Israel Folau has right to expression but sponsors have right of reply

Israel Folau has a right to be a jerk, but sponsors also have a right to pull their dollars from anything he’s associated with.

Israel Folau has met ARU officials over his controversial tweets. Picture: AFP

Israel Folau has a right to be a jerk, which is exactly what he’s being using social media to declare that gays will go to hell unless they repent their sins.

But sponsors also have a right to pull their dollars from anything Folau is associated with – that’s free speech and freedom of association working together in perfect harmony.

I’m pretty certain that Jesus’s more important message in the New Testament was about inclusion and tolerance of others, rather than fostering the concept of the other.

In fact there is no direct mention of “hell” in the bible, at least not the claim that people go to hell. That’s why Jehovah’s Witnesses - as bible literalists - don’t believe in hell.

And to the extent some Christians interpret the bible as suggesting being gay will result in damnation, most bible scholar have a more nuanced take on the meanings conveyed. Not that you’d expect nuance from someone who, as Liberal MP Tim Wilson put it, is better known for his brawn than his brains.

Folau didn’t need to stir the pot the way he did, but he has a right to under our formal and informal rules around religious freedoms. That doesn’t mean that people can’t equally use their own rights to free speech to point out Folau’s inconsistent application of his religious beliefs.

Does he equally condemn fornication, which no doubt many if not all of his teammates have partaken in. Has he used social media to attack anyone doing that? And would he defend the rights of other religious groupings whose faith condemns radical groups, perhaps including his own? Thinking about he issue through that prism might help Folau understand how most LGBTI people feel about his comments directed at them.

Australian rugby shouldn’t reprimand Folau for expressing his narrow minded and highly contested views on being gay, but they will have to wear the criticisms by association the code will face because of them.

That’s life, in a free speech society where we all have a right to express our views and choose what to watch in a world bursting at the seams with sporting options. Power to Folau for expressing his religious views; power to any sponsors for choosing to dump associations with him if they don’t agree with them.

Peter van Onselen is a professor of politics at the University of Western Australia