Finland’s Supreme Court heard arguments Thursday about whether quoting the Bible is illegal ‘hate speech’ under its war crimes laws.
As speech and religious repression tightens across Europe, Finland’s Supreme Court heard arguments Thursday about whether quoting the Bible is illegal “hate speech” under its war crimes laws. If the charges prevail, they could effectively ban Christianity in Finland.
The lawsuit brought by Helsinki’s top prosecutor targets Lutheran Bishop Juhana Pohjola and Member of Parliament Paivi Rasanen for saying what the Bible says about male and female differences. The case could reach the European Court of Human Rights, but even if it does not, it will set a precedent on whether anyone can speak freely in Europe.
“I am innocent of any crime. I have not insulted anyone, I have not spread hate,” Rasanen said in English during a virtual press conference today. “I have simply spoken what I believe to be true, out of love and conviction.”
Rasanen was first investigated for tweeting a Bible verse in 2019 to criticize Finland’s state church sponsoring a queer sex parade. Three criminal charges against her arose from the investigation, which also resulted in one criminal charge against Pohjola for publishing a booklet Rasanen wrote about the Bible’s teaching on the sexes. Investigators interrogated Rasanen for some 13 hours about her religious beliefs and rifled through the elected official’s more than 30 years of public writings and speeches.
“Any conviction would … send a dangerous message to all Christians and Christian denominations and would not build a genuinely free society proud of its rule of law,” Pohjola said in the press conference.
Two lower courts cleared Rasanen and Pohjola of all charges, but the prosecutor kept appealing, now to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization member’s highest court. In Finland, prosecutors can appeal non-convictions, unlike in many other Western countries.
What Finnish media call “the Bible trial” could have repercussions across Europe for free speech and religious liberty amid rising efforts to demolish these cornerstones of Western law. Initially, this Finnish case appeared to be the first post-Soviet example of a European government prosecuting speech, but many more have arisen since it began.
Last year, the United Kingdom arrested an estimated 30 people per day, or 12,000 per year, over alleged speech crimes, primarily on social media. Earlier this year, U.K. police arrested Irish comedian Graham Linehan for opposing men entering women’s changing areas. Citizens in Scotland and England can be arrested for silently praying near an abortion clinic, even if they are praying inside their homes. Dutch citizens can also be arrested for pro-life speech. Last year, the mayor of Brussels called riot police to shut down a conference for including pro-life and two-sexes-affirming views.
Last year the European Union, of which Finland is a member, implemented a Digital Services Act that imposes a vast web of internet censorship, potentially across the entire world, by regulating social media monopolies. The act could subject Europeans to even more fines, raids, and imprisonment for posts that observe men and women are different.
Numerous U.S. states and cities also have “hate crimes” laws on the books that prosecutors and courts use to legally harass Christians such as Colorado baker Jack Phillips for their faith: “LGBT advocates are following this case, and [if the charges prevail] it could be they would raise similar kinds of criminal complaints against very classical Christian teachings in other places,” Rasanen noted.