Miranda Devine: Virtue police punishing Folau are missing the point

The demonisation of Israel Folau is a warning to anyone with religious faith that they are under attack, writes Miranda Devine. But it will backfire on the virtue authoritarians because young people admire moral courage.

Pressured by the chief executive of its major sponsor Qantas, Rugby Australia felt it had no choice last week but to sack its best player, Israel Folau, for the shocking transgression of quoting the Bible on Instagram.

In a World Cup year, for a game in decline, this is an act of profound self-harm, particularly as most players are, like Folau, of Pacific Islander descent and just as devoutly Christian.

More ominously, the demonisation of Folau is a warning to anyone with religious faith that they are under attack.

The lesson they must absorb is that you are next, unless you shut up.

MORE FROM MIRANDA DEVINE: Bloody-minded vegans deserve a roasting

This is the sum total of Folau’s crime: last week he posted a generic image of the words, “WARNING: Drunks, Homosexuals, Adulterers, Liars, Fornicators, Thieves, Atheists, Idolaters. HELL AWAITS YOU. REPENT. ONLY JESUS SAVES.”

Underneath he wrote: “Those that are living in sin will end up in Hell unless you repent. Jesus Christ loves you and is giving you time to turn away from your sin and come to him.”

Israel Folau with wife Maria. Picture: Phil Walter/Getty Images

He added a King James Bible quote: “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these, adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”

Now, Folau’s fundamentalist brand of Christianity is probably not your cup of tea, but it’s not as if he’s calling for anyone to be ­beheaded.

And, contrary to almost every media report which misrepresented him as a “homophobe”, Folau did not single out homosexuals. In fact, he damned just about everyone in Australia. Revelry and drunkenness is our national sport, after all. We are all sinners.

RELATED: Who cares what a footy player thinks?

He’s also previously damned Catholics like me as “idolators”, and anyone who celebrates Christmas and Easter.

Yet drunks, revellers, atheists, fornicators, Catholics and Christmas lovers haven’t demanded Folau be sacked.

Only the Robespierres of the LGBTIQ lobby have.

Why is that?

Israel Folau has been attacked for upholding the values of his Christian faith. Picture: Supplied

Qantas has threatened to withdraw its reputed $4 million a year sponsorship of the Wallabies, which comes due later this year, and without which the game is broke.

It almost pulled its four-year sponsorship deal last year when Folau was embroiled in another fake homophobia scandal.

Only since Alan Joyce arrived on the scene in 2008 has Qantas started using its long-term largesse as a weapon. Joyce has hijacked our national airline for his personal crusade.

His authoritarian impulse was revealed during the same-sex marriage campaign in 2016 when he demanded corporate Australia join Qantas in promoting the cause. If No voters objected, “you won’t be able to bank and you won’t be able to fly,” he said.

MORE FROM MIRANDA DEVINE: For the lynch mob, priests are guilty until proven innocent

In the parlance of identity politics, Joyce has used his white male privilege to threaten the views, beliefs and employment opportunities of a brown man.

But that’s quite OK with the usual social justice zealots because Folau’s Christianity denies him victim status in the identity hierarchy.

But the sacking of Folau poses a huge problem for rugby union in this country.

Administrators can hardly pretend to have been unaware of his Christian faith. Rugby Australia’s official biography describes him thus: “Born in southwestern Sydney to a devoutly religious Polynesian family.”

He advertises himself as “Living for Jesus Christ #TeamJesus” on all his social media handles.

Like him, nearly half the Wallaby squad is of Pacific Island descent, as are at least half of all junior rugby players in Western Sydney.

Israel Folau has indicated he will not go down without a fight. Picture: AP Photo/Rick Rycroft

They also are devoutly Christian. You can see them huddled together in prayer before every game and, if you look closely enough, you might see the Bible verses they have inscribed on their boots.

Faith and rugby are entwined. You can’t have one without the other.

Folau’s offending Instagram post was “liked” last week by several teammates, including Samu Kerevi and Allan Alaalatoa.

Are they going to be sacked too? Who will be left to play against the All Blacks?

Yes, rugby administrators know the religious beliefs of their squads better than anyone.

Yet, during the same-sex marriage debate, instead of showing respect for its players, Rugby Australia took sides. It came out strongly in support of the Yes case, even to the point of “rainbow lace” games for junior teams.

It was RA that opened this door of contention.

Folau was provoked. He could not in good conscience stay silent and be seen to be part of something that was contrary to his faith. RA’s rainbow activism ignited a fire.

MORE FROM MIRANDA DEVINE: How Pell became the Vatican’s sacrificial lamb

Now, not only has he been sacked from rugby but he’s been blackballed from playing his previous sport of rugby league by ARL Commission boss Peter Beattie.

“Israel Folau doesn’t pass our inclusive test,” he said last week.

The tentacles of virtue tyranny even have stretched to France where Folau has been blackballed by the Toulon rugby team, whose owner Mourad Boudjellal told L’Equipe: “The guy is a moron, he must leave.”

Whack. Learn the lesson, Christians.

But the lesson will backfire on the virtue authoritarians.

Whether you agree with him or not, Folau has shown moral courage by refusing to compromise his beliefs. He is a hero in our troubled times. That is the lesson young people will take from his ordeal.

@mirandadevine