Folau is doing nothing wrong in sharing his faith

ISRAEL Folau’s critics won’t be happy until they’ve bullied the Christianity out of Folau, or Folau out of rugby, writes Miranda Devine.

Israel Folau at a press conference at the Waratahs headquarters in Daceyville. (Pic: Phil Hillyard)

HOW many of the haters who piled on Israel Folau again last week actually bothered to watch the video he recommended on Twitter.

It was a 12-minute sermon by David Wilkerson, the late American evangelical Christian, titled “Time for you to get right with God”.

“With great love,” rugby star Folau wrote on twitter, “i wanted to share this video in the hope that people watch it and think about it. Jesus is coming back soon and he wants us to turn to him through repentance and baptism in the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:38) please don’t harden your heart”

This gentle statement was dishonestly characterised as Folau being homophobic, and lazy virtue signallers slagged him off and again demanded rugby officials pull him into line. But Wilkinson’s sermon is just boilerplate Christian teaching, a warning to sinners to repent before the second coming of Christ.

The video might not be your cup of tea but you have to be extraordinary obsessed with rainbow politics to imagine it’s about homophobia.

With great love i wanted to share this video in the hope that people watch it and think about it. Jesus is coming back soon and he wants us to turn to him through repentance and baptism in the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:38) please don't harden your heart https://t.co/PtDoPCQDco

— Israel Folau (@IzzyFolau) May 7, 2018

“Don’t turn away from the gentle call of Jesus to come back to his arms,” says Wilkerson. How offensive!

He talks a lot about sin and judgment and the fires of hell.

“We’re living in a time of unprecedented greed, rampant iniquity, sexual perversions beyond description.”

But you have to get to the halfway mark before he makes mention of anything to do with homosexuality, when he decries, “tolerance toward same-sex marriage, tolerance to there’s no such thing as sin, no such thing as judgment.”

You may not be religious yourself, but 29-year-old Folau is a devout Christian and he is doing nothing wrong by sharing his faith online. His tweet had nothing to do with homosexuality. The video he linked to makes tangential mention of same-sex marriage, which remains against Christian teachings and always will, no matter the law of the land.

But the critics like Peter FitzSimons won’t be content until they’ve bullied the Christianity out of Folau or bullied Folau out of rugby.

Originally published as Folau is doing nothing wrong in sharing his faith