News Israel Folau on the verge of NRL return as Dragons submit application for two-year deal

CrittaMagic69

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Who says they all disbelieve? There are many gay Christians in the world. Some may not see how they can reconcile being queer and a believer, but people have their right to their interpretations of a religion.

Look, I’m not saying he should never work again. I’ve never jumped on twitter to browbeat the guy .... but if he wants the right to be outspoken, I reserve the right to express my strong disagreement with what he says and does... and my belief that a lot of the things he says and does actually goes against what I believe to be basic Christian ethics. I may not be a Christian now, but I was raised one, so it’s not like I speak from a position of total ignorance.... and personally, I believe the approach of Christians like Folau drives more people away from the religion than it attracts to it.

I’m not the sort of person who will be jumping on social media threatening boycotts of any sport or code that signs him.... and I think the dragons are a stupid club for initiating talks with him then withdrawing as if they were surprised by the backlash.....but I do see how it is problematic for any sporting club to sign him if he maintains it is important to him to say things that alienate large sections of the fan base. Sport is a business and while citizens have the right to free speech, employees have responsibilities. In some roles (particularly those of public figures who have large followings), that responsibility extends to being a bit diplomatic about how you express certain things on social media... particularly things that could damage the brand they represent.

I’m not saying he should be stoned, but I think he could stay true to his faith while still being considerate of his employers position and I refuse to see him as a victim.
I wanna be stoned.
 

Bulldog1966

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PS Muslim, Christian or Jew who gives a fuck. He is too old and been out of the nrlol for too long.

He is a step back for us. Pass.
Spot on, i actually dont care about what he said, i just agree with the above #pissoffyouroutfolau
can play somewhere else i could care less but just not with us the_cunt :laughing:
 

GA45

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Way better center then Hopoate. If it’s similar price and you can move Hoppa on I’d do it.
 

Como Dog

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Lol. OK mate.

Defo not going to get into a debate as to the morales or whatever behind what Izzy said. At the end of the day, there'll always be worse things people have done but that doesn't make what he did better or worse. Judge him on his actions alone.

A few things:

1) We don't need him as a player. He's in his latter years. He's focused on himself, rather than his team. We're building for the future. He doesn't fit into what we're trying to do. Simple. As a player, without all of the other crap, I wouldn't want him anyway.

2) We don't need his baggage. It's not whether we agree with his views or not, he'll bring drama to the club which we don't need. We're just getting out of a circus of a year, do we want to re-enter one?

Stop making this about the bible because it's not. Stop trying to justify it because there are 'worse' offenders playing league because it doesn't matter.

The simple fact is that he's a player we don't need, and shouldn't be going after.
Agreed we don't need him.
 

EB18

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The above sentence encompasses the problem, being respectful of all, in a practical sense, is impossible. Israel Folua's father Eni Folau is a Church Pastor and his fellow parishioners and other devout Christians would not accept even Israel's silence. Keeping in mind what he actually said in the post, which was a screenshot quoting 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 "WARNING Drunks, Homosexuals, Adulterers, Liars, Fornicators, Thieves, Atheists, Idolators HELL AWAITS YOU."

What he is guilty of is quoting a book that is thousands of years old, one that is held is the ultimate esteem by billions of people world wide. Personally I'm not comfortable with the precedent that simply by quoting a book I too could be vilified and persecuted in the same fashion. Whether you, I or someone else believes what a book says or not is irrelevant, what is relevant is that no one should ever be condemned for simply quoting a book.

Expressing outrage about something, anything, everything is essentially a modern pastime. If we look hard enough there is always something to be outraged over. When a society is social media saturated and everyone can have their own public platform they are going to have endless opportunities to complain bitterly about people saying "terrible" things. Even if the "terrible" thing was written by someone else thousands of years ago.

What strikes me as being interesting is that the countless numbers of us "Drunks, Adulterers, Liars, Fornicators, Thieves, Atheists and Idolators" don't seem to be troubled too much by the biblical quote.


Go Dogs
Great post well written.
 

Northern Beaches dog

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It's not really about what anyone believes. I think most people would say that he can believe whatever he wants just as anyone else can believe whatever they want.

But people were offended by his comments. Not just atheists, some religious were as well.

If no one found it offensive then there's no problem. If people found it offensive and the NRL/ARU didn't care then that's fair enough. But as it stands right now, people found it offensive so to protect the game, the ARU took action and to protect themselves, the NRL and Dragons are now steering clear of him.

