Free Republic

An appeals court in Finland has dismissed bogus “hate speech” charges against pro-life Finnish lawmaker Päivi Räsänen in a massive victory for free speech and religious freedom. Christian Democratic MP Päivi Räsänen criticized the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, of which she belongs, for participating in a LGBT pride event in Helsinki. “How can the church’s doctrinal foundation, the Bible, be compatible with the lifting up of shame and sin as a subject of pride?” Räsänen wrote on Facebook underneath a photo of verses from Romans 1:24-27. The Helsinki Police Department received complaints about the post and decided to investigate...

(CP) Finnish lawmaker Päivi Räsänen, prosecuted for voicing her traditional Christian beliefs about marriage and sexuality, believes that a "heavy hatred for Christian values" in Western society will cause many Christians to censor themselves for social acceptance. The former interior minister who has served in Finnish Parliament for nearly three decades was one of several global political figures to speak at the annual International Religious Freedom Summit in Washington, D.C., this week. The event aims to increase "the public awareness and political strength for the international religious freedom movement. The summit is led by former Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom...

In a foreshadowing of America’s future under coercive secularism, a Finnish politician and Finnish bishop will go on criminal trial next week for merely upholding historic Christian teaching on sexual morality. The trial is a telling measure of the erosion of Christianity in Europe. Juhana Pohjola, a Lutheran bishop, and Päivi Räsänen, a member of Finland’s Parliament, stand accused of an act increasingly forbidden in the de-Christianized West: quoting the Bible. “According to the nation’s top prosecutor, the two people are accused of violating the equality and dignity of LGBT people,” reports Christianity Today. Simply quoting the Bible’s condemnation of...

Full title: Finnish Politician, Pastor’s Wife Accused of ‘Incitement of Hatred’ Over Booklet ‘Male and Female He Created Them’ HELSINKI — A lawmaker and pastor’s wife in Finland who was already being probed by police over a social media post in which she questioned the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland’s partnership with a Helsinki Pride event is now also facing a preliminary “incitement” investigation over a booklet that she wrote 15 years ago entitled “Male and Female He Created Them.” The Office of the Prosecutor General of Finland issued a press release on Monday noting that while Päivi Räsänen’s 2004...

A Christian politician from Finland has come under fire for sharing scripture on Facebook. Interview: Christian Politician Investigated for Posting Bible Verse Speaks Out, Says ‘We Must Obey God Rather Than Man’ Christian Democratic MP Päivi Räsänen called out the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland for its participation in the Helsinki Pride events back in June, sharing a passage from Romans 1 to prove her point. “How can the church’s doctrinal foundation, the Bible, be compatible with the lifting up of shame and sin as a subject of pride?” the politician asked. As a result of this robust remark, Finnish...

Police are investigating a Christian politician in Finland for an alleged “hate crime” because she shared a Bible verse on Facebook to criticize a national church that participated in LGBT Pride festivities. In the post, congresswoman Päivi Räsänen, a Christian Democrat, criticized the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland for participating in the Helsinki LGBT Pride events in June. Her criticism was alongside a picture of Romans 1:24-27 that describes same-sex relationships as “shameful.” Her post made Räsänen the subject of a pretrial investigation by the Finnish Police for a suspected incitement against sexual and gender minorities. “The pre-trial investigations have...