Israel Folau sticks strong on controversial stance on gay community ahead of ARU meeting
A DEFIANT Israel Folau will front his bosses on Tuesday afternoon in what threatens to be an explosive confrontation about his right to freely express his religious beliefs to the outrage of the gay community.
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A DEFIANT Israel Folau will front his bosses on Tuesday afternoon in what threatens to be an explosive confrontation about his right to freely express his religious beliefs to the outrage of the gay community.
Folau, the Wallabies star who last week wrote that gays were destined for hell unless they repented their sins, shows no signs of backing down from his strong Christian beliefs.
He followed up with a Twitter post on Sunday evening quoting a Bible extract claiming he is being persecuted for his beliefs, in a clear indication as to his mindset heading into the meeting with Rugby Australia boss Raelene Castle and Waratahs chief Andrew Hore.
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The verses highlighted by Folau, from Matthew 5 in the New Testament, said: “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
“Rejoice and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”
It follows mass furore and anger directed towards Folau after his “hell” comment last Tuesday.
Castle and Hore will attempt to convince Folau to refrain from posting any content that can be construed as homophobic or bigoted on his social media channels.
ðŸ™â˜ï¸ #allglorytoGod pic.twitter.com/6XwkEV6GrH
— Israel Folau (@IzzyFolau) 8 April 2018
But Folau, who sees it as his duty to spread the word of God as a devout Christian, feels he too is being discriminated against for his beliefs.
The key is if a compromise can be reached during the meeting, also to be attended by Folau’s manager Isaac Moses.
If Folau refuses to back down on commenting publicly on homosexuals, Rugby Australia will have no choice but to impose sanctions against him under their inclusion policy.
This is where the delicate matter can turn into a legal and ethical minefield, given Folau already feels persecuted for expressing his beliefs, and could claim his employer is blocking his right to free speech.
Rugby Australia chairman Cameron Clyne said he did not wish to speculate on what will be said at the meeting.
“It would be inappropriate to get into any detail there, there is a meeting tomorrow with Israel, Raelene Castle and Andrew Hore, and that’s a step, they’ve got to have a conversation,” Clyne said.
However, he did concede that the organisation could not afford to lose major sponsors, such as Qantas, who will reconsider their deals should Folau make any more anti-gay remarks.
“We’ve got an inclusion policy which is very important, rugby’s great asset is that it’s a game for all, that’s why we’ve always been very proud of our inclusion policy,” Clyne said.
“One of the reasons sponsors are attracted to us is hopefully they see that it’s a game for all and it aligns with them.
“There will be a conversation tomorrow, and we’ll let it play out from then.”
Originally published as Israel Folau sticks strong on controversial stance on gay community ahead of ARU meeting
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