"Martin Luther would have disciplined the preachers and church board in question! It saddens me that a Nation that suffered so much under HITLER and STALIN would imprison their own Parlimentarian for posting God's Word on Twitter." Pastor Max Solbrekken, D.D.
Finnish Parlimentarian Facing Jail Time For Posting Bible Verse on Twitter
The latest recipient of this kind of persecution is Finnish parlimentarian Päivi Räsänen who is facing jail for posting a Bible verse on her personal Twitter account.
Simply because Räsänen expressed her sincerely held beliefs publicly, the police launched an investigation and subjected her to a four-hour interview. Räsänen now faces a maximum penalty of two years’ imprisonment for the crime of so-called “ethnic agitation.”
It all began in June 2019 when the church board of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland announced its official partnership with the LGBT event “Pride 2019”. Räsänen questioned her church’s leadership on this decision on social media, attaching an image of a Bible passage.
The prosecution has also dug up a secondary charge which finds fault with a pamphlet she wrote in 2004 “Male and female He created them – Homosexual relationships challenge the Christian concept of humanity”.
The third charge stems from Räsänen’s views on a Finnish Broadcasting Corporation radio station on the topic of “What would Jesus think about homosexuals?”.
Despite facing jail and ongoing persecution, Räsänen has shown indomitable strength:
“I cannot accept that voicing my religious beliefs could mean imprisonment. I do not consider myself guilty of threatening, slandering or insulting anyone. My statements were all based on the Bible’s teachings on marriage and sexuality,” she said.
“I will defend my right to confess my faith, so that no one else would be deprived of their right to freedom of religion and speech. I hold on to the view that my expressions are legal and they should not be censored. I will not back down from my views. I will not be intimidated into hiding my faith. The more Christians keep silent on controversial themes, the narrower the space for freedom of speech gets."
