AARON PATRICK: Christian NRL player Israel Folau finds himself banished from professional sport
AARON PATRICK: Attempting to make a come back, Israel Folau is learning that rugby league follows self interest, not the Ten Commandments.
Could it be true that Israel Folau, one of the great sportsmen of the modern era, is being shunned from professional rugby league because he is Christian?
Hopefully not, for even members of the LGBTQ community do not believe the rugby union, rugby league and AFL player should be eternally damned for his biblically inspired condemnation of them seven years ago.
“I don’t see past behaviour as a rationale for blocking future employment and that’s a matter for him and any prospective employer,” Pride Cup chief executive Hayley Conway told The Nightly.
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She was referring to Folau’s online post of a meme in 2019, in response to Tasmania’s decision to allow genders on birth certificates to be changed at will, that quoted a passage from the Bible: “WARNING Drunks, Homosexuals, Adulterers, Liars, Fornicators, Thieves, Atheists, Idolators HELL AWAITS YOU. REPENT! ONLY JESUS SAVES”.
Whether the post, which got Folau fired by Rugby Australia, is the reason he cannot play for the Wests Tigers, which is 10th on the league ladder, is unclear. Neither the club nor the National Rugby League will provide an explanation.
Some LGBTQ advocates believe the Folaus are engaging in a public relations campaign to pressure the sport to rehire a player well beyond his peak. Supporters see Folau’s treatment as an example of bias against a devout Christian who has never shown any hostility on a personal level towards gay people.
There is no easy solution to this clash of rights, but the sport will not benefit from the perception that it is punishing Folau for his religious beliefs. Whether it cares is another matter.
Folau was born in New South Wales but his family are from Tonga, one of the world’s most Christian countries.
Religion is an important part of Tonga’s national identity, culture and daily life, and is one of the reasons the society has little crime, social unrest or drug use. Numbers of out-of-wedlock births are low, while the birth rate of 3.1 children per woman is healthily high.
In other words, for Christians, Tonga is a model society. But Tongans are more devout than Christians in Australia, where even many regular churchgoers do not interpret the Bible literally.
‘Make it make sense’
As a man unashamed of his belief in the Bible, Folau brought a message from 2000 years ago, when Christians were grappling with a pagan world, into the most modern of mediums, Instagram. His message jarred with a society that has become conscious of the great prejudice inflicted on gay men and women throughout history.
Like the original Christians, though, Folau now feels he is the victim.
“The double standard from the @nrl is crazy,” he wrote on Instagram. “The game talks about inclusion, yet my Christian beliefs were said to be a problem and didn’t align with their values.
“At the same time, players who’ve committed actual offences have been welcomed back. Make it make sense.”
There is no way to make it make sense. The National Rugby League is a commercial, not a principles-based organisation. It will act in self interest. It follows the law of Peter V’Landys, not the Ten Commandments.
The Folaus can try to shame the competition into accepting them, but the people atop the organisation are used to getting what they want. And they do not want Israel Folau, the follower of God.
