• Finnish MP on trial for Christian belief in traditional marriage.
• Western political leaders remain silent.
• U.K. and U.S. support for Mrs Räsänen is limited.
Päivi Räsänen, a Finnish MP, is facing a trial at Helsinki’s Court of Appeal for her Christian belief in traditional marriage. Western political leaders have been largely silent on the matter. In July, the U.S. Ambassador to Hungary, David Pressman, criticised the democratically-elected Hungarian Parliament for outlawing the promotion of homosexuality in schools, yet there has been little outcry in response to Mrs Räsänen’s legal ordeal.
Mrs Räsänen was acquitted of all charges by Helsinki District Court in March 2022 but Finland’s State Prosecutor appealed the decision. She has received some political support in the U.K. and U.S., though the level of mainstream media attention is not commensurate with that of an LGBT campaigner facing trial in their own country. In January 2022, three Christian MPs launched a motion in her support in the House of Commons, and five U.S. Senators wrote to the U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, Rashad Hussain.
In a Critic magazine article, Mrs Räsänen wrote of her experience: “I was then charged for my ‘crime’ under a section of the Finnish criminal code titled ‘War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity’. The charge brought against me carried a potential maximum sentence of two years in prison.” She concluded that if her trial finds her guilty of expressing her Christian views, preaching or quoting from the Bible could become illegal in Finland.
Julian Mann in Christian Today poses the question of whether it is only a matter of time before Christian politicians in the U.K. are brought before the courts for expressing their beliefs on marriage and sexual morality.
Mrs Räsänen’s trial has highlighted the silencing of Christian views in the West, and raises important questions about the freedom to express religious beliefs.
As the Finnish MP Päivi Räsänen begins her trial at Helsinki’s Court of Appeal on Thursday for her Christian belief in traditional marriage, the silence from Western political leaders is deafening, says Julian Mann in Christian Today.
If an LGBT campaigner were on trial in a European country for criticising traditional Christian teaching, imagine the outcry from political leaders in the European Union, the U.K. and the U.S.
The U.S. Ambassador to Hungary, David Pressman, who in July led an embassy delegation at Budapest Pride, has been vocal in criticising the democratically-elected Hungarian Parliament for outlawing the promotion of homosexuality in schools.
Mrs Räsänen, Finland’s former Minister of the Interior (the equivalent of the U.K.’s Home Secretary), has faced a four-year legal ordeal for a tweet criticising Helsinki Pride in 2019 and for her comments on a radio show in 2018 and in a church booklet in 2004. She was acquitted of all charges by Helsinki District Court in March 2022 but Finland’s State Prosecutor appealed the decision.
Her case has attracted some political support in the U.S. and the U.K. but not much. In January 2022, three Christian MPs launched a motion in her support in the House of Commons and five U.S. Senators wrote to the U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, Rashad Hussain. They warned that her trial could open the door for a “secular blasphemy law” against Christians, Muslims and Jews expressing countercultural views on marriage and sexuality.
During a visit to the U.K. in July this year, she got some media support but not the level of profile she would have had in the mainstream media if she had been a LGBT campaigner facing trial in her own country. The Critic magazine published an article by her in which she wrote: “In 2019, I asked my church, on Twitter, where in the Bible it had found justification to sponsor the Helsinki Pride Parade. I attached a picture of a Bible verse.
“As a result, I faced lengthy police interrogations over my religious views — from officers whom I used to have the responsibility of leading. I was the Minister of the Interior in Finland for over four years.
“I was then charged for my ‘crime’ under a section of the Finnish criminal code titled ‘War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity’. The charge brought against me carried a potential maximum sentence of two years in prison.”
She concluded: “We’ll soon find out if the expression of my Christian, Biblically-based beliefs are criminal acts in modern day Finland. If so, we might have a problem with anyone quoting or preaching from the Bible in my country. Even those who merely dare to challenge the established teaching of the most dominant ideological ‘church’ of our day are in for trouble.”
How long will it be before a Christian politician in the U.K. is hauled up before the courts for expressing Christian beliefs on marriage and sexual morality, Mann asks.
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