To give a more serious answer, Bajorans seem very theocratic and I think most of them would fundamentally disagree with the concept of a secular government.
Bajor exists in a weird gray area since their religion is in some ways literally real. In some ways the Bajorans are like the Vorta and the Jem’Hadar. Their “gods” are provably real, they interact with them regularly, and they have demonstrated to them that they have what seem to be supernatural powers.
Also, critically for the Bajorans, not only are their gods real, but their demons (Pa Wraiths) are real as well. And that opens up a whole other philosophical can of worms. In a way it reminds me of Warhammer 40k. In that universe, religion isn’t irrational. In fact it’s completely rational. Because Chaos is real, and it will fuck you up if you aren’t religious.
Ro’s first appearance comes well before the Federation knew the Prophets, let alone the Pah Wraiths, to be literally real.
Riker calling out Ro for her earring isn’t great, when compared against his acceptance of Worf’s baldric. If I were trying to find a defensible reason, I might go with the idea that Bajor used to have a rigidly enforced caste system, and the earrings indicated one’s caste, so it is possible that Riker assumed that Ro was trying to adhere to the old system which would fly in the face of Federation egalitarianism, and that he was less familiar with how Bajor’s treatment of the caste system had changed during the occupation.
To give a more serious answer, Bajorans seem very theocratic and I think most of them would fundamentally disagree with the concept of a secular government.
Bajor exists in a weird gray area since their religion is in some ways literally real. In some ways the Bajorans are like the Vorta and the Jem’Hadar. Their “gods” are provably real, they interact with them regularly, and they have demonstrated to them that they have what seem to be supernatural powers.
Also, critically for the Bajorans, not only are their gods real, but their demons (Pa Wraiths) are real as well. And that opens up a whole other philosophical can of worms. In a way it reminds me of Warhammer 40k. In that universe, religion isn’t irrational. In fact it’s completely rational. Because Chaos is real, and it will fuck you up if you aren’t religious.
Ro’s first appearance comes well before the Federation knew the Prophets, let alone the Pah Wraiths, to be literally real.
Riker calling out Ro for her earring isn’t great, when compared against his acceptance of Worf’s baldric. If I were trying to find a defensible reason, I might go with the idea that Bajor used to have a rigidly enforced caste system, and the earrings indicated one’s caste, so it is possible that Riker assumed that Ro was trying to adhere to the old system which would fly in the face of Federation egalitarianism, and that he was less familiar with how Bajor’s treatment of the caste system had changed during the occupation.