To acknowledge God's children or not to acknowledge them? Last week I was witness to a conversation between two women who were both the offspring of impetuous women from the same rural town. Neither were allowed to marry their beau - because they were Catholic. So one child was palmed off as the grandmother's child, the other as the aunt's child. Both women had difficult lives and died prematurely. All because there was an arbitrary boundary of what was pleasing to God, and a human line to decide who should be treated with respect and who should be "cast out".

The rejection of the needs of one part of God's humanity does not end with homosexuality. The process of rejection then justifies insulting other religions, ignoring the needs of the poor and afflicted, inciting hatred against others as a "worse enemy" so that one can retain credibility. Proverbs 3:27-35 & Isaiah 45:9-10 seems appropriate.

Well said Cheryl. I particularly see the point in Isaiah.

Back in days when I attended an evangelical church, I remember one meme doing the rounds to have been `don't put God in a box, restricting him, because you set up false idols in the process'. This is why many things should not be cast in stone but left as a moral choice. (And of course, you get the problem that some could see that as intrinsically permissive, opening the gate to abuse; or as you say, it can be a benefit that one group's view is not imposed unfairly on others, which is good.)