I commend Eremasi Tamanisau (FT 12/01/16) in that despite his rejective position against gay marriage, he has some friends and relatives who are gay, saying, “I still love them and count them as fellow human beings”. And for affirming that God has blessed each of us with our own unique conscience to help us decide on what is right or wrong.

But as for the writer’s condemnation of the UN and all its rights charters, it must be said that all these are based on rights which are inherent to all human beings.

Human rights come with and not without responsibilities. Article 6 of UN Declaration of Human Rights (UNDHR), for instance, commits to the Right to Recognition of a Person before the Law. Gay and lesbians are to be recognised as persons. With respect the UN is not to be accused of “misguidance” simply for calling on citizens of the world to exercise their rights with responsibilities as we live alongside each another. Mass killings perpetrated by nations against nations during world wars were the reasons for the UN being established in 1948 with the intention to protect the rights of individuals and groups against violation by governments.

Most biblical scholars these days question as mistaken understanding to roundly condemn all homosexual relationships as in the Sodom and Gomorrah story.

While the story focuses on homosexual acts, its judgement is on homosexual rape of divine messengers and its larger judgement appears to be against social injustice and inhospitality to strangers. UNDHR Article 14 advocates for Right to Asylum in other Countries from Persecution.

In marriage, husband and wife should experience life-long unity of heart, body and soul. What is there to exclude two persons of the same sex with complementary attributes to have the same life-long unity; understandably short of having biological children of their own? Same sex marriage is not acceptable as yet and out of reach for the moment in many countries including Fiji. But like a high hanging tantalising tropical fruit out of our reach for the moment let’s not reject it altogether as unthinkable.