Israel's posts and their Folau.

Australia's Nation Rugby League has seen many off-field scandals in recent years, but none before have been anything like that which New South Wales Waratah Israel Folau has created this week. A staunchly devout Christian, Folau has had his rugby contract officially torn up over this Instagram post:

The game's governing body, Rugby Australia, upon reaching their decision posted this in response:

Flawless reply, I think. Now, I want to be very clear that I do respect Folau's beliefs even if I don't share them (and no pun intended there, given this is about social media activity), but his manner of expressing them online has changed, to my disappointment. For example, before Australia's 2017 marriage equality plebiscite he Tweeted this:

To my mind, although I disagreed with that stance and still do, that was considerately and maturely expressed. This latest post was just the opposite and today, a Tweet from journalist and comedian Adam Spencer involving Folau has gone viral. Seeing why isn't hard: https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1116122986833014786?fbclid=IwAR3G-_-BGSUyl0EnHfpKl6xZ1ol1bjVCjZvmVIIRMtfM0GpcdnSwD5Q5SFA.

But my main lingering thought about this is how, with or without his faith, Folau is a black man and thus could encounter racism at any moment, but still feels free to spout all this homophobia. Hatred and bigotry have many forms, but the essence of them all- the feelings and emotions they inspire - are identical. This isn't even the second time Folau has ruffled feathers with his religious social media posts, either, so you'd think he would've learnt his lesson. Or maybe he just prioritises his faith higher than his game and if so, I don't understand why he keeps at the latter.