He could probably repair the void by saying, "I have my beliefs but I apologise if I offended anyone. I will try not to offend anyone in the future". Like he did when he first did it. But now he's not only refusing to apologise, but he's suggesting that it's his religious freedom to offend people.

Honestly I'd love to have him back in the game, but his stubbornness in refusing to accept that he can be religious without offending people is a problem that he just can't overcome.
NRL came out and said his comments are a risk to people with regards to the LGTBQ community and suicide.

Yet they pour gambling ads on us. According to stats there is at least 1 suicide gambling related death a day in Aus. Never mind the destruction it causes in families.

See the hypocrisy? It is just the NRL bowing down to the minority.
 

Northern Beaches dog

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The odd thing in all this which i do not understand is, everyone who has an understanding of Christianity knows what the bible says about homosexuality etc.
What difference does it make if a player tweets a passage of the bible or when entering the field makes a sign of the cross showing they are a Christian? Will players be banned from making a sign of the cross when they enter the field? Will players be banned from thanking God in an interview? Will players not be allowed to be seen in church?
 

Hacky McAxe

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NRL came out and said his comments are a risk to people with regards to the LGTBQ community and suicide.

Yet they pour gambling ads on us. According to stats there is at least 1 suicide gambling related death a day in Aus. Never mind the destruction it causes in families.

See the hypocrisy? It is just the NRL bowing down to the minority.
Yeah, I completely agree. It's actually why I have the utmost respect for my A League team (Wanderers) as they publicly stated that they'll never take a cent from any gambling company.

The NRL should follow suit. They should ban gambling advertising and sponsorship. But that doesn't mean they should ignore every morally reprehensible thing just because they're already ignoring one. I wouldn't expect someone smoking pot to say, "I'm already breaking the law. I may as well murder a bunch of people"

But I completely agree that the NRL should ban gambling advertisement like they did with smoking.
 
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Cook

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NRL came out and said his comments are a risk to people with regards to the LGTBQ community and suicide.

Yet they pour gambling ads on us. According to stats there is at least 1 suicide gambling related death a day in Aus. Never mind the destruction it causes in families.

See the hypocrisy? It is just the NRL bowing down to the minority.
Of course they are. The majority of Rugby League followers want Izzy back in the game. Yet there the silent majority.
 

Hacky McAxe

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The odd thing in all this which i do not understand is, everyone who has an understanding of Christianity knows what the bible says about homosexuality etc.
What difference does it make if a player tweets a passage of the bible or when entering the field makes a sign of the cross showing they are a Christian? Will players be banned from making a sign of the cross when they enter the field? Will players be banned from thanking God in an interview? Will players not be allowed to be seen in church?
This has been covered so many times in every one of these debates but the summary is basically:

- Folau didn't quote a passage. He shared a meme someone else made that doesn't quote a bible verse. It takes something from the bible and changes it. The bible never says that homosexuals will specifically "burn in hell"

- the only issue is that it was offensive to homosexuals who already struggle with hatred all the time. Being religious isn't offensive and they can do whatever they want as long as it isn't considered highly offensive to a group

- there's nothing in the bible that says that you should deliberately offend people and refuse to apologise. It actually says the opposite
 

Hacky McAxe

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Of course they are. The majority of Rugby League followers want Izzy back in the game. Yet there the silent majority.
Honestly I want him back in the game too. Amazing player. Probably getting a bit old now but still amazing.

But any team that picks him up will probably cop a fair bit of backlash. The issue will be if it leads to loss of sponsorship. If it doesn't and the outrage dies down then I don't see an issue.
 

Cook

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Honestly I want him back in the game too. Amazing player. Probably getting a bit old now but still amazing.

But any team that picks him up will probably cop a fair bit of backlash. The issue will be if it leads to loss of sponsorship. If it doesn't and the outrage dies down then I don't see an issue.
I understand 100%. Yet when will a sponsor finally have the fortitude to stand up for what he believes. Which is his business at the end of the day, keeping the game alive. The media jump on it no matter what, again killing our game as opposed to backing it. The media have no game without the product. It’s the same as coon cheese, people say ill still buy it. If a sponsor supports a product against the loud minority, would it really hurt there bottom line. People will always support them, I believe
 

Cook

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People will always follow rugby league simple. If a car was major sponsor of the game and they endorsed Izzy. Do I not buy that car, pls. I read reviews money for value ancap rating, word of mouth usual stuff...
 

Bulldog1966

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He should be able to play again(just not for us)i dont have a problem with this, with a clause in any contract to not cross that line again..or out he goes
 
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