More from Finnish Christian Prosecuted for Her Faith

Last updated on: August 24, 2022 at 8:20 am By Gene Veith

We have blogged quite a bit about Dr. Päivi Räsänen, a medical doctor and member of parliament, and Rev. Dr. Juhana Pohjola, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Mission Diocese of Finland, a church body in fellowship with the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, who were prosecuted for hate speech for putting out a booklet on what the Bible says about homosexuality.

A court found them innocent, but, in a country that doesn’t have the American Constitution’s protections against double jeopardy, prosecutors are appealing the verdict, so the two are still in danger of being sentenced to two years in prison and a fine of one-third of their income.

While she awaits the decision of a higher court, Dr. Räsänen was a guest speaker at the Issues, Etc., conference at Concordia University-Chicago this summer. Joy Pullman of the Federalist was there and interviewed her, leading to her article Prosecuting Paivi Rasanen For Quoting The Bible Is Making Her An International Star.

She notes that the booklet, Male and Female He Created Them, had few readers when it first came out in 2004 (seven years before the law they are charged with violating was passed), but the trials have caused it to be read throughout the world, in many translations. (Click the link for the English version.) Prosecutors discovered the booklet after she tweeted criticism of the state church for participating in a gay pride parade–a tweet that is one count of her indictment–subsequently trolling through decades of material searching for more “crimes.” She was charged in 2019, her case dragging on for four years and counting. As her lawyer commented after her acquittal was appealed, “As is so often the case in “hate speech” trials, the process has become part of the punishment.”

I urge you to read the Federalist story, which tells much more about Dr. Räsänen’s background, personality, and faith. Here are some excerpts:

This woman of science also firmly believes in supernatural revelation. In her pamphlet on Christian marriage that Finland’s top prosecutor is seeking to ban as “hate speech,” Paivi writes that “Jesus’s death and resurrection is the core of the entire Christian faith. On this the Bible stands or falls. If one does not believe it, there is nothing left of Christianity. And … if I believe this, it follows logically that I must believe everything else Christ teaches in the Bible through the Apostles and Prophets.”. . .

Rather than rejecting homosexuals, as she’s been accused in court, Paivi glows with happiness when relating that gay people have disclosed her “Bible trial” has brought them to faith. In speeches and court testimony, Paivi has emphasized she not only bears no animosity toward homosexuals or transsexuals, she earnestly desires them to join her Christian family by receiving the eternal life that Jesus Christ offers freely to every person. . . .

“In all my career I have been known as a Christian and as a biblical Christian who doesn’t accept abortion and homosexual acts and so on,” Paivi told The Federalist. “And that’s why I think that perhaps it is the reason why the prosecutor has targeted just me.”. . .

“It is important that we have the freedom of speech and freedom of religion,” Paivi told The Federalist in Chicago. “Freedom of speech because it is important for everyone. It is important for every minority and majority. For Christians, it is crucial because we have the commandments of Jesus to tell the good gospel to all people…Also I think that it is important to respect in society also everyone’s right to speak and argue and oppose you,” she continued. “So this is [a] fundamental issue.”

Photo: Päivi Räsänen by Eurooppalainen Suomi ry, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

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Finnish Prosecutors Appeal the Christians’ “Innocent” Verdict

Last updated on: April 26, 2022 at 10:19 am By Gene Veith

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We blogged about how the Finnish court exonerated the Christians of hate crime charges for teaching what the Bible says about homosexuality. Well, now prosecutors are appealing that innocent verdict.

Yes, they can do that. In the USA, our Constitution prohibits “double jeopardy,” being tried again after a court finds you innocent. Without that protection, if you are charged of a crime, the state can keep putting you on trial until they get a guilty verdict.

Our Founders considered that to be tyranny. Never take for granted the liberties and the rights we have in the United States, which often go far beyond even those in supposedly “free countries.”

Anyway, Dr. Päivi Räsänen–a member of Parliament and the former Minister of the Interior, no less–was charged for hate crimes for writing a pamphlet about homosexuality, tweeting a Bible text in the context of opposing the state church participating in a gay pride parade, and taking the wrong side in a radio debate.

Notice too how those charges also violated her freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and freedom of the press. Those are “inalienable” and “natural” rights that belong to all human beings, according to our Founders, and they are affirmed in Finnish law too.

Having been found innocent, now she is in legal jeopardy again. Bishop Juhana Pohjola, of the Evangelical Lutheran Mission Diocese (which is in fellowship with the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod) was also charged for publishing Dr. Räsänen’s pamphlet. He too was found innocent in his trial. The news story did not say that prosecutors were appealing his verdict.

