You wouldn’t think anyone at CNSNews.com would care what an Australian rugby player has to say about anything — rugby’s barely a blip on the sports radar in the U.S., and its players in other countries even less so. But when an Australian rugby player echoes the anti-gay agenda of CNS managing editor Michael W. Chapman, it makes the CNS website.
Thus, this April 5 blog post by Chapman:
Australian rugby star Israel Folau, who is a devout Christian, said that God’s plans are not always our plans and, when asked what God’s plan is for homosexuals, Folau responded, “HELL… Unless they repent of their sins and turn to God.”
Folau, 29, plays for the Waratahs in Super Rugby. Last year he was a finalist for World Rugby’s player of the year. Folau has 119,000 followers on Twitter, 125,350 on Facebook, and 337, 000 followers on Instagram. He is “one of Australia’s most recognizable rugby players,” reported RT News on Apr. 4.
In response to an injury he suffered on March 31, Folau posted on instagram a cartoon that showed “YOUR PLAN” versus “GOD’s PLAN” — the straight and easy road to success vs. a bumpy and trial-filled road to success. Beneath the images, Folau quoted James 1:2-4, “Consider it all joy when you encounter various trials, because the testing of your faith produces endurance… so that you may be lacking in nothing.”
After Folau posted his comment, a follower posted a question, “@izzyfolau what was gods plan for gay people??”
Folau — izzyfolau on Instagram — replied, “HELL… Unless they repent of their sins and turn to God.”
Yep, Chapman’s kind of news. Folau later claimed that he didn’t mean to offend with his statement, denied he was homophobic (Chapman, of course, is a separate matter), and that he would be willing to leave his team if asked. Folau won’t be punished by Rugby Australia over the controversy.
Incidentally, Chapman’s source for Folau’s comments is RT, the news operation run by the Russian government that’s basically a propaganda tool for Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
So Chapman relies on a propaganda outlet to peddle his own anti-gay propaganda at a “news” operation that’s little more than right-wing propaganda.