A sentence against Päivi Räsänen and against freedom

Päivi Räsänen, a doctor and former Finnish Minister of the Interior who is an evangelical Christian, was charged with a hate crime for expressing her beliefs in a tweet and a text written 22 years ago. She was initially unanimously acquitted by the courts.

However, the Supreme Court of her country has now upheld the acquittal regarding the social media post that Räsänen had already obtained in two lower courts, yet has nevertheless convicted her (by a narrow 3–2 majority) for keeping the small book, published in 2004, publicly available. In that book, the author sets out her views on human sexuality based on her biblical convictions.

In a remarkably confusing argument, the Supreme Court states that “religious freedom does not protect the expression of opinions unrelated to religion within the framework of a religious text”. It certainly sounds like a tongue-twister.

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People's behaviour is always governed by codes of values that have a spiritual foundation.

When Räsänen speaks about homosexual behaviour and refers to Romans 1, she is not expressing views that are unrelated to religion. The Supreme Court should start by overcoming its ignorance and reading the Bible. The text of Romans directly links homosexual behaviour to matters of spiritual significance.

Despite unsuccessful attempts to demonstrate a biological predetermination, scientific evidence indicates that personal biographical factors are certainly key in homosexual behaviour.

The prosecutor also stated that the distinction made by Räsänen — that she loves people with a homosexual orientation but rejects homosexual relations — was unacceptable. According to the prosecutor, expressing an opinion on such behaviour constitutes a hate crime.

The prosecutor has much work ahead of her because attacks on Christian beliefs and codes of conduct are constant in this dogmatically secular Europe.

In her opinion, such attacks would constitute hate crimes. Or does her interpretation of the criminal code change when it comes to Christians?

An advanced democratic society must allow the free confrontation of ideas and the subjective evaluation of behaviour.

The deepest respect is shown when one evaluates a person's behaviour with complete clarity and, where appropriate, rejects it whilst showing love for the person with equal clarity.

The prosecutor would have condemned Jesus when, in John 8:11, he said to the adulterous woman, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more”, because, essentially, he showed committed support for the woman in the face of her accusers, but openly described her behaviour as sin (“sin no more”).

The reasoning of the prosecutor was enlightening. When asked whether the printing and distribution of the Bible should be banned, she stated that this was not a criminal offence, but publicly stating what the Bible said was.

In her address to our Evangelical Alliance meeting in 2022, Räsänen reminded us of the words of Finnish President Kyösti Kallio when he faced the Soviet invasion in 1939:

“Throughout the centuries, our ancestors have drawn life, strength and comfort from the Bible, in times of tribulation, persecution and peace. At this moment, our nation needs the creative power of the Word of God”. The prosecutor would have taken the heroic president to court.



Finally, the Supreme Court ruled that punishing the actions of Räsänen and her publisher are not incompatible with freedom of expression or religion. The truth is that both have been trampled on by this ruling.

It is deplorable to witness this in a country that founded its democratic freedoms on the Protestant worldview.

Since the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century, the Bible has been a source of freedom for individuals and societies.

There is no doubt that this ruling is a sign of the times. In reality, they have not sentenced our brothers Räsänen and Rev. Juhana Pohjola; they have sentenced their country to a course of action that erodes freedoms.

Freedom of conscience was the first freedom to be claimed at the start of the Protestant Reformation, and it was upon this foundation that freedom of expression was first developed, followed by the other freedoms.

Undermining freedom of conscience and freedom of expression leaves the framework upon which the democratic systems of Finland, Europe and the US were built without a foundation.

The European Court of Human Rights may have the final say. This could be our last chance to return to the roots of freedom in Europe, or it could mark the beginning of a new dark age of authoritarianism.

Whatever happens, they will not silence us! We will raise our voices fearlessly for our own freedoms, for those of our children, and for the freedoms of all the peoples of Europe.

We will follow our sister Päivi Räsänen with unwavering resolve. “May you all have the courage and wisdom to uphold the unchanging message of Jesus Christ, which influences and transforms the lives of individuals, communities, and entire nations”.

Xesús Manuel Suárez, medical doctor and general secretary of the Spanish Evangelical Alliance. 

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