Right wing commentator Bernard Gaynor has engaged in a fiery interview with 3AW presenter Justin Smith.
Gaynor was one of the first people to donate to Israel Folau’s GoFundMe campaign.
The fundraising effort aims to raise $3 million dollars for the former rugby player’s legal bills as he prepares to challenge Rugby Australia over his employment termination.
Gaynor said he wanted to support Folau because the ability for Christians to state their religious beliefs was being threatened. The former army officer said he believed that soon people playing in their local football competition would be banned from playing if they expressed their religious beliefs.
“What’s at stake is the ability for people who express Christian views to hold their job, to be able to play sport, not just at the elite level in Australia. These same codes of conduct that can remove people like Israel Folau, can remove normal Christian people from the local grassroots footy field as well.”
Gaynor said Folau’s comments about homosexual people were not extraordinary because they came straight from the pages of the Bible.
“What he said is straight from the Bible and its mainstream Christian belief.”
Despite the nation’s marriage laws being changed in 2017, Gaynor said across society people still understood that marriage was really between a man and a woman.
“It’s philosophically and religiously understood through all of society that marriage is between a man and a woman, and it’s for raising a family.” Gaynor said, before adding his view was that forms of relationships that don’t meet that end are “an abuse of the marital process”.
Gaynor said couples who get married and don’t have children fail to meet the definition of marriage according to the Catholic faith, the largest religion in Australia.
The conservative commentator said Netball Australia had taken a far better approach in relation to Folau’s wife Maria, but simply issuing a statement saying they did not endorse the couple’s beliefs.
Gaynor said allowing employers to be able to terminate someone’s employment because of their religious views being stated was taking the issue too far.
The discussion became heated when Smith accused Gaynor of cherry picking parts of the Bible that back up his existing prejudices.
“You pick bits out of the Bible that already fall in line with your current prejudices and you use them against people, and I find that despicable. I find people like you despicable.” Smith said.
Gaynor replied that his beliefs and views were those of the Catholic Church and by calling him despicable, Smith was essentially insulting all Catholics.
Asked what he had against gay people, Gaynor said he didn’t hate gay people, but believed their behaviour was wrong.
“The fact is Catholics believe in heaven and hell, and people that go to hell and people who choose not to abide by God’s teachings.” Gaynor said.
Back in 2014 Gaynor told OUTinPerth he was in favour of homosexuality being criminalised, and said public displays of affection between same sex people should lead to financial penalties and more serious punishments.
“Personally I think public displays of homosexuality should be illegal. There’s probably not many people who agree with me on that, and I must admit that even a few years ago I was more of the opinion that what happens between two people remained between two people. That’s why I say ‘pubic displays’ because I think there are very serious negative consequences to this behaviour, not only to people but to society as well, that do justify a public stance against it.” Gaynor said.
Gaynor said that he believes that homosexuality should be illegal in Australia and that people should be punished with financial sanctions but more serious offenses may require more serious responses. Gaynor argues that homosexuality should be made illegal so that people opposing it cannot be taken to the Equal Opportunity Commission for speaking out in opposition.
“When it’s not illegal publicly it starts to become protected publicly and that means that people who oppose it, and these people are moral people, [they] start becoming criminals. So you have an inversion of that the law should be for. The law should be about defending truth and justice not a process for defending vice and immorality.” Gaynor said.
OIP Staff
