Foxy said;
Does being a Christian necessarily mean you can express views
that hurt others on a public forum?
Does it allow Folau to express his views in the way that he did?

This where you go beyond the Pale Foxy.
Your belief that nothing should be said that offends another is untenable.
No matter what is said be it religious or not so long as you do not
advocate physical harm to others then that is OK. Sticks & Stones.
The only damage to Rugby Union from all this kerfuffle has been self afflicted.

No one has a right to be not offended and all this twiterati carryon
has been from those looking for something to be offended about.
They sucked you right in didn't they ?

Bazz,

There are competing interests at stake here.

Israel Folau is claiming that Rugby Australia
unlawfully sacked him because of his religion.
The organisation contends the rugby star violated
the terms of his code of conduct by discriminating
against (among others) - LGBTQ people.

I will politely suggest to you to read the following
link taken from Australia's leading libertarian
centre-right blog - catallaxy files on the subject,
written by Justinian the Great. It just may help
to clear things up for you:

http://catallaxyfiles.com/2019/06/28/folau-competing-interests-are-at-stake/

Christian economist and commentator on life, Peter Smith, points out that it IS Christianity to regard homosexuality, among other things, as a sin. And it's not just in the 'outdated' Old Testament. The later version is:

"from the New International Version:

Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God."

Plain enough.

Of course, the anti-Christian "sanctimonious bigots" don't have to accept it, nor does it matter to them, and there is no point in discussing it with them. " They are out to destroy Christianity, the very foundation of our culture and way of life. It is in their way. It must be weakened, distorted and diluted to suit the progressive fads and fashions of the time."

And, don't be 'deceived' into thinking that the Christophobes and neo-coms are concerned about homosexuals. It's all about politics and crushing dissent

The God that I believe in was about love,
empathy, and compassion. He so loved that
he gave his life up for our sins. He did
not discriminate or preach hatred. As the following
link explains:

http://www.wouldjesusdiscriminate.org/biblical_evidence/no_fems_no_fairies.html

Also, the Bible was written by men thousands of years ago. There
are several interpretations, and needs to be read in context.

Foxy, another of your pre-concieved outcome, links.
Do you again, realise the irony.
What you say and your many links say, are offensive to many here on OLO, therefore it stands to reason, that you must stop commenting, and OLO must 'pull' your comments if you persist.
You malign and berate me for saying things you, and others, find offensive.
So what?
If I intended to offend, I have the right to do so.
If I did not, I have nothing to defend.
I don't care how many links you produce, because you see, you possibly, unknowingly, but never-the-less, have been lying to us all throughout your time on OLO.
You stated categorically that you do not have a pre-concieved agenda.
Well this is clearly not the case, when nearly every link has a message, not just information.
If you wanted to better inform us, you would choose only informative links, but NO, you are trying to get your message across, against our will.
So Foxy, how do you differ from Falou?
You do know the difference between information and indoctrination, don't you?

Foxy,

Are you suggesting that the Bible, that Folau quotes from, preaches hatred ? Doesn't god love and forgive all sinners but not the sins ? As can atheist, I'm puzzled how you can claim to be a believer and yet not support one of the major innovations of the New Testament ?

Are you suggesting that, to point out 'sins', as surely the Bible urges, is to preach hate ? Surely you're not that adolescent :)

Joe