Holding and Expressing Christian Beliefs Is Now A Crime
Art depicting St. Paul the Apostle in prison
Earlier this year, I was able to hear a presentation by the courageous Dr. Päivi Räsänen. If you haven’t heard of Dr. Rasanen, let me give you a picture of who she is.
Dr. Päivi Räsänen is an accomplished woman, wife, and mother. She studied medicine at the University of Helsinki 40 years ago. From there she worked her way up the levels of Finnish government from Member of the Finnish Parliament to chairwoman of the Finnish Christian Democrats to Minister of the Interior of Finland. During this current term, Päivi is a member of the Social Affairs and Health Committee and a deputy member of the Foreign Affairs Committee.
She has built a family with her husband. They were blessed with five children and currently have twelve grandchildren.
Dr. Räsänen is also a devout Christian and for her faith, she has been persecuted for the last five years.
It started with a tweet. In 2019, Dr. Räsänen posted a tweet questioning her church’s official sponsorship of the Helsinki LGBTQ ‘Pride 2019’ event. She quoted the Bible, Romans 1:24-27, which clearly denounces the misuse of one’s body sexually. Three criminal charges were filed for this tweet, a 2019 radio debate, and a 2004 pamphlet on the Church’s teaching on sexuality.
Represented by Alliance Defending Freedom, Dr. Rasanen was issued a unanimous, clear acquittal by the Helsinki District Court. The prosecutors appealed that decision to the Appellate Court. But the second trial also resulted in Päivi being unanimously acquitted from all charges. Unfortunately, the Prosecutor General still didn’t stop there. He asked the Supreme Court for permission to appeal the unanimous acquittal of the Court of Appeal. On April 19th, 2024, the Supreme Court confirmed that Dr. Räsänen would have to stand trial a third time.
In a free and democratic society, everyone should be allowed to share their beliefs without fear of censorship. Criminalizing speech through so-called “hate-speech” laws poses a grave threat to democracy since it shuts down important public debates and threatens freedom of speech itself.
Unfortunately, hers is not an isolated incident and it goes beyond free speech alone. Around the world, Christian individuals and organizations, those that are pro-life and pro-family, are being targeted and silenced. Christianity is being criminalized.
Take a look at the United Kingdom. For the past year, buffer zones have been a major topic in England. These buffer zones around abortion clinics led to the arrest of individuals for silently praying inside their own heads.
Now, not only is prayer illegal, but “thought crimes” are possible in the United Kingdom.
It’s a new level of dystopian, and on October 31, 2024, these buffer zones will be implemented outside abortion clinics across the country.
Another example of censorship emerged from the UK five years ago, though it went almost unnoticed. During a case involving a Christian professor who would not use preferred pronouns due to his faith, the judges ruled that, “belief in Genesis 1:27, lack of belief in transgenderism, and conscientious objection to transgenderism in our judgment are incompatible with human dignity and conflict with the fundamental rights of others.”
Genesis 1:27 is a foundational piece of scripture. It states, “God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”
But now in England, Scripture can be dismissed and accused of not being in line with human rights. Christianity is no longer compatible with the law.
Keep your Bibles and beliefs at home, hidden from sight, and follow the status quo in the public sphere.
