Israel Folau is one of the best players of rugby, or as called in Australia, footie. He has played in the three versions of the game existing in the country, Rugby League, Australian Rules Football and Rugby Union, and excelled in each. He was also a very important member of the national Australian team for Rugby Union, the Wallabies.
Nevertheless, this article is not about the kicking of an oval ball.
Folau is a member of the Pentecostal church Assemblies of God, and in the last few years was one of the prominent voices opposing gay marriage, and in the last few months twice declared on social media that homosexuals are all going to hell unless they repent.
The first time, the Rugby Australia leadership declared it had accepted his position, even while disagreeing with him, and would not take steps against him even if his declarations went against the inclusive policy of the organisation.
This situation naturally triggers questions about religious freedom and its public expression. I’m not surprised by the views expressed by Folau. I know of other members of the Assemblies of God and even Christians from other churches including the Catholic one, who talk the same way and have identical beliefs.
In fact if, as many other Christians do, one accepts every word, full stop and comma that are in the Bible, uttered by whoever, written by whoever and under any circumstances in which they were written, are the word of God, then it is not hard to arrive at that belief.
This concern is a bit wider than the case of Folau, as no one has indicated that Folau has no right to have or declare his beliefs in private. They are right however that we are facing a precedent whether similar beliefs cannot be declared in public, although the case is limited to declarations by a person which clash with the values of the employing organisation.
In similar controversies, before making up my mind which way to lean, I like to throw the ball on the other foot and see what happens if we apply the same principle.
The best example I can think of can be found in the report on religious freedom commissioned by the Australian government, chaired by ex-MP Phillip Ruddock, which recommended that religious schools be able to “discriminate in relation to the employment of staff, and the engagement of contractors, on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or relationship status provided that:
(a) the discrimination is founded in the precepts of the religion
(b) the school has a publicly available policy outlining its position in relation to the matter and explaining how the policy will be enforced, and
From my perspective, I prefer that no one loses his or her job due to what is believed or declared, and this would be applicable to employees/contractors of religious schools and also Folau. I very much fear that if we continue to surround ourselves only with people who have views similar to ours and banish everyone else, we will never have a society with grows in tolerance and the acceptance of diversity. Instead of a heterogenous yet harmonious society full of peaceful dialogue, we would have many isolated islands, each internally homogeneous, but with closed ears and no dialogue, always shouting slogans at each other, but never listening and learning even less.
The choice is yours!
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Israel Folau huwa wieħed mill-aħjar plejers tar-ragbi (rugby, jew kif jissejjaħ hawn l-Awstralja, footie). Lagħab fit-tliet verżjonijiet tal-logħba li jeżistu f’dan il-pajjiż, Rugby League, Awstralian Rules Football u Rugby Union, u f’kull wieħed iddistingwa ruħu. Huwa wkoll kien membru importanti ħafna tat-team nazzjonali Awstraljan tar-Rugby Union, il-Wallabies.
Madankollu dan l-artiklu mhux fuq l-ixxuttjar ta’ ballun ovali.
Folau huwa membru tal-knisja Pentekostali Assemblies of God, u matul dawn l-aħħar snin kien wieħed mill-vuċijiet prominenti li opponew id-dritt tal-omosesswali li jkunu jistgħu jiżżewġu, u dawn l-aħħar xhur darbtejn stqarr fuq il-midja soċjali li l-omosesswali kollha sejrin l-infern sakemm ma jindmux.
L-ewwel darba, it-tmexxija ta’ Rugby Australia qalet li taċċetta l-pożizzjoni tiegħu, għalkemm ma’ taqbilx miegħu, u ma kinux se jieħdu passi kontrih anke jekk dak li qal kien kontra l-politika inklussiva tal-organizzazzjoni.
Din is-sitwazzjoni naturalment tqajjem mistoqsijiet fuq il-libertà reliġjuża u l-espressjoni pubblika tagħha. Jien m’iniex sorpriż bil-veduti espressi ta’ Folau. Naf nies oħra membri tal-Assemblies of God, u anke insara oħra ta’ knejjes oħra inklużi dawk Kattoliċi, li jitkellmu bl-istess mod u għandhom twemmin identiku.
Fil-fatt jekk, bħal ma jagħmlu ħafna insara, wieħed jaċċetta li kull kelma, punt u virgola li hemm fil-Bibbja, qalhom min qalhom, kitibhom min kitibhom u taħt kwalunkwe ċirkustanzi li nkitbu, huma l-kelma t’Alla, mhux diffiċli li tasal għal dak it-twemmin.
Dan it-tħassib huwa daqsxejn iktar wiesgħa mill-każ ta’ Folau, għax ħadd ma semma li Folau m’għandux dritt li jkollu jew jistqarr it-twemmin tiegħu fil-privat. Għandhom raġun però li qed niffaċċjaw preċedent jekk twemmin simili jistax jiġi mistqarr fil-pubbliku, għalkemm il-każ hu limitat fejn l-istqarrija tal-persuna ma taqbilx mal-valuri tal-organizzazzjoni li timpjegah.
Jien f’każijiet kontroversjali bħal dawn, qabel ma nieħu pożizzjoni, inħobb nitfa’ l-ġebla fuq is-sieq l-oħra biex nara x’jiġri jekk jiġi applikat l-istess prinċipju.
Jien ngħid għalija, nippreferi li ħadd ma jitlef ħobżu minħabba dak li jemmen jew jistqarr, u dan ikun jgħodd kemm għall-iskejjel reliġjużi u kemm għall-każ ta’ Folau. Nibża li jekk se nkomplu ndawru nfusna b’nies li għandhom biss veduti bħal tagħna u nkeċċu lill-oħrajna, mhux se jkollna qatt soċjetà li tersaq lejn it-tolleranza u l-aċċettazzjoni tad-diversità. Minflok soċjetà etereoġenja iżda armonjuża mimlija djalogu paċifiku, ikollna ħafna gżejjer iżolati, kollha omoġenji fihom infushom, imma b’widnejn magħluqa u mingħajr djalogu, dejjem jgħajtu lejn xulxin imma la jisimgħu u lanqas qatt ma jitgħallmu xejn.
Għażel int!
1https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05-07/israel-folau-breached-code-of-conduct-hearing-finds/11089234, retrieved 15/5/2019
2https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05-11/israel-folau-religious-leaders-send-letter-to-shorten-morrison/11104094, retrieved 15/5/2019
3Religious Freedom Review – Report of the Expert Panel; 18th May 2018; Recommendation 5
1https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05-07/israel-folau-breached-code-of-conduct-hearing-finds/11089234, retrieved 15/5/2019
2https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05-11/israel-folau-religious-leaders-send-letter-to-shorten-morrison/11104094, retrieved 15/5/2019
3Religious Freedom Review – Report of the Expert Panel; 18th May 2018; Recommendation 5
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