Israel Folau says the devil is to blame for young trans people
Image: Israel Folau. Photo: Facebook.
Israel Folau has once again spoken out against the LGBTIQ+ community, this time during a church sermon in Sydney.
A video of the former Wallabies star’s speech was uploaded to The Truth of Jesus Christ Church Sydney’s Facebook page, in which Folau said homosexuality was “sin”.
He recalled a politician at a recent Christian function speaking about what “parliament is trying to instil into the government going forward”.
“A lot of the points are, he’s talking about how the work of the sin, homosexuality, is in disguise to try and take over within this world,” Folau said.
“You see a lot of things in today’s news and everything. They’re allowing young kids in primary school to be able to have the permission to change their gender if they want by taking away the permission of their parents.
“Now they’re trying to take control as a government to make that decision for kids that are basically 16-years-old or younger. They don’t even know what they’re doing.
“This is what the devil’s trying to do to instil into this government, into this world, into this society and it’s slowly happening.”
Folau also criticised churches for accepting same-sex marriage and called on those at the sermon to stand up for God’s teachings.
“The sad thing is while a lot of people out there who are non-Christians say bad things about the church, a lot of churches today allow those things to happen,” he said.
“They say that a man and a man should be allowed to get married and there’s nothing wrong with that. This ties into the theme of pleasing man rather than pleasing God and standing up for the truth.
“If there’s ever a time to stand up for the word of God, now is the time.
“Otherwise the truth of God will be slowly taken out and it’s our job as born-again Christians to stand up for God, not be scared of persecutions, sufferings.”
In May, Folau’s contract with Rugby Australia was terminated following a code of conduct hearing.
The three-member panel tasked with providing Rugby Australia with a recommendation on how to proceed – John West QC, Kate Eastman SC, and John Boultbee AM – ruled that Folau’s four-year contract, reportedly worth $4 million, should be severed as a result of his recent anti-LGBTI social media posts.
In April, Folau posted on Twitter that Tasmania’s legal reforms for trans and gender diverse people were a sign that people should “REPENT and turn away from your evil ways”, drawing criticism from Rugby Australia’s major sponsor Qantas.
He later posted an image on Instagram which stated that “hell awaits” gay people, similar to the social media posts that landed him in hot water last year.
Earlier this month Folau filed a law suit against Rugby Australia. According to reports, Folau wants the Fair Work Commission to rule that his employment was terminated because of his religion.
There is NO hell or devil it is a load of religious crap…absolute brainwashing and fiction.
I think this man is on the drug ice or meth honestly! He can not be that crazy seriously surely?
No bloody wonder why I am an atheist instead nowadays!
I’m going to be controversial and say poor reporting, Star Observer. I 100% think that Israel Folau’s instragram post condemning gay people to hell etc was entirely newsworthy and an important discussion – Ian Roberts contribution was fantastic.
But homophobic religious nut says homophobic religious stuff in church and winds up on homophobic religious facebook page viewed only by homophobic religious nuts is not fucking news.
Broadcasting hateful comments to rugby fans on Instagram without any context and saying them in church and in churchy internet forums are in no way similar. We know Folau is a nutbag who hates gay people, but why pick on him and not the millions of others just like him?
It ENTIRELY comes down to context. Keeping your hateful religious bullshit behind closed doors and within the context of that community is fine. Shoving it down everyone’s throats via Instagram where most followers are rugby nuts not expecting a sermon is not fine.
And I’ve argued a similar point before on these pages from the other side. Remember when there was a dumb attempt to boycott Coopers products during the marriage equality debate? Because Coopers had funded a Christian group to make some social media videos and they did one with Tim Wilson and Andrew Hastie I think discussing pro and anti views? The boycott attempt was launched because some campaigners decided the video was not sufficiently pro-marriage-equality. They were wrong, as Rodney Croome fortunately pointed out, because they had ignored the CONTEXT. The video was posted on a Christian site and thus presented a more positive view of same sex marriage than many people viewing that site might ever have heard before. And that was a great thing, not something to boycott.
So let hateful homophobes be seen for who they are. Tell them to shut the fuck up when they spout their shit at the wrong time or in the wrong place, but simultaneously don’t give a toss what they get up to in their own little fantasy lands because they’re not worth it.
I understand your viewpoint Dave but I think that just in case there’s anyone out there who might be persuaded by his dangerous beliefs, it’s important to show/report the full gamut of his beliefs, the depth to which his ignorance goes, and how easily unpicked his arguments are, and so anything he says, writes or posts anywhere should be exposed.
What a fuckwit!