rationalskepticism.org

Blackadder wrote:

Spearthrower wrote:

WARNING

Drunks, Homosexuals, Adulterers, Liars, Fornicators, Thieves, Atheists and Idolaters,

Hell awaits you.

REPENT!

ONLY JESUS SAVES

Blackadder wrote: Yet I am uneasy with punishing people for expressing their views.

I struggle to think of any job where you could make such statements and still retain your job.

He's got a national platform precisely because of his status in the sport. As such, if he misuses that status, particularly after having been officially warned and having signed a contract assuring he will not engage in this, then he's only got himself to blame. His freedom of speech is not being infringed on: instead the reality is that he needs to learn that freedom of speech does not equate to freedom from consequences of that speech.

Good riddance: Australia deserves and is better.

I can completely see why the national rugby body censured him. At the very least, he has breached his terms of employment. I guess my slight unease is when I think of how this could be used in the other direction. Thomas made the point that commercial considerations would come into play. Yes they would. But that could be used against atheist employees too in different circumstances.

So I think this goes deeper than commercial expediency or a contractual obligation. Maybe we have passed the point where fundamentalist Christian views are acceptable to utter in public. 50 years ago, such views would have probably not even raised an eyebrow. I suspect we have reached that turning point, at least in the non-Islamic world outside of the US. It’s interesting that social acceptability, which was once closely associated with being a member of a religion, is now heading almost in completely the opposite direction, at least insofar as public proclamations are concerned.