Storm in a Teacup or Cyclone Folau

I had given up attempting to comment on the “sensational” news stories that gets the internet buzzing not because I don’t have amazingly insightful opinions into this sort of distracting, meaningless dribble it’s just that I’m a painfully slow writer and the bandwagon’s usually sailed by the time I get anything of substance finalised. I thought it would be the same with this Israel Folau sideshow but somehow it just keeps on going.

For those who don’t follow crap or live outside of Australia or have stumbled across this blog after digging up an ancient server lost during the battle for resources holocaust of 2043, Israel Folau was a bloody handy footballer who has represented Australia in both Rugby Union and Rugby League as well as a couple of seasons in the AFL with the Giants. He also likes God… a lot. So much so he likes to share his memes on social media which apparently gets him in the shit every now and then. So when it made the news that he’d again posted something that someone took offence to I went, “meh“, and continued with my research into the rise of Hijab porn. But when I heard that his four million dollar contract with the ARU had been canned because of it I thought, “Holy crap! I gotta see what sick shit this prick posted!”

Now I don’t know if my cynicism has dulled me to what’s inappropriate these days but when I saw this meme I was confused, as no way this was the post he’s getting crucified for? It’s basically just an abridged extract from the Bible. It wasn’t even a new twist as this dogma has been doing the rounds for literally thousands of years. But that’s what it was and Folau was actually being accused of spreading “hate speech” for “publishing” a tiny piece of the most published book in world history . He had lost his job because he revealed to his social media followers writings contained in the bestselling book of all time, (5 billion copies). A book that can be found in every church and courthouse, most motel rooms and a large percentage of homes. A book that the military, first responders and public officials swear an oath on and, like it or not, a book that shaped Western culture as we know it.

So next I’m wondering how anyone could actually be offended by a dumb arsed footballer issuing  the age old “You’re going to Hell” warning to such a broad range of people which, let’s face it, encompasses pretty much every Australian. I personally have racked up at least five of these one way tickets to Hades and I, like most Australians, couldn’t give a flying fuck about Folau’s warning as the forgotten fact in all this shit is that Hell doesn’t actually exist, (if you don’t count the M5 tunnel in peak hour.)

What’s also a forgotten fact is that the internet provides a forum for idiots to post their opinions which can sometimes upset other idiots. Unfortunately this interaction of idiots can attract the attention of the press who pass this tripe off as news which then can spook real world idiots into mistaking it for public opinion or even taking it seriously enough to sack their employees.

You can tell this was all started by idiots because normal people tend to react normally and in this case probably would have just pointed out to Israel Folau that the Bible also forbids tattoos, wearing mixed fibres and playing footy on the Sabbath and maybe quoted, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone“, then scrolled along having a good laugh at his burn. But because a few unimaginative virtue signalling trolls decided to deal with it like two year olds having a tantrum, it’s gotten way out of hand, somehow snowballing into a stand for free speech, a fight against homophobia and a battle on religious expression. It’s escalation to the courts now has the potential of turning this idiotic quibble on the internet into a significant legally defining moment in Australian history! This storm in a teacup has every chance of becoming Cyclone Folau.