Scott McIntyre, Lest We Forget…
Ok, I figure I can use the phrase “lest we forget” because I’m not a woman wearing a head scarf like Yassmin. Yes, it was a pretty head scarf and she certainly looked a lot better than Pauline in her head to foot contraption. Although I must say Pauline looked better in her head to foot contraption than when she took it off…I could be wrong. Who knows? I may be driven out of the country just like Yassmin. I’m just not sure whether it’ll be by people complaining about my use of the phrase “Lest we forget” or by political correctness because I started talking about how women look…
I simply want to make the point that Scott McIntyre was an SBS journalist who was sacked for his tweets about ANZAC day.
Now, I’m not wishing to support Scott McIntyre’s tweets here… Mainly because I can’t remember them… Yes, we forget…
That was “Yes, we forget”, not “Lest We Forget” in case anyone is hard of hearing…
But I simply want to make the point that I don’t remember most of the free speech warriors who are telling us that Israel Folau has a right to tweet whatever he wants because of his religious beliefs were strangely silent when McIntyre was sacked.
I don’t wish to distract things here, but I would like to take an aside and point out the Izzy himself must be going to Hell because he is now arguing that Rugby is his workplace and simply something he liked doing on the day of rest. The Bible expressly forbids working on the Sabbath, yet Mr Folau has been happy to spend it working at his chosen employment of trying to catch balls or grabbing other men and dragging them to the ground.
So are we meant to presume that people are going to have freedom to tweet what they like if it’s a religious tweet, but not if it’s a political tweet and where does that leave Father Rod Bower of the Gosford Church?
Or is it just a case of people can tweet whatever they like so long as it agrees with the prevailing government of the day’s religious or political viewpoint?
Personally, I’d like to see Rugby Australia re-instate Folau’s contract, tell him to tweet whatever he likes, but get all their players to wear rainbow colours when training… I’m not sure whether they have the right to demand a urine sample at any time, but it could be interesting if they did it in the middle of a church service.
Yes, that sounds vindictive and nasty. Far better just to point out that Folau is going to Hell because the Bible forbids tattoos. That’s just me following his religion. Or somebody’s. Apparently it doesn’t matter so long as one is religious.
Aw shit, I had intended to write about Scott Morrison’s plan to revive the “animal spirits” in the economy. Did he really say that, or am in some dream? And is attempting to revive animal spirits in the economy going to require a religious ceremony involving the sort of things that happen in hippy communities on a full moon?
There’s so much I don’t know… However, I do know this with some certainty:
McIntyre, Yassmin and various other people shouldn’t be employed because they crossed the line. But when other people cross the line it’s a violation of their right to free speech to give them consequences. It’s sometimes going too far if one should dare to criticise them…
On this day, “Yes We Forget!”
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Wobbley
Return to home pageThank you Rossleigh!
I thoroughly enjoyed your delightfully pointed – point of view!
There is some confusion in my mind that you can call yourself a Christian – implying that you follow Christ’s teachings and share them with others – and then completely ignore his direction to “love thy neighbour as thyself”.
Added to that, you cannot accept modern medicine without recognising that the criticisms in the Bible of non-heterosexual relationships occurred at a time of near total ignorance of genetics sexuality.
The Folau matter is conning because the now cancelled Go Fund Me appeal would have created $3 MILLIO of funds to pay legal expenses for an action against the ARU. If Folau had lost the the funds would have been used pay the legal costs but where would the funds have gone had the ARU lost and therefore paid all Folau’s legal costs? There would be no reason to think that the funds would be returned to donors after collection thus making it a nice little earner from Go Fund Me donations.
Lest.We.Forget.Yasmin.Domestic.Violence.War.Victims.Manus.Nauru.Refugees.
What would troll say?
Timing is everything?
Mcintyre and Yasmin knew what would happen and were deliberate in their action and got the appropriate reaction. (Bob Brown also deliberate but labor still dumb)
Folau has stretched religious freedom to its limit and the lobby will fund his foray into the courts if they can gain a favourable judgement but his contract may be god tight???
Rossliegh
To late most have forgotten
What it was all about.
I’m a teacher. I can’t say whatever I like. I don’t believe I should express a political view or even suggest that I believe that climate change is a real thing (in some places I’m not joking)! And when I work in a faith based school….
So sacking someone because of their opinions – welcome to my world.
