Hypocrisy In Finland

A recent court decision in Finland should grab the attention of Christians in America. Recently a Finnish Supreme Court decided 3-2 that politician Päivi Räsänen was guilty of “insult” and a hate crime. World Magazine reported, “Finland’s Supreme Court handed politician Päivi Räsänen a win and a loss in a ruling on Thursday. The court cleared her of charges for a tweet she sent years ago showing a Bible passage. But it found Räsänen guilty of hate speech for a 20-year-old booklet called “Male and Female He Created Them.” What was this booklet that was at the center of this big court case? It was written by Räsänen and Lutheran Bishop Juhana Pohjola to explain the biblical teachings on marriage and homosexuality. What is interesting about this court decision is that they didn’t condemn Räsänen for referencing the bible on Twitter (now called X), yet literature about what the bible teaches is a condemnable offense. This is also after, mind you, she was exonerated by two lower courts.

But the hypocrisy here is not even that superficial. Finland has always proclaimed itself to be a land of tolerance. A place of neutrality where it doesn’t matter what beliefs you hold. In so doing they have the War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity Law which states, “an expression of opinion or another message where a certain group is threatened, defamed or insulted on the basis of its race, skin color, birth status, national or ethnic origin, religion or belief, sexual orientation or disability or a comparable basis.” However this is the law they used against Räsänen to convict her. In an effort to be inclusive they have excluded a woman for her Christian faith. The law is to protect someone from being “threatened, defamed or insulted” based on their “religion”. But that is exactly what happened to her by her own government! Her name has been defamed and threatened with criminal action by the very institution that is supposed to protect her from it! The very law there to protect someone, the government used to target them.

What is even more stunning is the Finnish government openly admitting that they are being hypocritical. Finland’s minister of justice, Leena Meri, described the nation’s law in this case as “not sufficiently precise and especially not predictable as required by the principle of legality in the criminal code. It is very difficult for people to know what is prohibited and what is permitted.” But did that stop them from pursuing Päivi Räsänen criminally for her Christian beliefs? No. In response to this, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Riley Barnes stated forcefully: “Holding Christian convictions isn’t a hate crime. Finland’s ‘hate speech’ conviction of MP Päivi Räsänen—for simply writing a pamphlet defending the Bible—shows the tragic state of religious freedom in the West. The United States stands opposed to these ideological attacks against the Christian faith.”

Now why should this be on the radar for all christians in America? Because this is the type of governing many of our politicians want America to have. It has been widely said that if you want to see where America is headed, just look at where Europe is now. Many Democratic (and some Republican) politicians want exactly the same type of “tolerance” in America. The type of tolerance where people have freedom of speech, except for the traditional Christian teaching. For years we have seen lawmakers try and punish Christians that have been outspoken about their faith. For example, back in 2019 Congressman Beto O’Rourke said, “There can be no reward, no benefit, no tax break for anyone or any institution, any organization in America that denies the full human rights and the full civil rights of every single one of us.” Just this year alone there have been cases all over the country that American entities attacking Christians for their beliefs: a christian photographer in Louisville where the cities laws prevented her from expressing her faith, a bible college in Chicago excluded from a student-teaching program, a public library in Alabama closing its doors to a christian non-for-profit, an Indiana school district discriminating against a Christian  music teacher, a fire chaplain in Texas fired for sharing his religious beliefs on his personal blog, Vermont lawmakers attempting to prevent Christians from being foster parents because they do not support LGBTQ+ ideology, Hawaii censoring Christian political speech and so much more!

To understand and stand up to this we must look at it for what it really is. It is not a public effort for tolerance. It is not about Christians being hateful. This is not progressing forward for the better. This is all about the sinful world silencing any talk that challenges their sinfulness. The world loves sin. The world does not want to be told what they are doing is wrong. They do not want to be challenged to show that what they believe is not logical. They do not want to be held up to criticism. They do not want to have to protect what they love against scrutiny. They want to protect what they love…their sinfulness. They love it and they don’t want to give it up simply because they love it so much. They love their sinfulness and they want to protect committing their sins at all costs.

The bible told us about this a long time ago when it said, “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.” (John 3:19–20) This is why it is the Christian religion, above all others that is always being attacked. Because we teach what is true. The heart is convicted when hearing what God has to say about a matter. And no one wants to feel conviction. No one wants to hear that what they love to do is wrong and they must stop or face punishment from God. And this is why they attack with such vehemence. This is why they are hypocritical in their attacks. They don’t care if it makes  sense, they just want to silence us! Is this unfair what we are seeing? Yes! But the world loves sin so much, they don't care about being fair. This is why this case should warn us in America. We must unflinchingly stand on the authority of the bible and face any consequences that may come. We must speak the truth in love. Or else we will see our country progress into the hypocritical practice we see here in Finland.

“Christians everywhere must pay close attention to this case. There are many on the left who want the United States to adopt similar hate crime and hate speech legislation. Far too many Americans take comfort that such prosecutions can’t happen here. Christians in Finland have just been stripped of that comfort. Christians all over the world must see the danger clearly. At the same time, we have no choice but to stand on the authority of the Bible and speak the truth. It may well come with an increasing cost and even larger threats. Just ask Dr. Päivi Räsänen.” Albert Mohler