Päivi Räsänen with a member of her legal team. (Photo: ADF International)

When any government, court, institution, organization, or individual states that any person who believes the Holy Bible is the inerrant Word of God is speaking hate speech by citing what is contained in God’s word then that government, court, institution, organization, or individual has openly expressed their hatred of God, of Jesus, of the Holy Spirit, and of the Bible.

Any government, court, institution, organization, or individual can openly express their hatred of God, of Jesus, of the Holy Spirit, and of the Holy Bible, but a Bible-believing, true Christian cannot express their beliefs, their faith, what is in their heart and mind as truth. Because what the Bible-believing Christian says is categorized as hate speech, when speaking the truth about homosexuality being a sin and citing what the inerrant word of God says about homosexuality in many places, and what the end of those who practice such immoral acts will be, while every true Christian in their heart desires that the person sinning, the person committing immoral sexual acts would repent, confess their sin and turn to the Lord — a true Christian desires nothing more than to see a sinner repent and come out from the darkness into the light and the saving blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. But that agape love and that speaking of the truth is called hate speech when the REAL hatred and loathing and venom and vileness pours forth from the tongues, reprobate, wicked, unrighteous minds of the haters of God, the haters of Jesus, the haters of the Holy Spirit, and the haters of the Bible.

What a spiritually diseased, lost, fallen, and dark world this is when a true Christian is arrested, tried, and convicted of hate speech for merely expressing their faith based on the inerrant and infallible living and active word of God, yet the lying and consumed, filled to overflowing hatred within governments, courts, institutions, organizations, and individuals is given the stamp of approval and considered the right course to take, the proper way of thinking!

We need to pray for Päivi Räsänen that she remains steadfast and strong in her faith in the Lord and in the Bible. Let each of us pray for her continued spiritual strength. We need to pray for the lost and consumed in wickedness, those people in Finland hating God and the Bible. That they may have the scales removed from their eyes, have the chains loosed from their souls as they are enslaved to this world and the god of this world, that they would come out from the darkness and into the light — as least as many as are willing to hear let them hear the truth of the Lord and His word and be transformed and renewed. And we need to pray this not only for the lost people of Finland but for the people of America, England, Scotland, Wales, France, Italy, Australia, and EVERY NATION walking in darkness serving this world and the god of this world. That the light and truth of the gospel — that is Jesus Christ — goes out, enters in, finds fertile ground. The Holy Spirit works and some, hopefully many, come out from the darkness and into the Way, the Truth, the Life, and the Light…

Ken Pullen

Sunday, May 9th, 2021

ACP — A Crooked Path

Charges against Christian politician are because of “hate speech”

07 May 2021

By Julian Mann

Reprinted from Christian Today (in the U.K.)

Charges have been brought against a Christian politician in Finland because her comments on marriage and sexuality amount to “hate speech”, a representative of the Prosecutor General’s office has said.

A State Prosecutor in the Prosecutor General’s office told Christian Today that the criminal charges against Päivi Räsänen, a Christian Democrat MP, are justified because her stated view that homosexual activity is sinful according to the Bible is “discriminatory hate speech” and is “punishable” under Finnish law.

Anu Mantila, a lawyer with Finland’s National Prosecution Authority, the equivalent of England’s Crown Prosecution Service, said: “We emphasize that charges against Mrs. Räsänen concern hate speech, which is insulting, degrading and violates (the) dignity of homosexuals.

“According to (the) Finnish Constitution and Criminal Code (Chapter 11 Paragraph 10) this kind of discriminatory hate speech is punishable.”

In an extraordinary statement, she continued, “The Prosecutor General doesn´t charge Mrs. Räsänen for her traditional opinion on marriage between homosexuals nor for quoting the Bible or explaining its texts. Quoting biblical texts in itself is not a crime in Finland.

“Mrs. Räsänen has freedom of religion like anyone else. She has the freedom to express her religious opinions and views as well as other opinions.

“However, this freedom does not justify speech that can arouse intolerance, contempt and even hatred towards homosexuals or any other minority.”

Päivi Räsänen, a former Interior Minister (the equivalent of the U.K.’s Home Secretary), has been charged with inciting hatred under an article in Finland’s Criminal Code which came into force in 2011.

Medical doctor Räsänen, who is married to a Finnish Lutheran pastor, has been charged for remarks she made defending the traditional Christian sexual ethic in a booklet in 2004, on TV in 2018 and in a tweet against the Finnish Lutheran Church’s support for the lesbian, homosexual, bisexual, and transgender pride movement.

On Wednesday, the mother of five and grandmother of six told Finnish TV channel, MTV3: “Now, of course, I myself am accused of this incitement clause. I have to say that when that article was passed unanimously in Parliament, I could not have imagined that a book I wrote a few years earlier would be prosecuted on the basis of the article.”

She expressed concern that Christians in Finland who believe in the Bible are having to censor themselves, and that they fear social stigma and the threat to their standing in the workplace if they express opposition to Pride, she said.

On the same programme, Laura Arikka, CEO of the Erätauko Foundation, dedicated to the improvement of ‘conversational culture’ in Finland, cited a citizen survey last autumn in which 24 per cent of respondents said they did not want to take part in social debate because they feared the reaction of others.