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On trial for a Bible tweet

Päivi Räsänen and Bishop Juhana Pohjola stood trial in Helsinki, Finland, on 24 January.

“Alongside her bishop, Finnish Member of Parliament Päivi Räsänen is standing criminal trial for expressing Christian beliefs on marriage and sexuality.

The case began as too many of today’s assaults on free speech do: with a tweet. Räsänen is a member of the Lutheran state church. When she discovered that her church had become an official sponsor of the Pride parade in 2019, she questioned their decision by posting a picture of a Bible verse.

Then the police knocked on her door.

Since she was charged with hate speech, her prosecutors have unearthed more “evidence” of her misdeeds. They clipped a sound bite from a 2019 radio interview and dug up a church pamphlet she authored almost twenty years ago. For publishing this pamphlet for his congregation, Bishop Juhana Pohjola also faces trial,” writes Sofia Hörder, Communications Officer for ADF International in The Critic.

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Päivi Räsänen

Eine Abgeordnete des finnischen Parlaments, die wegen ‘Hassrede’ angeklagt wurde, nachdem sie öffentlich ihre christlichen Überzeugungen zu Ehe und Sexualität geäußert hatte.

Isabel Vaughan-Spruce

Die engagierte Lebensschützerin aus Großbritannien, die festgenommen wurde, als sie still in der Nähe einer Abtreibungsklinik auf einer öffentlichen Straße betete.

Rodrigo Iván Cortés

Ein ehemaliger Kongressabgeordnete aus Mexiko, der bestraft wurde, nachdem er die biologische Wahrheit der zwei Geschlechter verteidigt hatte.

Nada und Hamouda

Aus dem Sudan, deren Ehe von einem Scharia-Gericht aufgelöst wurde und die mit 100 Peitschenhieben und Lebensgefahr bedroht wurden, nur weil sie zum Christentum konvertierten.

Shagufta und Shafqat

Ein christliches Paar aus Pakistan, das 7 Jahre lang in der Todeszelle saß, weil sie angeblich eine blasphemische Textnachricht versendet hatten - obwohl beide weder lesen noch schreiben können.

Statement of Faith

Based on our adherence to the inspired, infallible, inerrant, and authoritative Word of God in Scripture, we profess with the Christian Church throughout time and around the world the faith expressed in the Apostles’ Creed:

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Amen.