Izzy Folau repeats an obligato in the OLO score

It might just be that some gay Australians feel insecure in Australia, so want to enforce approval. (It must be the gays in Folau's case, because he also had a shot at "Drunks…, Adulterers, Liars, Fornicators, Thieves, Atheists, Idolaters," and none of them have risen up to condemn him.)

But one thing is for sure, the more you try to force people to change their minds, the more they push back. Vicitimising Folau, or anyone else, will entrench them in their position, and even find them supporters they would not otherwise have had.

My hope is that what we are experiencing is the teething pangs of what is still a very new technology, and that with more instances like this, common-sense and tolerance will reassert themselves – surely Australians haven't changed that much in a generation.

My fear is that society has flipped, and we will see things get worse before they get better.

It was the Protestant Reformation, unleashed by the printing press, that paved the way for free speech in the west.

The waves of religious dispute and violence were so destructive, that in the end freedom to speak your mind was the truce they had to have.

In the meantime I'll soldier on with On Line Opinion. The solution isn't one ejournal, but the solution won't be helped by the disappearance of one ejournal either.