The moments sacked Rugby star Israel Folau shocked Australia
Sacked rugby star Israel Folau has once again shocked the nation after linking same-sex marriage to bushfires and drought. But it’s not the only time he’s fanned flames.
Sport
Don't miss out on the headlines from Sport. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- ‘Button up’: Alan Jones lashes Folau’s latest rant
- ‘Religious fanaticism’: World reacts to Folau’s bushfire blame
He’s the sacked rugby star who’s once again under fire for his inappropriate remarks.
At a church service yesterday, Israel Folau linked the bushfires and drought that have ravaged Queensland and NSW to the legalisation of same-sex marriage and abortion.
“I just want to see the events that have happened here in Australia in the last couple of years,” Folau said.
“God’s word says for a man and a woman to be together, one man and one woman to be in the covenant of marriage together.
“Abortion, it’s okay to murder and kill unborn children and they deem that to be okay.
“Look how rapid these bushfires, these droughts, all these things have come in a short period of time, do you think it’s a coincidence? God is speaking to you guys — Australia, you need to repent and take these laws and turn it back into what is right by God.”
Folau’s comments were quickly condemned, with radio host Alan Jones saying he needed to “button up”, while Sky News contributor Gemma Tognini said questioned why he would say “such divisive, hurtful things”.
Politicians including Barnaby Joyce and Anthony Albanese have also fired back, denouncing his claims.
Here are all the other times Folau has stunned Australia:
ON SAME-SEX MARRIAGE
Three years after Folau was splashed on the cover of gay magazine Star Observer, the sacked Wallabies star broke ranks with Rugby Australia amid the same-sex marriage plebiscite campaign in 2017.
“I love and respect all people for who they are and their opinions. But personally, I will not support gay marriage,” Folau tweeted.
Hey Israel Folau – remember when we used to be friends? 🤪 pic.twitter.com/m8tfZwChMn
— Star Observer (@star_observer) June 27, 2019
His post made him the first, high-profile athlete to throw his support behind the “no vote”.
Several weeks later, he doubled down on his comments during an interview in Argentina.
“I’m going to stand firm on what I’ve already said,” Folau replied. “That’s what I believe. I guess it doesn’t change anything for me and my mindset is still first-hand with what’s going on here with the Wallabies. It hasn’t really had an effect on me at all, so I stand firm on what I believe in and what I said.”
ON HOMOSEXUALITY
In 2018, Folau made the infamous comment that is largely considered the beginning of the end of his career with Rugby Australia.
Responding to a question on an Instagram post that asked him “what was gods plan for gay people?”, he responded: “HELL … Unless the repent of their sins and turn to God”.
In an attempt to justify his inflammatory remark, he referenced the Bible in a post on Athletes Voice.
“My response to the question is what I believe God’s plan is for all sinners, according to my understanding of my Bible teachings, specifically 1 Corinthians 6: 9-10,” he wrote.
“I do not know the person who asked the question, but that didn’t matter. I believed he was looking for guidance and I answered him honestly and from the heart.”
Despite this, he also wrote that he ‘believed in inclusion’ and ‘did not have a phobia towards anyone’.
The comments were denounced as “very disappointing” by Qantas, the Wallabies’ chief sponsor. Rugby Australia’s CEO Raelene Castle said Folau would not be sanctioned.
But the sporting organisation’s position would soon change.
BIBLE INTERPRETATION
Earlier this year in another shocking Instagram post, Folau posted a meme that paraphrased Galatians 5:19-21: “Warning. Drunks, homosexuals, adulterers, liars, fornicators, thieves, atheists, idolators. Hell awaits you. Repent. Only Jesus saves.”
Some critics noted that the Bible verse mentions nothing about a “warning” or “hell”, while others took aim at the post saying it was not a modern interpretation.
Folau’s father, a Christian pastor, allegedly encouraged him to leave the post up amid calls from Rugby Australia to delete it.
“You’ll go to hell son,” Eni Folau told him, according to The Daily Telegraph.
His decision lead Rugby Australia to rip up his $4 million contact. Folau said he would “absolutely” be content to walk away from Rugby if that’s what God wanted for him.
But the termination appeared to take an emotional toll on him. In an April church sermon, he broke down while citing Matthew 16:26: “For what shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?”
He is currently in an ongoing legal battle where he hopes to win compensation and the right to play again.
TRANSGENDER YOUTH AND BIRTH CERTIFICATES
An embattled Folau attacked homosexuals and criticised youths undergoing gender treatment during a church sermon in June.
Folau claimed homosexuality and gender fluidity is what the “devil is trying to instil in the world”.
He said “homosexuality is in disguise to try and take over within this world”.
“You see in today’s youths … they are allowing young kids in primary school to be able to have the permission to change their gender if they want by taking away the permission of their parents,” Folau reportedly told the congregation. “Now they are trying to take control as a government to make those decisions for young kids who are basically 16 years old or younger, they don’t even know what they are doing.
“This is what the devil is trying to do, to instil into the government, into this world, into society, and it is slowly happening. The sad thing is, why a lot of people out there that are non-Christians say bad things about the church, is because a lot of the churches allow those things to happen.
“They say that a man and a man should be able to be married and there is nothing wrong with it. This buys into the theme of pleasing man rather than pleasing God and standing up for the truth.”
A couple of months earlier, he lashed the Tasmanian Parliament’s decision to allow gender to be changed on a Birth Certificate.
“The devil has blinded so many people in this world. Repent and turn away from your evil ways. Turn to Jesus Christ who will set you free,” he tweeted along with a picture of a news headline.