Now he's cannibalising his own sport.
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/sp...-almost-time-he-moved-on-20180509-p4zecn.html
Israel Folau. I wish he’d shut the ruck up. You wish he’d shut the ruck up. Some of you wish I’d do the same. But he won’t, and I can’t either. See, a month or so ago, the Waratah and Wallaby fullback posted on social media his view that – and I am not making this up –
gay people will go to hell.
There was, in turn, hell to pay, as those who have not succumbed to getting their guidance from a book written 2000 years ago, pointed out both the absurdity of such a notion, and, more importantly, the danger of someone with Folau’s following – particularly in the Polynesian community – tweeting such offal at a time when suicide rates among gay youngsters troubled by their sexuality is five times higher than their heterosexual counterparts.
And yes, there were those who defended Folau’s right to free speech, something which entirely ignored the fact that “free speech” does not mean “freedom from consequences”, and the mass outcry against his tweet was no more than our freedom of speech to make reply.
Rugby Australia counselled him to pull his head in, please. Folau told us that he’d told them to pull their heads in.
Thereafter, we all hoped it would go away. We all hoped that Folau had at least understood the hurt he’d engendered by putting such twaddle out there, the offence, the danger, the damage to rugby, the sheer insanity of it all.
But, no.
On Tuesday,
he more or less did it again – putting out a link to a video from a dead homophobic preacher from America, proselytising on the dangers of same-sex marriage. See, we all “need to get right with God”, most particularly gays, and those who support gays, because we are like – and I am not making this up either – rats getting caught in a trap. You see, the preacher tells us, there is a countdown on to the Second Coming of Jesus, and when He gets here he is going to call to account all those who have succumbed to the sexual attraction they feel towards their own gender – the very one the Lord presumably put into them in the first place. Go figure.
“With great love,” Folau posted, “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.”
Israel? I’ve thought about it. My heart is hardened.
I am GOBSMACKED by your actions, your delusions, your arrogance, the sheer stupidity, not to mention venality, of posting such a link.
Where to from here, for you? Hopefully, gone. Many have wondered – and I am among them – whether you have some kind of martyr complex, where you keep posting that kind of stuff, knowing you will be crucified, wanting to be crucified.
I don’t know. But I know this.
The most important issue here is that you stop vilifying gays. Religious nutters have got away with it for centuries. No more.
The second issue is the game itself. Rugby in this country is on its knees. It needs all hands to the pump from those who care for the game, who love it, who will – I know you’ll excuse the biblical expression – walk the extra mile. It cannot afford a multi-faceted headache like yourself – no matter how talented you might be with the ball in hand – who continue to generate shocking bad press at a time when all those who care need to be reaching out for people, not slapping down an entire section of the community, and all decent people who support them.
The reaction against you is not just in Australia. I have just come back from New Zealand where the common question was “What the hell is going on with Folau?” One of their former immigration ministers, Tuariki Delamere, last month called for you to be denied entry to New Zealand. “There can be no doubt that he is a threat to the public interest and a threat to the public order,” he said.
I don’t go that far. But I do say you are embarrassing yourself, and your posts are embarrassing rugby. We need to get to the point soon where you are only embarrassing yourself. Rugby is an inclusive game. If you don’t get that, you don’t get rugby, and it is time for you move on.
)
