There’s been a controversy festering at Central College in Pella regarding whether a nondenominational religious student group should be allowed to remain on campus after asking for the removal of a homosexual student from a leadership position with the religious group.

Last fall, Brad Clark — who is also the student body president at Central — made it known that he was gay to InterVarsity Christian Fellowship leaders and to the rest of campus, according to The Des Moines Register. According to the article, InterVarsity asked Clark to step down because he would not agree to the group’s principles that homosexuality is illegitimate.

Although this country was founded on the practice of religious freedom, the line between religious rights and civil liberties needs to be drawn. We live in a secular society in which there is a separation between church and state, and just because Central is a private college with a Christian affiliation, that does not excuse the administration for failing to act in accordance with its nondiscrimination policy.

In this situation, Clark should not have been asked to leave his leadership position at InterVarsity. According to “The InterVarsity Doctrinal Basis” found on its national Web site at www.ivcf.org, the group’s members believe in “the value and dignity of all people” and “the unity of all believers in Jesus Christ, manifest in worshipping and witnessing churches.” If this is true, why would the group discriminate against Clark?

The Central administration should take steps to discontinue all funding for InterVarsity because it is excluding students from participating in leadership roles, even though the Student Senate voted 22-12 to continue to recognize the group. At a similar incident at Grinnell College in 1996, the college’s administration ceased student funding because the InterVarsity asked a straight leader to resign because she didn’t agree that homosexuality was wrong.

According to Central’s nondiscriminatory policy, it states that “students have equal rights, privileges and responsibilities unless specifically restricted by college disciplinary action.” By allowing InterVarsity — which is one of the largest student organizations at Central — to receive student fees, it leaves homosexual students, who can be just as good leaders as any heterosexual student, in the dust.

Clark said in the Register article that “[Central] set a precedent by allowing [InterVarsity] on campus. By allowing it to happen, they are basically saying it’s OK to discriminate.”

People are entitled to their own religious beliefs. But when a person’s religious beliefs start to impede on another person’s civil liberties, it’s time to rethink the situation. No one — regardless of age, sex, race, religion or sexual orientation — should be excluded from participating in a club or activity, no matter what a religious doctrine states.

Editorial Board: Cavan Reagan, Amber Billings, Ayrel Clark, Charlie Weaver, Katie List