There is so much bad news on the religious liberty and free speech front that it is surprising when something goes right. But today we learn that Finnish Member of Parliament Päivi Räsänen won a tremendous victory in her hate speech trial in Helsinki, Finland. She was acquitted of all charges, as was Dr. Juhana Pohjola, the bishop of a more conservative Lutheran denomination, who was being tried for hate speech together with Räsänen.
We have covered Räsänen’s story here, here, and here. She was accused of hate speech simply for tweeting that the established church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, should not have sponsored a gay pride parade, and for a previously written tract explaining the biblical doctrine of marriage—including that it is between one man and one woman, not between two men.
“A Finnish court has upheld the right to free speech by dismissing all charges against Finnish MP Päivi Räsänen and Bishop Juhana Pohjola. In a unanimous ruling the court concluded that ‘it is not for the district court to interpret biblical concepts.’ The prosecution was ordered to pay more than €60,000 [$66,600] in legal costs and has seven days to appeal the ruling.
“The former Minister of the Interior had been charged with “hate speech” for sharing her faith-based views on marriage and sexual ethics, in a 2019 tweet, a 2019 radio debate, and a 2004 pamphlet. The bishop faced charges for publishing Räsänen’s pamphlet for his congregation over 17 years ago. Their case has garnered global media attention this year, as human rights experts voiced concern over the threat this case posed to free speech in Finland.
“I am so grateful the court recognized the threat to free speech and ruled in our favor,” Said Räsänen. “I feel a weight has been lifted off my shoulders after being acquitted. Although I am grateful for having had this chance to stand up for freedom of speech, I hope that this ruling will help prevent others from having to go through the same ordeal.”
The investigation of Räsänen started in June 2019, when she addressed the leadership of the established state church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, in a tweet, arguing that it should not have sponsored an LGBT event, “Pride 2019.” The tweet contained a picture of a Bible passage, Romans 1:24-27:
24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.
The investigation widened to include a church pamphlet Räsänen had written 20 years ago.
In April 2021, Finland’s Prosecutor General brought three criminal charges against Räsänen even though the police had strongly recommended against bringing two of the three charges. Remarkably, her comments did not violate Twitter’s policies, nor those of Finland’s national broadcaster, and remained available on their platforms. The Helsinki District Court has now acquitted Räsänen of all charges.
Räsänen has served as a Finnish Member of Parliament since 1995. From 2004-2015 she was chair of the Christian Democrats and from 2011-2015 she was the Minister of the Interior. During this time, she held responsibility for church affairs in Finland.
Several things were shocking about the case, including, (1) that such an aggressively anti-Christian criminal prosecution made it all the way through the trial phrase—it should have been dismissed much earlier—and, (2) that the prosecution clearly and intentionally sought to criminalize the biblical worldview of sin, atonement, and redemption. The prosecutor condemned the Christian expression “love the sinner, hate the sin,” and argued that use of the word “sin” was harmful.
The prosecutor, a woman, seemed to want to put herself in the role of a “responsible” (liberal) Christian expositor of the Bible, arguing that Scripture must not be interpreted to hurt gays and other LGBTQ people. In her closing statement, she said that the use of the word “sin” can be “harmful”. Later, she argued that, “the Bible isn’t on trial here, but Räsänen’s words are…”, “The apostle Paul isn’t on trial here, but Räsänen is.”
“This prosecution for hate speech has turned into a theological trial of what Christian beliefs can and cannot be expressed in Finland. It is incredible this trial is happening in a modern European Country and not in a religious theocracy,” said Lorcán Price, Legal Counsel for ADF International, who attended the trial to support Räsänen and the Bishop:
“The majority of the trial so far has been about the role of the Bible in society. The prosecutor began the first day by trying to explain that this case was not about beliefs or the Bible. She then, however, proceeded to quote Old Testament Bible verses and ended the day by cross-examining the bishop about details of Christian theology. All this in a secular court. Finnish trial lawyers 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. I would characterize the day as a modern-day Inquisition or heresy trial and the heresy was that Päivi and Bishop Juhana were on trial against the new sexual orthodoxy of the day,” said Paul Coleman, Executive Director of ADF International, who attended the first day of the trial on January 24th.
Given that the prosecution had the character of a very liberal Christian—think Spectrum or Adventist Today—arguing with a more conservative Christian believer—think Fulcrum7—it is not surprising that the Finnish trial court declined to weigh in on the side of liberal Christianity by criminalizing conservative Christianity.