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Israel Folau


fevnut

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My favourite SL team is Catalans. But I am appalled at the prospect of them signing Folau. He has been banned by both Aussie and RU and Aussie RL because of his obnoxious homophobic views and his persistent expression of them. To allow him to play here would be to smash our proud record of being an inclusive sport. There is no place for someone who treats gay people as 'devils'.

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Holding a belief that hurts no one is not the same has holding a belief that contains or encourages hatred.

Allowing him to play does more than protect the rights of free speech it protects the right to hate.

If he does play for the Dragons I will no longer support them.

 

 

2 warning points:kolobok_dirol:  Non-Political

 

 

 

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7 minutes ago, Oxford said:

Holding a belief that hurts no one is not the same has holding a belief that contains or encourages hatred.

Allowing him to play does more than protect the rights of free speech it protects the right to hate.

If he does play for the Dragons I will no longer support them.

 

 

Ask sbw his views towards gays then.  

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He quoted the bible which he holds in very high esteem, traditional Cristian beliefs are also part of an inclusive society; some may consider them outdated of course but that’s just different opinions.

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Why did the Catalans have to open that pandora's box?  It is just going to create a mess regardless of what happens from here... 

Whether he is blocked or not will create news and polarise supporters, sponsors, people in the media, etc which is not what the game needs, especially as we actually have some positive press and momentum heading into the new season.

Now can Super League block him? I don't think they will or can... Elstone and co will find it hard to turn down a player of his skillset. Throw in the fact they've accepted some players with some absolutely atrocious histories, plus I don't believe they have any charter / rules / etc to block a player based upon 'public comment', they'll possibly not want to expose themselves to potential legal issues.

I personally don't want to see him playing for the Catalans, and hope that the story is just pure speculation with no basis.  

PACIFIQUE TREIZE: Join the team by registering as a fan today at pacifique13.com

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1 minute ago, Yakstorm said:

Why did the Catalans have to open that pandora's box?  It is just going to create a mess regardless of what happens from here... 

Whether he is blocked or not will create news and polarise supporters, sponsors, people in the media, etc which is not what the game needs, especially as we actually have some positive press and momentum heading into the new season.

Now can Super League block him? I don't think they will or can... Elstone and co will find it hard to turn down a player of his skillset. Throw in the fact they've accepted some players with some absolutely atrocious histories, plus I don't believe they have any charter / rules / etc to block a player based upon 'public comment', they'll possibly not want to expose themselves to potential legal issues.

I personally don't want to see him playing for the Catalans, and hope that the story is just pure speculation with no basis.  

Think French union are favourites anyway 

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8 hours ago, fevnut said:

My favourite SL team is Catalans. But I am appalled at the prospect of them signing Folau. He has been banned by both Aussie and RU and Aussie RL because of his obnoxious homophobic views and his persistent expression of them. To allow him to play here would be to smash our proud record of being an inclusive sport. There is no place for someone who treats gay people as 'devils'.

What a narrow-minded, holier-than-thou and mean-spirited individual you are. 

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2 hours ago, fevnut said:

My favourite SL team is Catalans. But I am appalled at the prospect of them signing Folau. He has been banned by both Aussie and RU and Aussie RL because of his obnoxious homophobic views and his persistent expression of them. To allow him to play here would be to smash our proud record of being an inclusive sport. There is no place for someone who treats gay people as 'devils'.

Lots of do gooders on this board.

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15 minutes ago, iangidds said:

He quoted the bible which he holds in very high esteem, traditional Cristian beliefs are also part of an inclusive society; some may consider them outdated of course but that’s just different opinions.

Yes traditional views in any religion are part of an inclusive society.

Tradtional sectarian and hate views are not inclusive.

Quoting the bible neither defends views nor does it make them correct.

Part of the reason we have inclusivity and tolerance in the west can be laid right at the door of the Christian message which was a a new covenant from the Old testament, the love and understanding bit that seems an inconvenient bit to so many.

This has nothing to do with fashion or changing times it has to do with defence of hate.

