Finland Upholds Secular Blasphemy Law by Convicting Grandmother for a Church Pamphlet with “Criminal” Interpretations of Bible Verses

​On Thursday, the Finnish Supreme Court found parliamentarian Päivi Maria Räsänen and Lutheran bishop Juhana Markus Pohjola guilty of “hate speech” for “making and keeping available to the public a text that insults a group.”
 
What was this insidious document? It was a church pamphlet from 2004 in which they upheld traditional views on marriage and criticized homosexuality. Räsänen had later shared this pamphlet on social media.
 
Whether you are an atheist, agnostic, or believer – whether you are straight or gay – there is no place in a free society for what is essentially a secular blasphemy law.
 
Conservative views on sexual relations are held by all the traditional forms of Christianity, Jewish Orthodoxy, Islam, and many traditions within Hinduism and Buddhism. Agree or disagree with those views – criminalizing them, which Finland’s Supreme Court did, means criminalizing the traditional forms of the great world religions.
 
While Räsänen was acquitted of another charge regarding a past tweet, this conviction is no less serious a criminalization of speech and religious liberty – for a church pamphlet!
 
“You can cite the Bible, but it is Räsänen’s interpretation and opinion about the Bible verses that are criminal,” the Finnish state prosecutor told the court. In other words, it is up to the state to determine what is – and what is not – an acceptable interpretation of the Bible.
 
Räsänen, a former Finnish interior minister, physician, and mother of 12, said: “I am shocked and profoundly disappointed that the court has failed to recognize my basic human right to freedom of expression.” So should we all. Räsänen is considering an appeal to Europe’s top human rights court.
 
Such an appeal would only highlight an absurd situation. If Europe declines to hear her case, will it signal that even the speech of Pope Leo XIV is “hateful” and therefore outside the law? The idea that speech should be criminalized because people within a church or some other group hold one view that others find insulting is a never-ending quest for busybody persecution of speakers.
 
Europe, once again, reminds us why we are so fortunate to have the First Amendment, which not only guarantees freedom of speech but also the free exercise of religion – to believe in this doctrine or that, or not to believe at all, regardless of what other people think.
 
Thank you, once again, James Madison.

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