Tribunal finlandés reprende la acusación estatal de

cristianos por decir que Dios hizo a hombres y mujeres

diferentes
thefederalist.com /2022/03/30/la-corte-finlandesa-reprende-la-prosecución-estatal-de-los-cristianos-por-decir-que-
dios-hizo-a-los-hombres-y-las-mujeres-diferentes/

30 de marzo de 2022

Libertad religiosa
Por: Joy Pullman
30 de marzo de 2022

7 minutos de lectura

La posibilidad de una apelación significa que el cristianismo y la libertad

de expresión aún están en riesgo en el país occidental que ocupa el
tercer lugar a nivel mundial por su compromiso con el estado de derecho.

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Alegría Pullmann

Visita en Twitter @joypullmann

Más artículos
Las oraciones de todo el mundo fueron contestadas con alegría hoy
cuando un tribunal finlandés falló por unanimidad a favor de dos
cristianos procesados por el gobierno por declarar públicamente las
enseñanzas de la Biblia sobre el sexo.

“Si este tipo de cuestionamiento de la libertad de expresión es posible en

un país como Finlandia, que tiene una reputación en cuanto a la libertad
de expresión a nivel internacional, lo mismo es posible en cualquier
lugar”, dijo la diputada Paivi Rasanen durante una conferencia de prensa
transmitida en vivo esta mañana, hora de EE. UU.

Rasanen y el obispo luterano Juhana Pohjola fueron absueltos de los

cuatro cargos de "crímenes de odio" que se les imputaban por hablar de
las enseñanzas bíblicas de que el sexo se reserva correctamente para el
matrimonio de por vida entre un hombre y una mujer. El tribunal de tres
jueces no solo absolvió a los dos cristianos, sino que ordenó a la fiscalía
que pagara los costos legales, dictaminando que en un país libre, los
tribunales no tienen cabida para decidir las opiniones religiosas
permisibles.

“Estoy agradecido por haber tenido esta oportunidad de defender la

libertad de expresión, que es un derecho esencial en un país
democrático”, dijo Rasanen. “Este ha sido mi honor. … Espero que este
fallo evite que otros tengan que pasar por la misma prueba”.

Rasanen, Pohjola y su equipo legal también expresaron su preocupación

de que el fiscal que presentó estos cargos en contra de la
recomendación de la policía pudiera apelar el caso. El fiscal tiene siete

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días para apelar o dejar en pie la decisión.

“Si hubiéramos perdido el caso, no habría forma de que pudiéramos

proclamar públicamente la ley de Dios y el evangelio de perdón de
Jesucristo”, enfatizó Pohjola en la conferencia de prensa. “Eso habría
cambiado radicalmente toda la atmósfera en nuestra iglesia como
cristianos en Finlandia”.

La acusación es el castigo
Pohjola said of course he and Rasanen would have continued to proclaim
their faith if the court had agreed to effectively criminalize free speech and
Christianity in Finland. The possibility of an appeal means Christianity and
free speech are still at risk in the Western country ranked No. 3 for its
commitment to the rule of law.

“Everyone should be free to share their beliefs without censorship, and

we see the great threat that can come from these hate speech laws,
which often shut down public debates and constitute not only a threat to
freedom of speech and religion but also to democracy itself,” said Paul
Coleman, the executive director of Alliance Defending Freedom
International, a legal nonprofit assisting with this case.

Most European countries and many U.S. cities and states have “hate
crimes” laws similar to the one used in this case. This case went the
farthest such laws have been used in the world to date, although many
lawsuits have made it difficult for Christians to live according to their faith
in public, such as the Masterpiece Cakeshop case in the United States.

“Already, this three-year process with all the investigations and court
sessions has in practice narrowed the freedom of speech by creating self-
censorship,” Rasanen said. “People are afraid of the possible
consequences when expressing their faith and their conviction in public.”

Free speech and freedom of religion are fundamental human rights that
benefit all citizens equally. That makes them more crucial to protect and
more beneficial for more people than legal privileges distributed unequally
according to differing sexual preferences, Coleman noted.

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“Everyone’s free speech benefits by this ruling, including the speech by
those in the LGBT community. It’s a good decision, and a good ruling for
everyone who wants to live in a free and democratic society where ideas
are debated and we have the freedom to share our deeply held beliefs
without fear of censorship,” Coleman said.

