mlsoft, For the sake of clarity....
When the NT say, (in referring to the woman who had sinned)
'who is without sin, cast the first stone'
Do you interpret this to mean - literally, "don't throw rocks at other people" or "don't throw stones at women who have sinned"... Or maybe it only prohibits the ancient practicing of "stoning" - with no other useful application or interpretation?....
Or could it also be "interpreted" more broadly to mean don't do that which is hurtful?... Seriously, because I'm trying to figure out how "literal" is "literal" enough?..
I'm asking because if one were to interpret the above as "don't do that which is hurtful", one might question some of the sentiment expressed here - that would tend to hurt people who are homosexual.... I'm sure the NT has passages that would forbid hurting people with your words - "literally". Maybe you could quote some of those passages?.....