Three Manly Sea Eagle players who refused to wear the Pride jersey have had no qualms about supporting their colleague after he stabbed a Mormon church youth leader.
Manase Fainu was found guilty of one count of wounding a person with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm after stabbing a man following a youth dance outside the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Sydney in 2019.
Just one week prior, his teammates Josh Schuster, Josh Aloiai and Haumole Olakau'atu refused to play a game in Pride jerseys for moral, religious, and cultural reasons. I wonder if Fainu also stabbed the youth leader outside the church on moral and religious grounds?
Manly Sea Eagle players have redefined morality. They support a man who stabbed an innocent church youth leader but condemned queer people for simply existing. Was it ever about religion? No. Anyone who still believes that holding the Manly players accountable is an attack on religion is a bootlicker of Christian bigotry. It has always been about protecting the Manly players' power to condemn queer people.
Josh Schuster of the Manly Sea Eagles. Photo / Getty Images
The day after Fainu was found guilty, Aloiai, a devout Christian, posted a picture to Instagram of the pair together and captioned it with a love heart. On Sunday, Fainu posted an Instagram story showing a barbecue at his home. He captioned it "#LastSupper" and said, "thank you uso," to Aloiai, who has supported him throughout the trial. That was indeed Fainu's last supper with his disciple Aloiai before going to jail on Monday while awaiting sentence.
Josh Aloiai of the Sea Eagles. Photo / Getty Images
On Sunday's game against the Titans, Schuster scribbled the initials MF on his wrist.
Manly lost. Schuster posted a photo of him with the initials and captioned it "see you soon my toko", tagging Fainu. Sadly for Fainu, neither his uso, nor his toko will be there in jail for supper.
After scoring a try, Olakau'atu flashed the number 61, followed by an imitation of handcuffs. The number 61 references the area code Guildford in western Sydney, where they grew up. Pulling area codes is ironic, given that Fainu was convicted amid gang rivalry stemming from area codes.
Do they think they are doing something radical and revolutionary by pulling public stunts to support a convicted criminal? Are they not embarrassed - because I am experiencing second-hand embarrassment? Olakau'atu, Schuster and Aloiai are not revolutionary.
They're making fools out of themselves.
When do we stop excusing bigotry as religious freedom? If these players purport to act consistently with Christianity, does supporting a man who stabbed an innocent person also constitute freedom of religion? Or is that a sign that these players are not exercising religious freedom but instead selectively using the Bible to condemn people they hate?
They pick and choose when it suits them to be Christian-like. Quite evidently, the only time they pretend to care about religion is when they are causing marginalised people harm. I'd argue that wearing a jersey with thin rainbow stripes is more moral than supporting an assaulter. The Manly three abandoned their religion at the drop of a hat to support their mate, who stabbed an innocent person.
Haumole Olakau'atu of the Sea Eagles. Photo / Getty Images
Religious freedom is not absolute. Freedom of religion protects religious people from persecution. It does not give them the freedom to persecute others. When you strip away the facade of religious freedom, you find a group of Christian hypocrites. When the practice of religion seeks to cause vulnerable people harm, we must draw a line.
• Shaneel Shavneel Lal (they/them) was instrumental in the bill to ban conversion therapy in New Zealand. They are a law and psychology student, model and influencer.
