Räsänen disappointed in Finnish prosecutor

For Mrs Räsänen herself, few things are so clear as precisely this. She has nothing against these people as human beings. But she is convinced that homosexual practice is against God's plan and therefore sinful – just as many actions are sinful since all human beings are fallen. And consequently, she or her lawyer came with the statement: "Love for the sinner but hate for the sin."

Three charges

The court hearing was about three charges. The first is the tweet from 2019. In that, she reminded the leadership of the Lutheran Church in Finland of the Biblical teaching about homosexuality in Romans 1,24-27. The apostle Paul says that deeds as such are "shameful".

The second charge is her participation in a satirical radio program in 2019, in which she explained her ideas about (homo)sexuality and marriage.

The third is the booklet's publication Male and female He created them in 2004. The Evangelical Lutheran Mission Diocese released this brochure, and for that reason, the bishop Juhana Pohjola charged for this as well. This particular diocese is not a regional but a confessional structure in the Finnish folk church, with its own bishop. Pohjola functions as the chief editor of the diocese's publications as well.

Fundamentalist

The prosecutor portrayed the ideas held by Mrs Räsänen and Mr Pohjola as "fundamentalist". In the defence, especially bishop Pohjola mentioned that their convictions belong to classical Christian ethics and have nothing unpredictable or extreme in it.

Liveblog (closed): Trial against Christian MP Pävi Räsänen will resume in February

24-01-2022

The prosecutor demanded a so-called day-fine of 120 days for Räsänen and 60 days for Pohjola. In the few countries that know such a day-fine, this means a fine measured after the person's income. Above that, the prosecutor requested a fine of 10,000 Euros for the Lutheran Diocese. And for Mrs Räsänen, he demanded all tweets to be removed. Also, her contribution to the radio program should be deleted from the public sphere.

Media spectacle

The first day of the trial against the Finnish Member of Parliament Räsänen and the Luther bishop Juhana Pohjola had something of a media spectacle. As a politician and former government minister, Mrs Räsänen attracts much attention. For this reason, she was asked for many interviews before the trial. And at the beginning of the day, many media welcomed her at the courthouse to listen to her expectations.

Mrs Räsänen acted in this spectacle as a media professional. She did not only say that the Bible was the foundation of all her doings, but she showed the Book as well. She carried God's Word visibly with her when she appeared for the media before the start. And for the whole of the day, the Bible was in front of her on the desk.

Since this is a court case about the legality of Biblical references in public, the hearings on Monday took much attention from Christian media in Europe and elsewhere. A conviction, in this case, could have consequences for the whole of Europe, especially if the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR in Strasbourg) would uphold such a verdict.

Theological dispute

Especially in the interrogation of Mrs Räsänen by the prosecutor, it became clear that the case is about much more than just a legal dispute about the freedom of expression. The prosecutor stated several times that most Protestant churches accepted a non-literal exegesis of the Holy Scriptures. Räsänen first answered that the debate on explaining the Bible is a matter of free theologians and not the courts. But later, she said that the Bible is very clear about the nature of marriage (namely one man and one woman) and sexuality (within marriage). "Even today, the Finnish Lutheran Church teaches that marriage is between a man and a woman."

After one day of hearings, the judges were not ready. The final statements were postponed to February 14th. After that day, the judges have a month to come to a verdict. At the latest mid-March, the outcome of this case will be clear.