Here is Dr. Räsänen’s comment about the appeal, as well as the response of her lawyer, which is especially telling (my bolds):

In a statement late Wednesday, Ms. Räsänen said, “This case has been hanging over me and my family for almost three years. After my full exoneration in court, I am dismayed that the prosecutor will not let this campaign against me drop. Once again, I am prepared to defend freedom of speech and religion not just for me, but for everyone.”

Paul Coleman, ADF [Alliance Defending Freedom] International executive director and an attorney on the defense team, called the appeal an “alarming” move by authorities.

“Dragging people through the courts for years, subjecting them to hour-long police interrogations, and wasting taxpayer money in order to police people’s deeply held beliefs has no place in a democratic society,” Mr. Coleman said. “As is so often the case in “hate speech” trials, the process has become part of the punishment,” he added.

Exactly! Despite all of our liberties, this is happening in the United States as well, in a wide range of cases, both criminal and civil. The legal process, with its huge expense and emotional toll–whatever the final verdict–has become a means of punishment!

HT: Bob Foote

Photo: Double Jeopardy by Nick Youngson via Blue Diamond Gallery,Creative Commons 3 – CC BY-SA 3.0

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Finnish Christians Found Not-Guilty in Hate Crime Trial

Last updated on: March 30, 2022 at 6:03 pm By Gene Veith

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The Finnish Christians who were put on trial for teaching what the Bible says about homosexuality were cleared of all charges.

We have been blogging about the case of Dr. Päivi Räsänen, a medical doctor and member of parliament, and Rev. Dr. Juhana Pohjola, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Mission Diocese of Finland, a church body in fellowship with the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod.

The district court in Helsinki has announced its verdict in the trial. All charges were dismissed. The prosecution was assessed 60,000 Euros in court costs. The unanimous, 28-page decision, stated that “it is not for the district court to interpret biblical concepts.” Furthermore, the defendants had sought to “defend the concept of family and marriage between a man and a woman.” Though some people might find that offensive, “there must be an overriding social reason for interfering with and restricting freedom of expression.”

Since Finland does not have double jeopardy protection as Americans do–whereby defendants cannot be retried if found innocent–the prosecution has two weeks to decide if it wants to appeal the acquittal to the Supreme Court. My sense is that the decisive nature of the district court’s ruling makes that unlikely, but we’ll see.

In the meantime, this is a big win for religious freedom.

HT: Rev._Aggie

Photo: Bishop Pohjola and Dr. Räsänen (Screenshot: ELMDF) via International Lutheran Council

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Update on the Trial of Christians in Finland

Last updated on: February 25, 2022 at 10:42 am By Gene Veith

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We’ve been blogging about the trial in Finland of Member of Parliament Dr. Päivi Räsänen and Lutheran Bishop Juhana Pohjola for “hate crimes,” due to their teaching what the Bible says about homosexuality. The trial is over, and the court plans to issue its ruling on March 30.

Joy Pullman of the Federalist has been covering the case and interviewing the defendants. She reports on where things stand right now, including some aspects I didn’t realize, in her article How A Trial In Finland Could Have Worldwide Effects On Government Persecution Of Religion.

Dr. Räsänen, the former Minister of the Interior, first got in trouble when she tweeted pictures of Bible verses, sparking an investigation that uncovered other talks and writings that offered a Christian perspective on the LGBT cause. Those included a pamphlet she wrote for the Luther Foundation. Rev. Pohjola–now the bishop of the Mission Diocese of the Lutheran Evangelical Church, which is in fellowship with the LCMS–was in charge of that foundation, so he was prosecuted too.

The two, who are being tried together, could be sentenced to up to two years of prison. Prosecutors are seeking a fine for Dr. Räsänen of one-third of her annual income, erasing the documents and audiotapes she made on the subject, and a financial penalty against the Luther Foundation.

The Federalist article points out that the charge against Bishop Pohjola and one of the three charges against Dr. Räsänen were for statements made years before the law they are accused of violating was passed! Pullman quotes Lorcan Price, an attorney involved with the case:

“The fact that Bishop Juhana is even in this trial is Kafkaesque, it’s insane,” Price said. “He’s being charged with something he did as the head of a charitable foundation, the Luther Foundation, that publishes theological documents, for a document he didn’t write that expresses mainstream, orthodox Christian teaching.

The stakes, though, are high, with the potential of reaching far beyond Finland. Whatever the court decides, the case is likely to be appealed.

We Americans often take for granted just how free we are, even compared to other democracies. Our legal system forbids “double jeopardy”; that is to say, someone acquitted of a crime cannot be tried again for the same crime. A “not guilty” verdict is final. Prosecutors cannot appeal the verdict, though a defendant can appeal a “guilty” verdict. In the words of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution “nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb.”

