The Duke University Student Government Senate has voted unanimously to reject the Christian group, Young Life, as an officially-recognized student group on campus.  The reason: Young Life’s stance on sexuality.

Like many other evangelical groups, Young Life views homosexual behavior as sinful and forbids those who participate in it from holding leadership positions.
In its Statement of Faith, the organization views any kind of sexual activity outside the bonds of heterosexual marriage in the same way. However, it’s the policy against homosexuals holding official leadership positions in Young Life that has drawn the ire of the student government.

According to the student newspaper, The Duke Chronicle, the senators believe that policy violates the requirement that all Duke student groups include a non-discrimination statement in its constitution.

Arguing against admitting the group, one student senator said Young Life has the opposite of Duke’s requirement, “They don’t have a non-discrimination clause in their constitution; they have a discrimination clause.”

Young Life’s Statement of Faith makes clear it does not discriminate on who attends Young Life meetings:

“We do not in any way wish to exclude persons who engage in sexual misconduct or who practice a homosexual lifestyle from being recipients of the ministry of God’s grace and mercy as expressed in Jesus Christ. We do, however, believe that such persons are not to serve as staff or volunteers in the mission and work of Young Life.”

But that apparently was not enough for Duke’s Student Senators. Without official recognition, Young Life, which already has a following on Duke’s campus, will have to continue to meet at off-campus sites.

The decision at Duke is not the first time Christian groups have been sidelined on college campuses because they ran afoul of some so-called non-discrimination rule they must follow in order to have the same benefits as other groups.