“Unsurprisingly, I have been criticised by Rugby Australia and some members of the media,” Folau said regarding his Go Fund Me page.
“I have received thousands of messages from supporters who believe discrimination in the workplace is wrong and has no place in Australia or anywhere else.
“While the attacks against me have shown I have a big fight on my hands, I will stand strong. Your support and my faith will give me strength.”
Riiiiight…..poor Izzy is being discriminated against because they won’t let him discriminate against those sinful gays. He should have every right to vilify them!!
Just thinking if Izzy and his wife ever have children and they were gay. According to Izzy and his beliefs the child would go straight to hell. Woo what a loving father
As far as I can see from the media, the Folau dispute goes to arbitration with Fairwork Australia on Friday next, 28 June. The Fair Work Commission and Folau’s legal team have committed to resolve the case on June 28 or else the dispute will go to court.
Folau doesn’t want to be reinstated by Rugby Australia, he wants to establish that his dismissal was unlawful and he wants $10 million. So it would seem that it will inevitably go to court.
Interesting little titbit : Folau’s church, The Truth of Jesus Christ Church in Kenthurst, Sydney was kicked off by his Dad in a former Uniting Church building in Kenthurst, rented for $150 a week from the Uniting Church : the church has around thirty followers from the local mainly Pacific Islander community.
Any future court case will be quite instructive and really needs to go all the way to the HIgh Court to be authoritative as we already know that by legislation in this country religious bodies can discriminate against gay people in employment but Folau seems to be saying that he should be able to publish homophobic texts without any penalty even when it brings his employer and his sport into disrepute.
Judith makes a very valid point, as a teacher and equally most of us would be at risk of getting the sack if we made statements that brought our employers into disrepute and adversely affected their standing in the community, let alone their profitability.
And then there is Morrison’s anticipated religious freedoms legislation which, depending on how the Folau matter is resolved could actually mean that certain religious freedoms could be wound back.
Thanks Rossleigh as ever for your succinct appraisal.
I am so fed up with the Folau issue already. I hope he loses, badly.
He had a contract with an employer, he tweeted some stuff, they said don’t do it again, he did, they sacked him. END OF STORY.
NOTHING to do with his religious belief, NOTHING to do with freedom of speech.
SIMPLE breach of contract.
SIMPLE.
If it had been anything other than religious bs we wouldn’t even be talking about it.
Very over Folau, well done to go fund me for pulling the pin.
Israel has not mentioned the effect of his outburst on sponsors. Why isn’t he suing them too? They also employed him.
“ASICS is dedicated to sport and its healthy contribution to society. We believe sport is for everyone and we champion inclusivity and diversity.
“While Israel Folau is entitled to his personal views, some of those expressed in recent social media posts are not aligned with those of ASICS.
“As such, our partnership with Israel has become untenable and he will no longer represent ASICS as a brand ambassador.”
Many of us would agree with …….
Love it Geoff
Folau is a religious fruit cake, soon to be a very rich fruit cake. Much to my displeasure he is going to win. Bets anyone?
The thing I don’t understand is how religious groups, on the one hand, can fight for their right to not employ people who don’t conform to their beliefs/moral code yet, on the other hand, when Rugby Australia exercises their right to do likewise (with contractual backing), they are outraged.
They have already donated over $3 million to pay for this multimillionaire’s folly. It is a travesty.
‘ They have already donated over $3 million to pay for this multimillionaire’s folly. It is a travesty.”
Indeed it is. It’s the ‘ Golden Rule ‘ Those with the gold make the rules. Justice in Australia is only available to those well cashed up. Very few rich people with connections, have ever faced a date with the hangman. Falau will buy the decision. This btw for mine, is not about the money, he is about as bright as a five watt globe. It is the forces that are no doubt pulling his strings that I fear.
This will be just the start of things to come. Abortion, women’s rights, the family courts, will all be wound back to a time when religious zealots in this country, held the whip hand. The LBGT community should be afraid, very afraid. The religious zealots are the gates and now their man is back in the lodge, we are in for testing times.
Allan Wright, you are assuming that Izzy doesn’t find the act of having sex with a woman repugnant. Being a terrified Christian as he is, and publicly spouting the views that he does, his real leanings maybe not what he claims.
As far as I’m concerned religion of any denomination is just another form of fascism, full stop.