When I penned my 15th piece on Israel Folau yesterday, I really thought that would be the last one – for sure! But it seems that every day, if not every hour, a new development arises. New twists and turns keep coming up, and the latest is a real doozy.
I spoke yesterday about all the hysteria being generated over the GoFundMe campaign that Folau had set up to cover $3 million in legal costs. All the usual suspects became altogether unhinged over that one, including some carnal and clueless Christians.
I kid you not. But what they said about it really takes the cake. GoFundMe Australia regional manager Nicola Britton opined:
Today we will be closing Israel Folau’s campaign and issuing full refunds to all donors. After a routine period of evaluation, we have concluded that this campaign violates our terms of service. As a company, we are absolutely committed to the fight for equality for LGBTIQ+ people and fostering an environment of inclusivity. While we welcome GoFundMes engaging in diverse civil debate, we do not tolerate the promotion of discrimination or exclusion.
www.smh.com.au/sport/rugby-union/folau-gofundme-appeal-shut-down-by-crowdfunding-site-20190624-p520nh.html
OK, so let me see if I got this straight: in the name of “fostering an environment of inclusivity” and not tolerating “promotion of discrimination or exclusion,” they have determined that they will NOT foster an environment of inclusivity to Israel Folau and they WILL promote discrimination and exclusion of Bible-believing Christians.
Righteo. I see how that works. Of course this is the same Christophobic outfit that pulled the plug on Christian cakemaker Jack Phillips’ campaign in the US. So these guys have a habit of putting on display their anti-Christian bigotry – all in the name of tolerance and inclusion of course. In the meantime, you will still find funding campaigns for folks like Sarah Hanson Young – no problems there it seems.
Remind me once more what that word is that starts with ‘h’ and ends with ‘ypocrisy’? Not that it is surprising that the secular left thrives on double standards and hypocrisy, but every new case of it is still rather jarring. Either they are totally oblivious to what they are doing, or they are so far down the rabbit hole that it means nothing to them.
And what obviously got them so incensed was the fact that so many thousands if not tens of thousands of ordinary Australians were supporting Folau – with their hard-earned cash. They demonstrated by their sacrificial giving that they fully supported him while they intensely disliked the anti-Christian bigotry of Rugby Australia.
Indeed, in just a few days around three quarters of a million dollars had already been donated. As I keep saying, this is ultimately about religious freedom. Australians are getting fed up with the PC totalitarians who are trying to control everything and everyone.
And the sporting world is just one place where this is taking place, and Australians have had a gutful of it. Whether it is idiotic “behavioural awareness officers” at AFL games, or trans athletes decimating women’s sports, or leftist thugs booting out Bible-believing Christians, they are fed up with this.
As I also keep saying, the issue here has nothing to do with how wealthy Folau might be – nor his supporters. It is all about one important thing: Christian solidarity. Those folks who are donating to him know full well that today it is Izzy Folau, and tomorrow it will likely be them.
They see quite clearly that there is an ugly and sustained crackdown on Christianity taking place. And they can see through all the empty rhetoric about inclusion and acceptance and tolerance. They know that biblical Christians do NOT qualify for any of this. They see this for what it is: a full-fledged war on Christianity, and on any believers who boldly dare to stand up for their faith.
And the lessons of history have not been lost on them. To paraphrase the German pastor and Holocaust survivor Martin Niemoller:
In Australia they came first for Archbishop Julian Porteous, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a cleric.
Then they came for Bernard Gaynor, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Catholic.
Then they came for Margaret Court, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a tennis player.
Then they came for Lyle Shelton, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a lobbyist.
Then they came for Israel Folau, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a footballer.
Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up.
Yes that is where things have now come to. We either stand together or fall together. Or as Benjamin Franklin put it, “We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately”. It is time for some real Christian solidarity here.
Where to now for Folau is a moot point. But I keep being reminded of the words of Mark Steyn who so often has said, “The left does not want to win the debate, it wants to shut down the debate.” It is not interested in tolerance and inclusion, it is interested in domination and exclusion.
That is why Folau’s battle is so very, very important. When he gets hammered and persecuted, we all do. Now is not the time for cowardice and capitulation. Right now we need many more Folaus, not less. As Thomas Sowell reminds us, “If the battle for civilization comes down to the wimps versus the barbarians, the barbarians are going to win.”
It is time to stand with Izzy. It is time to stand for biblical Christianity against the secular left overlords and the rainbow tyrants.
