Again, don't stop sponsoring the kids

Well, there you have it: World Vision has reversed its decision to allow Christians in same-sex marriages to work there. For 48 hours, the evangelical organization was poised to join Ken Wilson and others in acknowledging that SSM is a subject Christians disagree about, not a dividing line between who does and doesn't count as a Christian in the first place.

But as Katherine Willis Pershey put it yesterday, in trying to stay out of the SSM fray, World Vision ended up right in the thick of it. The evangelical-osphere more or less exploded over the original decision, with the by-now-predictable pronouncements of anathema.

Also: with threats to withdraw child sponsorships, threats some apparently made good on. In today's letter announcing its reversal, World Vision's board didn't specifically cite this loss of financial support, but it did acknowledge "the pain and confusion we have caused many of our friends, who saw this decision as a reversal of our strong commitment to Biblical authority." It's not a big stretch to connect the dots.