A reader sent me the following message concerning a recent news story involving a cashier that was fired by the Home Depot for refusing to remove a button that read, “One nation under God, indivisible”:

Today, there was a story on CNN-HLN regarding a Home Depot employee fired for wearing a button on his apron that read in part, “One nation under God.” At the end of the story, CNN-HLN posed this question to it’s viewers: “Should a company dress code be allowed to infringe on your religious beliefs?” The obvious answer is, “NO”. However, their question had nothing to do with the story that was profiled on CNN today. The issue is not about religious persecution; it’s about a dress code. It would have been more appropriate to ask, “Does a company have the right to enforce a dress code when an employee works directly with the public?” The answer is, “Yes.” But then this question does not guarantee that thousands of Christians will respond in anger with threats to boycott Home Depot. CNN-HLN should be called-out for this irresponsible reporting.

This reader is spot on. By framing this story as a case of religious discrimination CNN masks the real and far more mundane issue of company dress which hardly seems controversial at all. Here is how the Associated Press is reporting this:

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A former cashier for The Home Depot who has been wearing a “One nation under God” button on his work apron for more than a year has been fired, he says because of the religious reference. The company claims that expressing such personal beliefs is simply not allowed.

“I’ve worn it for well over a year and I support my country and God,” Trevor Keezor said Tuesday. “I was just doing what I think every American should do, just love my country.”

The American flag button Keezer wore in the Florida store since March 2008 says “One nation under God, indivisible.”

Earlier this month, he began bringing a Bible to read during his lunch break at the store in the rural town of Okeechobee, about 140 miles north of Miami. That’s when he says The Home Depot management told him he would have to remove the button.

Keezer refused, and he was fired on Oct. 23, he said.

“It feels kind of like a punishment, like I was punished for just loving my country,” Keezer said.

A Home Depot spokesman said Keezer was fired because he violated the company’s dress code.

“This associate chose to wear a button that expressed his religious beliefs. The issue is not whether or not we agree with the message on the button,” Craig Fishel said. “That’s not our place to say, which is exactly why we have a blanket policy, which is long-standing and well-communicated to our associates, that only company-provided pins and badges can be worn on our aprons.”

Fishel said Keezer was offered a company-approved pin that said, “United We Stand,” but he declined.

Keezer’s lawyer, Kara Skorupa, said she planned to sue the Atlanta-based company.

“There are federal and state laws that protect against religious discrimination,” Skorupa said. “It’s not like he was out in the aisles preaching to people.”

Keezer is just angry and has gone off his rocker. He was not fired for loving his country or for believing in God. He was fired because he violated his company’s (sensible) dress code policy and then refused to cooperate with his employer. Those are clear and straightforward grounds for termination. Call it religious discrimination, however, and suddenly it becomes a newsworthy story.

I have no sympathy for Keezer. I highly doubt that he would appreciate it if other associates began wearing “One Nation Without God” pins. Typically, people like Keezer only want special rights and privileges for other Christians like themselves and could give a shit about people with contrasting beliefs. It is the same mentality that year after year causes large groups of Christians to insist that big companies like Home Depot and Walmart only use and display the phrase “Merry Christmas” rather than the more inclusive “Happy Holidays.” It is quite hypocritical, when you get right down to it.

Keezer said he was working at the store to earn money for college, and wore the button to support his country and his 27-year-old brother, who is in the National Guard and is set to report in December for a second tour of duty in Iraq.

Skorupa noted the slogan on Keezer’s pin is straight from the Pledge of Allegiance.

“These mottos and sayings that involve God, that’s part of our country and historical fabric,” Skorupa said. “In God we trust is on our money.”

Right, and that impels all of us to either have to place our own trust in God or have to endure endless displays of other’s trust in God when we want to buy a pack of nails. Oh wait – no, it doesn’t.

Michael Masinter, a civil rights and employment law professor at NOVA Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, said any lawsuit over religious discrimination might be a tough one to win.

“Because it’s a private business, not one that’s owned and operated by the government, it doesn’t have to operate under the free speech provisions of the First Amendment,” Masinter said.

“But we’re not talking about religious displays here,” he said. “This sounds more like a political message … Wearing a button of that sort would not easily be described as a traditional form of religious expression like wearing a cross or wearing a yarmulke.”

I applaud Home Depot for their fair and sensible policy for company dress. Keezer needs to understand that some situations are just not appropriate for making political and religious statements.