News from Europe

Finnish MP now facing four investigations after speaking about Christian beliefs

Paivi Rasanen

A member of the Finnish Parliament, Päivi Räsänen, now faces police four investigations. Mrs Räsänen has served as an MP since 1995, was chair of the Christian Democrats from 2004-2015 and from 2011-2015 she was the Minister of the Interior, during which she held responsibility for church affairs in Finland.

 

In June 2019, she directed a tweet at the leadership of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, questioning its official sponsorship of the LGBT event “Pride 2019”, accompanied by an image of Romans 1:24-27 from the New Testament that describes same-sex relationships as ‘shameful’.

She wrote: “How can the church’s doctrinal foundation, the Bible, be compatible with the lifting up of shame and sin as a subject of pride?”

Räsänen attended two police interviews about the tweet as well as a pamphlet she wrote 16 years ago on human sexuality for a Christian foundation.

She now faces further questioning regarding interviews she gave to a television program and a radio station and is being supported by Christian religious freedom charity Alliance Defending Freedom.

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