Rugby Star Israel Folau Resumes Hate Posting, Telling LGBTQ People "Hell Awaits"

by Jeff Taylor 4/10/2019

Rugby star Israel Folau has resumed his practice of posting anti-LGBTQ rhetoric to social media, with an image claiming “drunks, homosexuals, adulterers, liars, fornicators, thieves, atheists, [and] idolaters” are going to hell.

“Those that are living in Sin will end up in Hell unless you repent,” Folau added. “Jesus Christ loves you and is giving you time to turn away from your sin and come to him.”

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Those that are living in Sin will end up in Hell unless you repent. Jesus Christ loves you and is giving you time to turn away from your sin and come to him. _______________ Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these , adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
Galatians 5:19‭-‬21 KJV _______________ Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Acts 2:38 KJV _______________ And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
Acts 17:30 KJV _______________

A post shared by Israel Folau (@izzyfolau) on Apr 10, 2019 at 1:18am PDT

He also took to Twitter to criticize a Tasmanian law to make gender optional on birth certificates.

The devil has blinded so many people in this world, REPENT and turn away from your evil ways. Turn to Jesus Christ who will set you free. pic.twitter.com/BWSWTMye98

— Israel Folau (@IzzyFolau) April 10, 2019

Folau, who plays for the Wallabies and the New South Wales Waratahs, faced criticism for similar comments he made last year.

He met with officials and received a warning, but escaped punishment despite appearing to violate league inclusion policy. He has made clear that he would rather walk away from his career than cease proselytizing for his faith.

Mark Metcalfe / Stringer

Rugby Australia distanced itself from Folau’s posting, calling it “unacceptable” and “disrespectful” in a statement released on Wednesday night.

“Rugby Australia is aware of a post made by Israel Folau on his Instagram account this afternoon,” it reads. “The content within the post is unacceptable. It does not represent the values of the sport and is disrespectful to members of the Rugby community.”

“The Rugby Australia Integrity Unit has been engaged on the matter tonight.”

Meanwhile, a number of people on Twitter have pointed to a Bible verse that appears to condemn tattoos, Leviticus 19:28, and questioned why the athlete has chosen to ignore it.

Israel Folau should stop cherry-picking Bible verses that support his homophobic comments on social media, while ignoring Bible verses that condemn his own behaviour. Is it ignorance or hypocrisy? Please, stop posting hate, @IzzyFolau. #NoH8 #NoHomophobia pic.twitter.com/wned37P1mP

— Peter Murphy (@PeterWMurphy1) April 10, 2019