The clergy of Aeridin, or any deity for that matter, does not possess a letter from Aeridin saying "I'd really like it if you all would wear white. Thanks, A"
While the cleric is unlikely to have a note from Aeridin regarding colour (but he may have on excusing him games lessons) you also have to realise not merely that a cleric follows his deity but he also follows the rules of his church.We know the deities of Layo are really pretty poor with letting their worshippers know what's going. Toran for example has never manifested himself in my lounge asked for a cup of coffee and explained how he would like me to dress so I don't clash with the wallpaper in his lounge.He does however have a church. And churches are pretty good at making rules. They are also good at making sure those who have 'heard the call' obey those rules. As a cleric you are part of the set hierarchy of your church and are expected to abide by its rules.Nowhere in the bible does it say, "You shalt wear cardboard or plastic dog-collars even though may make you look like thou hast hamster cheeks and itch mightily". Priests wear them because they are part of the church ordained uniform.
I don't think a cleric/priest should be forced to wear/weild anything outside of the church. Maybe they jsut can't get a good grip with a hammer, or they don't like using blades, it feels too much like a murder weapona dn they'd rather not look at their work that way. But i would say completely in the church or during a clerical durty, that they would most deffinatly use the weapon and the colors that the dogma interprets as their diety's favorites.
I would agree with the clothes part of what you say. Outside of church would be fine. But I am not sure if this would apply to the choice of weapons that they weild in some circumstances.Take for example a cleric of Aeridin. In LORE and the handbook, it says that Aeridinite clerics shun the use of bladed weapons/piercing weapons such as swords and spears...so why would they want to use it outside the church when it affects their core belief?
On that note, white is a very inconvenient colour, for an adventurer. After a few hours, that pristine robe would be painted red.
You're likely to be confronted with a rather angry orthodox... Rofireinite.
In PnP clerics have a spell that would clean it.Or was that to fix it if it ripped... hrmm, I think they had both.