It must strike Folau as somewhat unusual that while in many cases the players involved in these sordid episodes continued their careers, his public declarations about his devout Christianity and old-fashioned morality could end his career. It seems he would be in less strife if he’d been caught sniffing cocaine from the buttocks of a teammate — when he could at least blame homophobia for some of the scorn. It might be unsettling, even to nonbelievers, to have someone suggest your lifestyle is so sinful you should suffer eternal damnation. I don’t agree with Folau’s judgmental religious views — indeed, if there is a hell and his rules for admission turned out to be authentic, I would see many of you down there.
Indeed, I would be tempted to quote the Gospel of Matthew back to Folau: “Judge not, that ye be not judged.” But, really, what do we care what he thinks? He is not St Peter, and as far as I am aware has no direct input into decisions made at the Pearly Gates — although given they say union is the game they play in heaven, perhaps he has a few connections.
Surely in their quieter moments, fornicators, thieves, adulterers and drunks might accept the questionable morality of their behaviour. But assigning people to fire and brimstone merely because of their sexuality is a slight of a different order; it is condemnation based on identity and therefore is more offensive, intolerant and unacceptable. Yet it is not a simple matter and the blanket condemnation of Folau and heavy-handed approach of the Australian Rugby Union seems to be a worrying new infringement on freedom of speech. Folau was not vilifying anyone or bullying them; he was expressing his religious belief that they were sinning and would suffer the consequences. He expressed love for all and a desire for them to resist this fate. Yet we also know his message was meddling, pious, judgmental, morally superior and replete with virtue-signalling — these are the traits of the preachy Left on a range of issues from border protection to climate change.
If you indulge in sex before marriage it might or might not concern you that strict Christians, Muslims and Hindus would believe you a sinner or morally weak. Likewise, if you engage in homosexual, lesbian or even particular heterosexual acts.
This stuff is best left to individuals. It can get quite complicated.
A dear, late, gay friend of mine surprised me when he converted to Catholicism late in life and adopted a conservative, Latin-mass disposition (many readers will remember Christopher Pearson fondly). When I inquired what this meant for his lifestyle, Christopher said he bore no sense of shame about his sexual orientation but believed it was sinful to act upon it, just as it would be sinful for a married person to have an affair. Whether or not he lived up to that ideal I don’t know or care but here was a gay, Christian man who would have agreed with Folau.
Whether we are sinners or saints, or believe in the concept of sin at all, Folau’s views should hardly matter to us. Either way, it is just one bloke’s virtue-signalling. According to the inane signs posted by Gosford’s Anglican priest, Rod Bower, just about anyone who votes right-of-centre is headed for hell.
Whatever contractual obligations Folau agreed to it cannot be a hanging offence to share a truly held religious belief; especially one that is widely understood, if not endorsed.
This is a tricky area for many employers. SBS reporter Scott McIntyre lost his job in 2015 after tweeting about Anzac Day and maligning Diggers as rapists and thieves while labelling Anzac crowds as drunks and white nationalists. This was more deliberately offensive and the professional overlap was more of a problem. (He and SBS later settled an unfair dismissal case.) No one would pretend Folau’s tweets about religion have any endorsement or connection to the ARU or his teammates. He should be afforded greater latitude under protections for religious freedom and, besides, we all know Folau’s tweets reflect personal beliefs that are his business, not the Wallabies’.
That the NRL’s Peter Beattie quickly declared Folau would not be welcomed back to league ranks is laughable. Either the NRL wants to use this conservative Christian to grandstand against homophobia to try to claw back from its own sex, drugs and domestic violence scandals, or it just doesn’t think Folau would fit in on its end-of-season trips.
The bottom line for this champion rugby player and the rest of us is that while social media comments are your prerogative rather than your employer’s, they will reflect on your character and reputation. And it you feel any of your values might conflict with those of your employer, then the outrage factory of social media is a dangerous place to air them.
‘Diversity’ delusions are at the heart of our crisis
The biggest story of our time is that the entirety of the Western world is sliding off the cliff – and most citizens of the West are not even aware of it, and have no desire to be made aware of it.
I loved lockdowns (no, I’m not deranged)
The idea that those who complied with the laws to protect our health during the pandemic lacked backbone is pretty insulting.
Israel Folau is our most promiscuous trans-code footballer, having played league, union and Aussie rules professionally. As such he will be familiar with scandals where players have sullied those codes with ugly exploits including sexual assault, public drunkenness, drug-taking, violence, explicit videos, bestiality pics, hallway defecation, group sex and heaven knows what else.