Päivi Räsänen
Päivi Räsänen, an MP for the Christian Democrats and Finland’s former Interior Minister, criticized the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (ECLF) on Facebook over its participation in Helsinki’s gay pride week.
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Career and political positions[edit]
Räsänen has been characterized as a conservative. On October 12, 2010, Räsänen was one of the participants on a live TV debate on Ajankohtainen kakkonen's Homoilta special, with the topic of same-sex marriage and LGBT rights. The program was followed by an unprecedented exodus from the Evangelical Lutheran Church — in a few weeks, nearly 40,000 members left the Church through the website eroakirkosta.fi. Räsänen was on the show representing her party and herself as a Christian individual along with five other opponents of gay marriage, but the resignations were specifically attributed to her by the media in general and then-Minister of Culture and Sports Stefan Wallin. Räsänen thinks homosexual acts are a sin and she herself does not consider her views "specifically extreme".
When interviewed by Ylioppilaslehti on October 29, 2010, Räsänen said that she would favor Christians over Muslims when selecting asylum seekers to Finland due, in her opinion, to Muslims' "difficulties to adjust to the Finnish culture". Her comments were condemned as "incomprehensible and merciless" by then-Minister of Migration and European Affairs Astrid Thors and then-Minister of Culture and Sports Stefan Wallin. Räsänen responded to the criticism, saying her comments were misinterpreted, since she did not consider religion as the main criterion for asylum seekers' admissions, but instead she wanted to highlight the benefits of refugees' integration through religious connections. In practice, as minister in charge of immigration affairs Räsänen has advocated for increasing the number of refugees taken in by Finland, especially from Syria.
In September 2012 Räsänen appointed a religiously conservative applicant, considered less qualified by the media, among six candidates to Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Interior Affairs, which created considerable debate, especially as she had previously condemned political appointments of government officials.
Stance on abortion[edit]
She is pro-life on abortion. She has made statements on the matter, since she is Minister of the Interior, that led a number of Finns to leave the Lutheran church of Finland via an online service in July 2013. Räsänen contrasted abortion law to animal protection law saying that the latter gives better protection for animals than the former does to humans (fetuses):
In total 6,500 persons left the church in the first six days following the controversy, while the average number had been 70 persons a day prior to it.
Personal life[edit]
Räsänen is married and has five children. She lives in Riihimäki. Räsänen is a physician and holds a Licentiate of Medicine.
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TAPIO LUOMA, ARCHBISHOP
APOSTATE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH:
FINNISH POLITICIAN & PASTOR'S WIFE UNDER POLICE INVESTIGATION FOR SAYING LGBTQ "PRIDE" IN SIN "NOT COMPATIBLE" WITH BIBLE
BY HEATHER CLARK
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research purposes:
HELSINKI — A lawmaker in Finland who is also a pastor’s wife has been placed under investigation by police over a social media post from June in which she questioned the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland’s partnership with the Helsinki Pride event.
“How can the Church’s doctrinal foundation, the Bible, be compatible with the lifting up of shame and sin as a subject of pride? #LGBT #HelsinkiPride2019 #Romans1:24-27,” wrote Päivi Räsänen, a member of the Christian Democrat Party. The minority party only holds five seats in Parliament and is conservative in nature unlike the Democratic Party in the United States.
She also shared a photograph of the biblical text with her post, as it directly addresses homosexuality.
“Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves,” the Scripture reads, “who changed the truth of God into a lie and worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.”
“For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature. And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another —men with men working that which is unseemly and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet.”
Räsänen’s husband is a pastor with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, which is the largest denomination in the country, having an estimated three million members. However, that figure has been on the decline recently, falling one to two percentage points each year, according to Evangelical Focus.
Räsänen is known for defending life and marriage, and her remarks were not out of the ordinary. She had written a letter to the denomination expressing her disappointment in their decision to back the same-sex pride event.
“The pride event’s ideological goal is to take pride in the type of relations that are described as being against God’s will,” Räsänen wrote, according to Finland broadcasting outlet YLE. “Homosexual relationships, like those relationships outside of marriage, are described in the Bible as sinful and shameful.”
At least 500 members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland dropped their affiliation over the matter.
Finnish “archbishop” Tapio Luoma responded to the controversy by stating that “[i]t’s not a question of taking a stance on marriage laws but rather [the idea] that the church’s message is for everyone … and same-sex couples are welcome at all church activities.”
The MP is now under investigation for her June post, being accused of “incitement against sexual and gender minorities.” Two other lawmakers are also facing pre-trial investigations for remarks deemed racist. The outlet Novena notes that “inciting hatred” can carry penalties of up to two years imprisonment.
“A crime report is being filed with police to determine whether the MP was guilty of a crime by posting a Twitter message in June. The message depicts the Helsinki Pride event as a pride for sin and shame and questions the Church’s involvement in the event,” a press release from the Helsinki Police Department reads. “According to the advertiser, the message is an expression of intolerance towards minorities.”
Räsänen remarked on the investigation a few weeks ago, stating that she is not worried about herself but rather how the matter might affect Christians in general.
“I am not concerned on my part, as I trust this will not move on to the prosecutor,” she said. “However, I am concerned if quoting the Bible is considered even ‘slightly’ illegal. I hope this won’t lead to self-censorship among Christians. Rom. 1:24–27.”
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FINLAND: CHRISTIAN MP UNDER POLICE HATE CRIME INVESTIGATION AFTER POSTING BIBLE VERSE
Criticized Evangelical Lutheran Church for supporting gay pride week
BY PAUL JOSEPH WATSON
EXCERPTS:
Police responded by opening an investigation into Räsänen on charges of “incitement against sexual and gender minorities.”
Räsänen responded by saying she was criticizing church leadership, not gay people, and that the investigation would have a “chilling effect” on Finnish society.
“It seems that many Christians in my country are now hiding and going to the closet now that the LGBT-community has come out to the public,” she said.
However, ECLF bishop Taipo Luoma doubled down, saying that “same-sex couples are welcome at all church activities” and that it was “only a matter of time” before the church started performing same-sex marriages.”