The prosecutor argued that Christians could believe whatever they want
but must keep politically incorrect ideas to themselves. Rasanen noted
that when she was Finland’s interior minister, Communist Chinese
officials expressed to her this same stance toward religious freedom and
free speech.

“The real victory that we will see in Europe is when cases like this don’t
exist in the first place,” Coleman said. “As long as so much time, energy,
and effort is required to defend people in these cases we can never say it
is a true victory for freedom of expression.”

Is Talking about Christianity a Hate Crime? Court Says No

This case arose in 2019. That June, a pastor filed a “hate speech”
complaint against Rasanen after she posted Bible verses on Twitter to
criticize the Finnish state church’s decision to sponsor a Helsinki LGBT
parade.

Police investigated, ultimately interrogating Rasanen more than 13 hours

across three interviews about her religious beliefs. The police determined
no crime had been committed, but a state prosecutor overrode their
decision and began her own investigation of Rasanen’s long public
history. As a pastor’s wife, longtime member of Finland’s parliament, and
former interior minister, Rasanen has been involved in public debates in
Finland for decades.

The prosecutor’s investigation unearthed a theological booklet, “Male and

Female He Created Them,” that Rasanen wrote and Pohjola published in
2004, long before Finland’s “hate crimes” law was passed. This booklet
became one of the three criminal counts the prosecutor filed against
Rasanen and the single count filed against Pohjola. The other two
charges against Rasanen were the Bible verses she posted on Twitter
and her discussion of state-recognized homosexual relationships in a
radio interview.

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“Not for a second did I believe that I had committed anything illegal in my
writings and statements,” Rasanen said on Wednesday, thanking
Christians around the world for sending her “thousands” of notes of
encouragement and her legal team for their support.

Court held the purpose of @PaiviRasanen's writings was to "defend the concept of
family and marriage between a man and a woman"

— Paul Coleman (@Paul_B_Coleman) March 30, 2022

Jesus Loves Gay People So Much He Died to Give Them Eternal

Life
Rasanen and Pohjola emphasized that their historic Christian beliefs
about sexual morality extend directly from God’s extreme love for all
people, who are infinitely precious to Him and made in His sacred image.
While the Bible clearly reserves sex for marriage between one man and
one woman, it also states the equality of all human beings both in
transgressing against God’s commands and in being welcomed to His
forgiveness.

“The prosecutor tries to deny the core message the Bible, the teaching of
law and gospel: God has created all human beings in his own image and
we all have equal value, but we also are all sinners,” Rasanen said on
Wednesday. “God is the one who decides what thing is wrong. And God
so loved all people that He gave His only Son to die on the cross to suffer
the punishment that we all deserved because of our sins.”

Rasanen and Pohjola emphasized their love for those struggling with
God’s difficult sexual commands and God’s desire to welcome such
people, and all people, to the forgiveness of sins provided in Christian
worship, which offers to all abiding peace and joy.

Ready to Keep Preaching the Gospel to the World

If the prosecutor does appeal this case to a higher court, Rasanen said, “I
am ready to defend freedom of speech and religion in all necessary
courts, also in the European Court of Human Rights if needed.”

Pohjola said that if the pair are called to continue preaching the Christian
message across the world due to further prosecution in Finnish or even
European courts, he and Rasanen will do so in confidence that God will

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strengthen and guide them.

“We know as we approach the Easter time that victory has been won on
the cross and Jesus Christ stands among His people. And He has
promised that He will never depart from us. So no matter what comes, we
are in His hands,” Pohjola said.

Joy Pullmann is executive editor of The Federalist, a happy wife, and the
mother of six children. Sign up here to get early access to her next ebook,
"101 Strategies For Living Well Amid Inflation." Her bestselling ebook is
"Classic Books for Young Children." Mrs. Pullmann identifies as native
American and gender natural. She is also the author of "The Education
Invasion: How Common Core Fights Parents for Control of American
Kids," from Encounter Books. In 2013-14 she won a Robert Novak
journalism fellowship for in-depth reporting on Common Core national
education mandates. Joy is a grateful graduate of the Hillsdale College
honors and journalism programs.
anti-discrimination laws
Christian persecution
Christianity
Finland
libre expresión
libertad de expresión
crímenes de odio
Juhana Pojola
Paivi Rasanen
Religión
libertad religiosa
Libertad Religiosa
persecución religiosa

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