Mormon Scolded by Christian Group is at Center of Kansas Law

This article was originally written by Melissa Hellmann for Deseret News. The following is an excerpt. 

Daniel Arkell was leading a Bible study for a Christian group at Washburn University Law School in Kansas back in 2004 when the group’s president reprimanded him for saying that people’s eyes offer a glimpse into their souls. Arkell, who is a Mormon, was asked to sign a statement recognizing the Bible, not the Book of Mormon, as the word of God.

He refused, and the organization temporarily lost its public funding after Arkell complained to the dean. That led to a legal dispute at the center of a proposed law Kansas is expected to enact soon, which would allow such faith-based groups to limit membership to the like-minded.

“I thought it was inappropriate for them to discriminate against me … when they were receiving public funding,” Arkell told The Associated Press.

The Republican-dominated Kansas Legislature on Wednesday approved the bill allowing college religious groups to restrict membership, even though the U.S. Supreme Court ruled nearly six years ago that universities can require membership in such groups to be open to all.

Read the full article at DeseretNews.com.