Just the good bits

RUGBY Australia boss Raelene Castle effectively damned the Bible as hate speech in astonishing unreported testimony at Israel Folau’s code of conduct hearing in May.

She declared it is the Bible itself which is offensive when she testified before a panel of three judges who went on to find Folau guilty of a “high level breach” for posting a biblical quote calling on “drunks, homosexuals, adulterers, liars, fornicators, thieves, atheists and idolaters” to repent or face hell.

Castle told panel chairman John West, QC, that some biblical passages are unacceptable, and that even if Folau had posted a photocopy of a Bible page, he still would have been sacked.

West asked Castle: “What if Mr Folau had photocopied passages from the Bible and simply posted that on his social media pages, would that have caused a problem for you?”

Castle replied: “I think it depends on which ones – which pages he photocopied.”

West asked: “If he’d photocopied the passages that are referred to in the posts would that have caused a problem for you?”

“Yes it would have”, said Castle.

Folau maintains that Castle never specifically told him which parts of the Bible were off-limits. She just told him to be “respectful”, whatever that means.

On three occasions over the past 15 months Castle has addressed appropriate use of social media with Folau face-toface, but in each case he found her instructions vague and ambiguous.

The first occasion was at a meeting on April 10 last year, after an earlier biblical Instagram post.

At the second meeting, on 3 May last year, Castle gave him a letter which stated: “Rugby Australia supports your right to hold strong beliefs that you are willing to stand up for.

“We would never ask you to compromise those beliefs; however we do expect you to communicate those views in a way that is respectful.

“Deciding what to post on your social media platform is a matter of personal and professional judgment and must be done in accordance with your contractual obligations.” Which is as clear as mud. On November 21 last year, Castle bumped into Folau by chance at a cafe in Twickenham, where the Wallabies were playing England. Again, Folau hoped for guidance. In each instance, Castle’s instruction to Folau was that he could quote the Bible on social media but he just had to ensure he was “respectful”.

She did not tell him which parts of the Bible were off-limits. Was he meant to guess? Or was he meant to desist from an essential part of his faith, which is to spread the “good news” of the Bible.

From Folau’s perspective, it is unthinkable that Jesus’ teachings and the word of God are anything but respectful.

Since more than half Australia’s rugby players are Pasifika, and devout Christians such as Folau, it was Castle’s duty to understand the depth of their faith and take the necessary steps to ensure misunderstandings don’t occur.

If they do occur, it is entirely the fault of the leader who issued unclear instructions.

It’s not as if Folau is the only Pasifika player confused by Castle’s enigmatic advice.

One player, who also posts scripture on social media, was so worried that he would be sacked like Folau he went directly to Castle for guidance.

He has since told friends in bemusement that she said quoting the Bible was OK as long as it is “just the good bits”.

Again, no clarity from Castle as to what the “good bits” or “bad bits” of Jesus’ teachings are.

After failing to issue clear instructions about her expectations for social media, she threw Folau under the bus to pre-empt sponsor anger.

On April 20, before her intervention, there were just 69 media mentions of Folau’s Instagram post.

It would fast have faded into obscurity. Last week there were over 6000 mentions and the furore shows no sign of abating, having leapt the Tasman where Kiwis are obsessed with the story.

Castle made a mountain out of a molehill, and has thrown Australian rugby into disrepute as a result, trashing morale and sabotaging the Wallabies’ chances in a World Cup year. But she wasn’t done. Having unilaterally condemned the foundational document of Judaeo-Christian civilisation as akin to hate speech, she boasted in a press conference that her decision was a “landmark” which “will change the landscape for rugby and sport”.

There’s one person who should have been sacked, and it wasn’t Folau.

Folau maintains that Castle never specifically told him which parts of the Bible were off-limits. She just told him to be “respectful”