I think I understand your "but" - I also get irritated by "religious vestimentary manifestations in every day life." And the more ostentatious the costume the more disturbing to me it is; i.e., in a descending order of dislike, a nun's habit barely beats a Sihk's turban, which is "worse" than a yarmulke, which is "worse" than a descrete crucifix or Star of David.
But when you get right down to it, my dislike of such dress is prejudice plain and simple, and I suspect the same is true of yours.
As social animals evolved on the African savannah in small tribal groups, we have a natural aversion to the "other". As a life-long atheist, there is little or nothing philosophically more "other" to me than religious faith and in my those primitive, tribal parts of my mind, overt displays of religiosity are instantly associated with ignorance and intolerance, with absolutism and blind obedience to "authority" rather than to curiosity and acceptance, with open and questioning thinking.
But it is a prejudice, as the fact that religious costumes I don't (rightly or wrongly) associate with extremism serves to prove. There is a relatively large Tibetan community in my area and seeing one of them dressed in monkish robes intrigues and delights me, for instance, where seeing a Roman Catholic priest or nun would make me mutter childish curses under my breath (yes, I spent some time in Catholic schools as a child).
And, having recently me Saara, who is serious about her faith and sports a hijab for both religious and political reasons but who is also almost utterly unlike my prejudicial impression of "a muslim", has - in one fell swoop, kicked the legs out from under my stereotypes, already weakened by getting to know a former colleague, an Iranian immigrant, to a certain extent a view years back.
To reiterate, my dislike of those sartorial manifestations are to a large degree a primitive fear reaction to what is largely an unknown, something I strive to keep in mind, because I really don't want to dislike any person for what they believe, but only for what they do.
Religious Vestimentary Manifestations
But when you get right down to it, my dislike of such dress is prejudice plain and simple, and I suspect the same is true of yours.
As social animals evolved on the African savannah in small tribal groups, we have a natural aversion to the "other". As a life-long atheist, there is little or nothing philosophically more "other" to me than religious faith and in my those primitive, tribal parts of my mind, overt displays of religiosity are instantly associated with ignorance and intolerance, with absolutism and blind obedience to "authority" rather than to curiosity and acceptance, with open and questioning thinking.
But it is a prejudice, as the fact that religious costumes I don't (rightly or wrongly) associate with extremism serves to prove. There is a relatively large Tibetan community in my area and seeing one of them dressed in monkish robes intrigues and delights me, for instance, where seeing a Roman Catholic priest or nun would make me mutter childish curses under my breath (yes, I spent some time in Catholic schools as a child).
And, having recently me Saara, who is serious about her faith and sports a hijab for both religious and political reasons but who is also almost utterly unlike my prejudicial impression of "a muslim", has - in one fell swoop, kicked the legs out from under my stereotypes, already weakened by getting to know a former colleague, an Iranian immigrant, to a certain extent a view years back.
To reiterate, my dislike of those sartorial manifestations are to a large degree a primitive fear reaction to what is largely an unknown, something I strive to keep in mind, because I really don't want to dislike any person for what they believe, but only for what they do.