Reader: Freedom of speech in the Folau Furore

'Israel Folau is copping stick from some for seeking public donations - but this issue is bigger than just Folau'

Israel Folau is copping stick from some in the media for seeking public donations to help with his expensive appeal, against his sacking by Australian Rugby Union.

  But this issue is bigger than just Folau because it goes beyond a simple written agreement to a principal of freedom of speech and expression of his religious beliefs.  

Some may say Folau has made his bed so let him lie on it.  

What he has done has nothing to do with me and I don't have to speak up or get involved in his fund-raising campaign.

  If this is a freedom of speech issue, then where will it end and what group will be next in the politically-correct firing line?  

The words of Pastor Martin Nieumoller of Germany in the days of the Third Reich are worthy of sober reflection.

  He originally was a supporter of Hitler's rise but had an awakening and wrote the following:

  "First they came for the socialists and I did nothing because I was not a socialist.  

"Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist.  

"Then they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.

  "Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak for me."

  PETER KNOBEL, Toowoomba  

Originally published as Reader: Freedom of speech in the Folau Furore