- This book is a very thoughtful analysis of all the issues associated with Israel Folau’s sacking last year by Rugby Australia in response to his social media post condemning gays to hell unless they repented.
- Why did a sporting organisation get involved in a private matter like this? Because of corporate pressure from sponsors, particularly Qantas.
- Knox very skilfully outlines all the issues around the fierce and passionate debate that lasted months. He did an enormous amount of research, and built on his own experience as a former elite private school boy, to get really inside all the class, race, social, sexual and cultural threads of this colourful tapestry.
- This controversy was about a lot more than Folau and his evangelist faith. It was about freedom of speech, religious freedom, the culture wars, the history of Christianity in Australia and the rise of fundamentalist churches over the last 40 or so years, immigration, and the power of social media. Knox’s reflections are wise and frequently inspiring.
- He lists lots of examples of free speakers being crucified over the years, and instigating huge and noisy debates which they rarely survived.
- Where is nuance, caution, hesitancy, a sense of uncertainty?
- I highly recommend this important contribution to our national debate.