29 minutes ago, aj1908 said:

Ask sbw his views towards gays then

36 minutes ago, Oxford said:

If he does play for the Dragons I will no longer support them.

If SBW starts espousing views like that I shall do the same with TWP too.

 

2 warning points:kolobok_dirol:  Non-Political

 

 

 

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7 minutes ago, Oxford said:

Yes traditional views in any religion are part of an inclusive society.

Tradtional sectarian and hate views are not inclusive.

Quoting the bible neither defends views nor does it make them correct.

Part of the reason we have inclusivity and tolerance in the west can be laid right at the door of the Christian message which was a a new covenant from the Old testament, the love and understanding bit that seems an inconvenient bit to so many.

This has nothing to do with fashion or changing times it has to do with defence of hate.

If SBW starts espousing views like that I shall do the same with TWP too.

 

So it's ok to believe it just not express it ?

That's a freedom of speech issue right there 

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1 hour ago, Oxford said:

Holding a belief that hurts no one is not the same has holding a belief that contains or encourages hatred.

Allowing him to play does more than protect the rights of free speech it protects the right to hate.

If he does play for the Dragons I will no longer support them.

 

 

In one.

There is no such thing as free speech, as in being able to say what you want with no ramifications. It has always had limits. You walk into an airport and say “I’ve got a bomb in my bag”, you will either get shot, get beaten to within an inch of your life, or get arrested. Shout “fire” in a cinema, after everyone has stopped running out of there and realised there isn’t one, same thing.

Prior to the 1960s free speech was even more limited than it is now; being charged for obscenity was rampant (books aplenty were banned). Comedian Lenny Bruce was convicted for obscenity.

So it’s not a free speech issue. What this is is a tolerance issue. Does RL promote tolerance or intolerance? In RL is there any campaigns against discrimination like other sports? (football they had have footballers wearing rainbow laces, dealing with racism has had ‘kick it out’). Luis Suarez got banned for using racist language...had he not the sport doing nothing would be tolerating it, and in the process making a mockery of its anti-discrimination policy.

If you want to be backward, go ahead, believe and state what you want, but it doesn’t go unchecked. It never has.

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Unless Folau was willing to publicly ‘repent his sins’ re homophobia - and that seems unlikely given that’s how he’s ended up being linked to Catalans - it’s a no from me.

But if he could undertake some form of remedial action then I’m willing to give him a chance. And of course if there was any repeat he should be sent back immediately.

EDIT: I’ve since read that Folau has continued to make online homophobic comments in recent weeks so forget it. There’s seemingly no chance of any sincere remedial course of action.

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He is a world class talent. It would be great to see him in SL. 

RL is happy to have convicted criminals, women beaters, drink drivers, drug takers etc.. But being a Christian is the one that gets you banned for life. 

A few weeks of good performances and everything will be forgotten. People need to realise twitter is not real life. 

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44 minutes ago, Mattrhino said:

He is a world class talent. It would be great to see him in SL. 

RL is happy to have convicted criminals, women beaters, drink drivers, drug takers etc.. But being a Christian is the one that gets you banned for life. 

A few weeks of good performances and everything will be forgotten. People need to realise twitter is not real life. 

and don't forget drag queens spacer.png

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If I were making the decision for Catalan I wouldn't be too worried about him sharing his deeply held religious views... as long as you are prepared to stress that his views are his own and not reflective of the club it is probably manageable. 

And his right to express his own personal beliefs go without saying of course.

But I would look carefully at his willingness to sign up as an Ambassador for a sporting body with the reward that comes with it, sign a multi million dollar contract with an explicit code of conduct laid out and then breach that code of conduct on multiple occasions and continue even after being warned of his behaviour. 

That's the part I would worry about.

"The history of the world is the history of the triumph of the heartless over the mindless." — Sir Humphrey Appleby.

"If someone doesn't value evidence, what evidence are you going to provide to prove that they should value it? If someone doesn't value logic, what logical argument could you provide to show the importance of logic?" — Sam Harris

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