An Indiana state trooper objected to being assigned full-time to work at a casino because gambling was against his religious beliefs. He was fired for refusing the assignment and he sued the state, alleging discrimination based on his religion. The Seventh Circuit Court ruled against him and the Supreme Court has rejected his appeal.

According to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

Benjamin Endres ... wanted the Supreme Court to use his case to require law enforcement agencies to accommodate the religious views of employees. Justices refused to take on another religious case. ... A federal law protects people from discrimination based on religion. The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago said the law does not require police and fire departments to assign workers to duties compatible with their principles.

That would be tough, the appeals judges said, because of the varying religious objections. "Must prostitutes be left exposed to slavery or murder at the hands of pimps because protecting them from crime would encourage them to ply their trade and thus offend almost every religious faith?" the court asked.

It might have been nice if the state had given him a different assignment, but I think that the courts were right that there was no obligation to do so. This is particularly true when it comes to law enforcement officers because the police have an obligation and a duty to protect all citizens, regardless of whether they are engaged in activity that that officer finds sinful. They even have an obligation to protect people who are engaged in illegal activity - they don't protect the activity, but they must protect the people from becoming the victims of other crimes.

Endres didn't want to do that. He didn't object to other officers doing it, but he didn't want to protect citizens of the state of Indiana from crimes because they were participating in an activity he considered a sin. It might be reasonable for him to feel that doing so would, in effect, serve to encourage such sin - but if he can't in good conscience protect people engaged in a sin, then he can't in good conscience be a police officer. I don't want the police who come to my aid to first start asking questions about my life to determine whether I am a sinner who should be allowed to be a victim. The police don't have a right to decide whom they will and will not protect.

Read More:

• Secularism 101
• Separation of Church and State 101