Magda Szubanski starts counter-campaign to rival Israel Folau: "He is wrong – don't listen to him"
Comedian Magda Szubanski has started a campaign for terminally ill children in a bid to denounce causes that use faith to divide communities.
Two high-profile Christian leaders say that Szubanski has their support.
Father Bob Macguire and Father Rod Bower have pledged their support for the campaign, with Bower changing his parish’s community sign to read:
“LGBT friends: Folau is wrong. Don’t listen to him”, according to The New Daily.
Father Bower said he was supporting the comedian’s cause because Jesus’s practice was one of “radical inclusivity”.
“He even ate with sinners. So, if I’m going to be a Jesus follower, this fundraiser is something I can support,” he said in a statement.
Donors have pledged around $170,000 to the cause, but that’s paltry compared to the $2 million-plus raised so far for Israel Folau.
Szubanski aims to raise $500,000 to help children who are “in the fight of their lives”, using the same phrase that Folau used when describing his fundraiser in his legal fight against Rugby Australia.
Folau’s $4 million contract was terminated in May after he breached the terms and conditions by sharing a social media post warning that “sinners”, including drunks, liars and homosexuals, would go to hell if they didn’t repent.
The Australian Christian Lobby, who has firmly stood by Folau, has started a new campaign on its site after GoFundMe took down the initial fundraiser.
Szubanski’s rival fundraiser will give 90 per cent of donations to the Children’s Cancer Foundation and 10 per cent to Sydney-based LGBTQIA+ supper service Twenty10.
“Our Australian community is diverse, accepting, powerful and generous,” the crowdfunding page reads.
“It’s that spirit for which we should be known, and it’s with those values that we should be donating our time and money.”