We wonder what the American Family Association of Indiana thinks of Scientology.

Not that you’d care, right? Well, a lawsuit in that state might get you interested pretty quickly.

The suit was filed in federal court against Indiana State Trooper Brian Hamilton by Ellen Bogan and the American Civil Liberties Union.

You see, Bogan says she was pulled over by Hamilton for a supposed traffic violation. And during that stop, she alleges that Hamilton not only asked her about her religious status – whether she had a home church and if she accepted Jesus Christ as her savior – but also gave her a church pamphlet that asks the reader to realize he or she is a sinner.

So Bogan and the ACLU sued, claiming a violation of Bogan’s rights under the First and Fourth Amendments to the United States Constitution. That would seem about right.

Which is where the AFA-Indiana comes in, because according to a quote attributed to a leader of that organization, the trooper’s behavior, if not ideal, appears to be just fine. Per Jill Disis on indystar.com:

“Micah Clark, executive director of the American Family Asso-ciation of Indiana, said that although the traffic stop might not have been the best time to quiz someone about faith, he questioned whether a police officer should lose his right to free speech because he is wearing a badge.

“‘I have people pass out religious material all the time. Mormons come to my door all the time, and it doesn’t offend me,’ Clark said. ‘(This case) might not be the most persuasive time to talk to someone about their faith, but I don’t think that a police officer is prohibited from doing something like that.’ ”

So Clark apparently doesn’t think it’s wrong for an officer of the law, conducting his official duties — there would be no interaction between Hamilton and Bogan without her having been pulled over by the officer while conducting his official duties — to engage in religious speech or proselytization.

That’s why we assume Clark seems fine with any government official, at any time he or she is performing official acts, attempting to convert an accused to any faith or belief whatsoever.

Which would include, of course, not only Christianity, but Scientology, Islam, Buddhism, or (gasp) atheism or satanism.

But wait, there’s more. When you think about it, it seems that under Clark’s view of the situation, a public official engaged in an arrest could comment not just on religion, but on virtually anything under the aegis of “free speech” — the person’s gender, presumed sexual preference, race, ethnicity, or appearance.

Well, that makes sense coming from the state’s self-described “premiere decency organization.” It’s acknowledged on its website as an affiliate of the national AFA, which the Southern Poverty Law Center has called out on many occasions and on its website for extremist views and acts. The group has been particularly loathsome in its treatment of the LGBT community.

It’s not only unfortunate, but downright scary, that groups like AFA and their leaders like Clark think such behavior is acceptable. Think about what this means to you as Jews. Government officials — not only police, prosecutors and judges but public engineers, administrators and rank and file — can spend their official tax-paid time trying to convert you, persuade you or condemn you.

Beyond that, can you see how if they can engage you in religious discussion, their conduct in how they treat you in their official duties might be affected by their opinions about your religion, status or lifestyle?

Or if they’re benevolent, perhaps they can just pray for your soul right in front of you, while writing you a ticket for speeding.

Does that give you a lot of comfort? It doesn’t give us a lot of comfort.

We don’t purport to suggest that this way of thinking is representative of most Americans. But this is an organization with a very large following and is very influential in certain circles.

This is the kind of behavior that Mikey Weinstein and his Military Religious Freedom Foundation (militaryreligiousfreedom.org) have been battling in the U.S. Armed Forces. In particular, Weinstein has been fighting the efforts by military personnel to insert Christianity into official conduct, notably at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado.

Weinstein has been a serious thorn in their side with his brusque and persistent style, but it’s been it’s been essential to eradicate the belief that proselytizing acts are perfectly acceptable during taxpayer-funded activities.

We hope that the lawsuit by Bogan and the ACLU, and Weinstein’s continued efforts, effectively push back on this kind of religious intrusion in public action. Because government freedom from religion is a terrible, terrible thing to waste.