I know you won't....but.....link?
He has freedom of speech and freedom of religion. Is he being imprisoned for his statements? Is he being restricted in performing his religion?
People simply don't understand freedom of speech. It doesn't mean the right to say absolutely anything - and it doesn't mean you can't be help accountable socially for your actions. Calling him out on his hate speech isn't denying free speech - it's expressing it perfectly.
And saying that gays are going to hell is hate speech. One could argue the same for saying atheists are going to hell (the fact that atheists don't believe in hell isn't the point).
And as somebody in the public sphere, he's always representing his employer and organisation. That's part and parcel of the job. So anything he does or says is accountable to the rugby body.
It's a bit like when people make racist comments on facebook then whinge about being fired.....but they had their employer stated on fb. Do that, and what you're saying links back to your employer. No different to doing that sort of thing while wearing your employer's clothing. For such a high-profile position as a professional sportsperson, you're never not connected to the employer.
AND he had already been warned. He should 100% be dropped.
On a final point, FOLAU is the one who should be criticised for not respecting freedom of religion. After all, his critics here aren't saying he shouldn't be religious - just that at the very least he shouldn't be passing judgement on others. Nobody is telling him how to live his life - yet he is the one demanding others change their life to match his.
Freedoms? He's not having his stripped - he's trying to strip them from others. He's not respecting my freedom of religion here, or that of the sexuality of others.
Also, he'd be party to a code of conduct - which he has now breached on more than 1 occasion. I can't see any rational defence of him here.
Yeah, I'd be okay with that. At least the club needs to say something publicly about this. No loss if we give him the flick.
Having said that, I'd also be okay with the club having a bit of a word / counselling session. If, for instance, it was a misplaced notion of 'freedom of speech of a fellow athlete' then doing something while giving a 2nd chance (ie fine of a week's salary to go to a charity, and a first and final warning) would be reasonable as well. Coming down too harshly might harm the club. I'm happy to accept a misplaced loyalty - he hasn't explicitly supported Folau's comments
https://www.goal.com/en/news/a-leag...support-for-israel/1rd8m3yqk08x2137ri9s3jmq82
It was just a pic with the hashtag IStandWithFolau