But in Finland, if a court finds a defendant “not guilty,” the prosecutors can appeal. So whether Dr. Räsänen and Bishop Pohjola are found innocent or guilty, their case will likely be appealed to the Finnish Supreme Court, and then, if they lose, to the European Court of Human Rights. Pullman points out that a decision there could set a precedent for all European nations, most of which have similar laws to Finland, determining whether religious freedom must be curtailed in the name of LGBT affirmation.

In fact, the legal decisions may well have an impact in the United States, which is also trying to work out those issues.

And yet, some good things are coming from the case.

Before this case, Rasanen and Pohjola’s theological booklet was printed years ago in a few hundred copies and mostly used within tiny Lutheran churches. Their prosecution has caused it to be distributed around the world and translated into several other languages, Price said.

“This obscure little pamphlet has made its way around the world thanks to the efforts of the prosecutor to shut it down,” he noted.

Being targeted for their faith has given Rasanen and Pohjola a global platform for preaching the Christian message of forgiveness for all sins and the deep importance to Christians of the Bible as the very Word of God. Rasanen told The Federalist that because of her case, European media are quoting Bible verses and people are debating their meaning. She says she’s received emails from people saying her case has prompted them to start reading the Bible, which the pastor’s wife and grandmother of nine says she’s read repeatedly since age 16. . . .

“Many people and journalists around the world regularly ask me: ‘What keeps you going, from where do you find the courage to speak up?’” Rasanen told The Federalist. “My motivation comes from the Bible and from my will to have an impact on the society. A conviction based on the Christian faith is more than a [superficial] opinion. The early Christians did not renounce their faith in lions’ caves, why should I then renounce my faith in a court room? I believe it is my calling and honor to defend the foundational rights and freedoms at this point of my life.”

Photo: The Supreme Court of Finland, Helsinki by Tomisti – work by uploader, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2120699

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Finland Explicitly Puts the Bible on Trial

Last updated on: January 25, 2022 at 4:29 pm By Gene Veith

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On Monday the trial began in Finland for Lutheran Bishop Juhana Pohjola and Member of Parliament Dr. Päivi Räsänen, charged with hate crimes for teaching what the Bible says about homosexuality.

I have blogged about these two Christians and the charges against them (here, here, here, and here). Way back in 2004, long before Finland legalized same sex marriage in 2017, Dr. Räsänen, a medical doctor and former Minister of the Interior, wrote a 24-page booklet on the Bible’s teachings about sexuality, including a section on homosexuality. Bishop Pohjola’s church, now in fellowship with the LCMS, published it. Dr. Räsänen was also charged for tweeting a Bible verse in response to the liberal state church being a sponsor of an LGBTQ parade and for participating in a 2019 debate on the subject. Three years ago, over a decade and a half after the publication of the booklet, the two were charged for inciting hatred against homosexuals. Finally, their case has been brought to trial.

Joy Pullman of the Federalist has been covering the case and the trial. She reports that the hearing on Monday took a strange twist. Instead of focusing on the two defendants, who could be sentenced to a fine of 10,000 euros and two years in prison, the prosecutors, in effect, put on trial the Bible itself. From her article, Finnish Government Puts Christianity On Trial, Calls The Bible ‘Hate Speech’:

In the trial’s opening arguments, which will resume on Feb. 14, Finnish prosecutors described quotations from the Bible as “hate speech.” Finland’s top prosecutor’s office essentially put the Bible on trial, an unprecedented move for a secular court, said Paul Coleman, a human rights lawyer with Alliance Defending Freedom International who is assisting in the Finns’ legal defense and was present during Monday’s trial.

“The prosecutor began the day by trying to explain that this case was not about beliefs and the Bible. She then, and I’m not kidding, she then proceeded to quote Old Testament Bible verses,” Coleman said in a phone interview with The Federalist after the trial concluded for the day. “Trial attorneys, Finnish trial attorneys who have been in and out of court every day for years, said they didn’t think the Bible had ever been read out like that in a prosecution.”

Never before has a Finnish court had to decide whether quoting the Bible is a crime.

The prosecutors then interrogated the two about their theology, which became an occasion for them both to proclaim the Gospel!

“The booklet stands on the Christian understanding of human being,” Pohjola said in court, according to an on-site Finnish reporter, Danielle Miettinen. “Sin affects every human being to the core. But the grace of God is also universal. He wants to forgive the sins of every human being.”. . .

The booklet Rasanen wrote, called “Male and Female God Created,” also affirms Christian teachings about the preciousness of every single human life to God. Christians also believe in complete human equality in both the sinfulness of every human, and God’s forgiveness of every sin. Rasanen and Pohjola have repeatedly publicly affirmed that they are not motivated by hate, but by love in stating the historic, orthodox Christian faith.

“The saving gospel of Jesus Christ has been given to us in the Bible,” Rasanen told reporters outside court Monday, according to Miettinen. “The cross of Christ shows the greatest love for both heterosexuals and homosexuals.”

