue using the “under God” part. However, because it focuses not on patriotism alone, but on the uniting force of deity, I can see Home Depot’s side here.
Third – the claim that this is his way of showing support for our troops smacks of BS. If that were the case, what would be wrong with accepting the alternate “united we stand” pin? Something with far fewer inflammatory risks.
I’m not saying Home Depot was in the right here. My issues on that front are simple: why didn’t the pin get addressed immediately? If it had, there would be no case here.
Imagine the scene: Employee wears the pin on Day 1. Manager looks at it, says, “Sorry, it’s not a company approved pin. It has to go.” Employee balks. Employee is fired for not conforming to uniform policy. Former employee attempts to sue, and attorney laughs: Hey, it’s their dress code. They enforced it.
End of story.
Unfortunately, the company did not enforce their dress code immediately and allowed the pin to go unquestioned for a significant period of time.
The change seemed to happen when Mr. Keezer started bringing a Bible to work. The claim there is that he brought it to read while on his lunch break.
OK, so… the claim is essentially that Home Depot is using the pin as an excuse for religious persecution?
Unfortunately, because of the lack of prior enforcement of dress code, that is the way it appears.
I find it highly unlikely, however, that the seemingly innocent act of merely bringing a Bible for personal reading enjoyment during unpaid lunch breaks was the real cause.
So, was Mr. Keezer standing in the aisles preaching? I can’t imagine that was the case.
Was he proselytizing to fellow employees? Supposedly not, however, I’m afraid most devout, evangelical Christians have a rather narrow view of proselytizing. I’d be willing to bet that he was, in fact, “sharing his faith” with fellow employees – whether gently, or with a bludgeon doesn’t really matter.
Was he taking his personal lunch hour to lead a Bible study? No problem – so long as it’s not on company grounds, so long as it doesn’t interfere with company business, so long as it’s not done in any way shape or form to appear as a company-sanctioned effort.
My guess is that Mr. Keezer’s act of bringing the Bible in to work coincided with an increased visibility of his public profession of faith – an profession that perhaps irritated a non-Christian coworker, or worse, a customer.
And there, really, is the bottom line.
It’s not as if Home Depot is a Christian business. It’s not like the only customers they have are Christians.
And no corporate giant wants to risk offending or alienating any of their customers over the personal, religious, or political beliefs of one of their low-level employees.
While a pin reading “One nation under God, indivisible” is not the same as wearing a cross, Star of David, or whatever, it is a clear statement of religious and political belief, one that has been a rallying cry of an increasingly political Christian movement.
In my mind, if Mr. Keezer’s genuine intent was to show support for our troops, he would have happily accepted the alternate “united we stand” pin and gone on his merry way. By holding to the non-approved “one nation under God, indivisible” pin, he willingly created the situation leading to his termination.
He made a choice, one that is not based on a requirement of his faith. And he is claiming religious persecution because of it.
Home Depot, unfortunately, made a mistake. They didn’t jump on the issue when it first happened and now they are faced with the appearance of religious persecution.
So, yeah… You’ve got to be kidding, right?
