Dr. Paivi Lehsenen, a member of the Finnish parliament, has been acquitted of a “hate crime” charge for expressing his Biblical beliefs about sexuality.
according to face wirethe Helsinki Court of Appeal unanimously dismissed three criminal charges against Lehsenen on Tuesday.
“I feel very relieved,” Lehsenen said in a statement shared with CBN Digital. “The court fully upheld and upheld the district court’s decision recognizing everyone’s right to free speech.”
“It is not a crime to tweet a Bible verse or engage in a public discussion from a Christian perspective,” she continued.
In 2019, Lahsenen came under fire when he shared a tweet. Romans 1:24-27, condemns homosexuality as sinful. At the time, she was surprised that her own denomination, the Evangelical Lutheran Church, expressed her support for the LGBTQ Pride event.
Hit christian posta Finnish parliamentarian, was also charged with a pamphlet he wrote in 2004 entitled “Man and Woman He Created: Homosexual Relationships Question the Christian Concept of Humanity.”
Meanwhile, Bishop Juhana Pohojola of the Evangelical Lutheran Missionary Diocese of Finland also faced charges for publishing the pamphlet at the time.
Last year, a three-judge Helsinki District Court acquitted her of the charges, ruling that it was not the government’s prerogative to interpret “biblical concepts.”
However, Resenen returned to court in August following a state prosecutor’s appeal of the lower court’s ruling. One prosecutor did not accept that Lehsenen had described homosexuality as a “sin,” arguing that while he was free to refer to the Bible, “it was Lehsenen’s interpretation and opinion of the Bible passage that constituted a crime.” .
The charges against Mr. Lehsenen and Mr. Pohojola were classified under the “war crimes and crimes against humanity” section of Finnish law.
Paul Coleman, executive director of ADF International and a member of Ms. Rehsenen’s legal team, likened her trial to the Middle Ages.
“The focus of the prosecution’s questioning of Lehsenen was whether she would recant her beliefs. The answer was no. She had no intention of denying the teachings of her faith,” Coleman said. said. This cross-examination closely resembled medieval “heresy” trials. It was implied that Resenen had “blasphemed” the dominant orthodoxy of the time. ”
Photo credit: @Getty Images/Kutay Tanir
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributor to Christian Headlines and host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast dedicated to sound doctrine and Biblical truth. He holds a Master of Divinity degree from Alliance Theological Seminary.
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