The Shaykh (may Allah have mercy on him) explains that the scope of intentionally differing from the polytheists is broader than merely not imitating them.

The Shaykh : It is appropriate now to remind you of an example for which we praise Allah for its spread among many of our Salafi brothers. I tell you with certainty that less than a quarter of a century ago, you would not find a Muslim wearing his watch on his right hand. The disbelievers wear it on the left, so wearing it on the right is a difference, and wearing it on the left is not imitation, for the aforementioned reason, namely that it has become a universal thing. But the other, very, very broad arena is that we intend to differ from them. And unfortunately, Islamic governments are far from the guidance of Islam. For example, the military system in the army: when the officer says to the army, "Forward, march," which leg do they lead with? The left. There must be an Islamic system that is the opposite of these disbelievers, where they lead with the right. Unfortunately, no state thinks about this. On the contrary, the first Hajj I performed was perhaps about forty years ago, and I did not see a peaked cap in the Saudi country. Now the officers boast about them, and recently I saw this madman of Libya who, every day in his uniform, sometimes puts on this cap. He wears it like this, so that barely anything is visible except his eyes, and he is proud of wearing the clothes of the disbelievers. Where is Islam? Where is Islam? Therefore, the scope of differing from the disbelievers suffices us in convincing these debaters who argue with falsehood. And to conclude, I mention to you my story with that priest. One day, a train traveling from Damascus to a resort called Mada'a in our Syria brought us together. I was riding with some young men in one of the train's compartments. When one of them came to me and whispered to me, he said, "A priest has just boarded the train, and he entered the compartment in front of us." I understood him, so I stood up and pretended that I had also just entered. He was sitting in a corner there, and I sat here so that he would not feel that I had come to confront him. I sat thinking about how to start a conversation with him, since I did not know him and he did not know me.