The trial will resume on February 14, appropriately enough, St. Valentine’s Day, named after a martyr who was also a defender of marriage. The word “martyr” means “witness.”

Photos:

Päivi Räsänen by Eurooppalainen Suomi ry, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Bishop Dr. Juhana Pohjola, via The Evangelical Lutheran Mission Diocese of Finland

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“The Powers of Church and Civil Government Must Not Be Mixed”

Last updated on: September 9, 2021 at 8:52 am By Gene Veith

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I have blogged about the case in Finland of Lutheran pastor Juhana Pohjola, who, along with physician and member of parliament Päivi Räsänen, will be tried for hate speech for publishing a pamphlet teaching what the Bible says about homosexuality.

Worldwide confessional Lutheranism has spoken out on the matter with a powerful statement entitled A Protest and Call for Free Religious Speech in Finland: An International Lutheran Condemnation of the Unjust Criminal Prosecution of the Rev. Dr. Pohjola and Dr. Räsänen, and a Call for All People of Goodwill to Support the Freedom of Religious Expression in Finland.

I urge you to read it, along with the list of signatories from around the world.

We’ve already discussed the case, but I want to draw your attention to the way the statement distinguishes between the authority of the state and the authority of the church.

It gives a distinctively Lutheran approach to the issue, drawing on the Augsburg Confession, but it shows that the doctrine of the Two Kingdoms, far from encouraging an uncritical submission to temporal governments, offers a framework for positive religious and, indeed, intellectual liberty. It also repudiates both totalitarianism on the part of the state and theocratic rule on the part of the church. And it offers guidelines for some of church and state issues that we face today.

Here are the relevant paragraphs (my bolds and interposition):

The Augsburg Confession (AC) states that the Gospel

does not overthrow civil authority, the state, and marriage, but requires that all these be kept as true orders of God, and that everyone, each according to his own calling, manifest Christian love and genuine good works in his station of life. [Note the doctrine of vocation.] Accordingly, Christians are obliged to be subject to civil authority and obey its commands and laws in all that can be done without sin. (AC XVI, Romans 13:1-7)

But authority holds only in its own jurisdiction. The government holds sway over externals, the Word of god over internals. “The civil magistrate protects not minds but bodies and goods from manifest harm. The Gospel protects minds from ungodly ideas, the devil, and eternal death. Consequently, the powers of church and civil government must not be mixed” (AC XXVIII). Since faith must remain free, AC XVI concludes that when the commands of government cannot be obeyed without sin, “we must obey God rather than men (Acts 5:39).”

These principles would apply to other issues. For example, today many Christians, including many Lutherans, are rejecting the state’s authority to require masks and other anti-COVID measures. Well, protecting bodies from manifest harm would seem to fall under the authority of the state. That would hold true even if we think the reasons for those requirements are ill-founded. The government, however, should not punish our inner thoughts about such measures. Even if we disagree with mask-wearing requirements, we should probably submit to our government authorities in this, since wearing a mask and social distancing are not sins, as such.

Vaccination mandates are different. Some Christians, in good conscience, refuse to get vaccinated because they believe the use of abortion-derived stem cells associated with certain vaccines, however remote the connection might be, makes the vaccines sinful. That inner conviction could be a matter of religious liberty. Some people refuse to get vaccinated on prudential grounds, because they don’t think the vaccines are safe. That wouldn’t involve religious liberty, as such, but they could make the case that they have a right to act upon their internal ideas, over which the government holds no sway. Christians could disagree with each other on issues like that, and they would always need to determine what is best not only for themselves but how they can best “manifest Christian love” to their neighbors.

And state mandates to shut the doors of churches are certainly different, even when the state is trying to protect “not minds but bodies and goods from manifest harm.” For one sphere to cancel the other would violate the principle that “the powers of church and civil government must not be mixed.”

To be sure, this distinction is not always easy to apply, and it doesn’t account for all of the issues. Our minds control what our bodies do, so our mental liberty must manifest itself in our external actions. Still, the Augsburg Confession gives us a remarkably early assertion of intellectual freedom and the boundaries of the state. It would, for example, rule out prosecution for “hate crimes.” The state can and should punish external actions that harm the “bodies and goods” of someone else. It should not, however, prosecute “hate crimes,” since it has no control or jurisdiction over citizens’ inner emotion of who they hate. Only the gospel can get at that, not by threats of the law even then, but by working the inner transformation of faith that enables us to love our neighbors.

Am I applying the principles of the Augsburg Confession correctly here? (Note that the test of believing a doctrine is accepting it even when it goes against one’s own inclinations.) How else might these principles be applied, as churches and individual Christians try to sort out their relationship to the state?

Photo: “Church and State” by Lee Coursey, via Flickr, Creative Commons 2.0

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