Foxy,
That was a most pointless contribution ! If you're so thick that you can't see a difference between a physical weapon & the commodities you mentioned then you really should seek help !

How dare they flaunt their religious affiliations.
Aries54,
Deliberately disregarding context for an argument is Paul's domain, leave it to him, it, they her, them, their.
Whilst I find all religious attire nothing short of silly a Nun is at least not totally covering herself unlike those who can actually hide behind total cover. They both represent organisations with cruel past & even questionable present & they both could hide weapons for all we know. It has actually been done on many occasions.
The one effective & actually most effective weapon people should be allowed to show & express in public is a sound mentality however, recent & present Woke orientated authorities have banned this ! Switzerland has a weapon in every home, could you imagine that in English speaking countries ?

Dear Indyvidual,

«That sounds rather self-centred to me !»

I agree.

Religious acts are indeed performed with intent to benefit oneself.
To bring oneself closer to God.
To make oneself a better person, more worthy of God's grace.
To purify one's own soul.
Nothing else can be more beneficial for oneself.

It is just not possible for anyone to purify another's soul,
or to make someone else a better person,
like it or not, that is a fact,
one may possibly be able to give advice, but it remains up to the recipient of that advice whether to follow it or not.

Yes, the spiritual journey is self-centred.
One starts the journey perceiving oneself as a small and limited individual person, requiring help,
but when the journey is complete, one realises their identity with God,
them being infinite, limitless, eternally blissful,
with all wounds healed and all suffering ceased forever.

Anything wrong with that self-centred goal?

Anything wrong with that self-centred goal?
Yuyutsu,
As a straight forward question, No ! As in visitors demanding the host to adapt to the visitor, No ! We all have to look after Nr 1 ! There's nothing more basic & natural than the sense of self preservation.
Greed is in the same line as most demands & is natural however, there's also a perfectly natural defence mechanism to greed in the human & even many animal psyche. The natural method to balance the two is whoever is stronger either mentally or physically or both. A weak crowd will invariably overpower any strong minority. We see that playing out now with the Woke.
Self-centred goals are admirable within the confines of decency but abhorrent when to the detriment of others ! Because people are prone to overstep the mark, societies have put in place rules. Selfish people are constantly rebellious to rules hence stronger rules have to be put up ! Rules start off as guide lines but the nature of the selfish necessitate the stepping up to rules !

Dear Indyvidual,

You just opened up so many new topics at once, really interesting topics and there is lots I could say on each, but for shortage of time, please allow me for now to keep to the original topic:

The Sikh dagger, at least in its symbolic miniature and locked-up form, poses no risk to anyone's self-preservation, is neither indecent nor abhorrent, nor a detriment to others.

Let us practice religion in our minds and not in our dresses.
Ezhil,
Well put !
I remember when every Chinese person depicted in China wore the same outfit. They started to change when they commenced international travel.
When the highest achieving people think it right why can't others as many do ? Surely, people have more to offer than apparel that requires a potential weapon to be part of it !