Paper Shields

On the 26th of March, the Finnish Supreme Court handed down a verdict in the case against Päivi Räsänen. For those unfamiliar with the name, Räsänen is a veteran member of the Finnish Parliament, a former Minister of the Interior, and led the Christian Democrats for over a decade. She is also a conservative Christian, known for targeting sexual minorities on numerous occasions.

In a narrow 3-2 vote, the court ruled against Räsänen, finding her guilty of incitement against a group of people. It was about a pamphlet she wrote in 2004 (and again made publicly available in 2019 and 2020, which was the reason they prosecuted her) titled "Male and female he created them: Homosexual relationships challenge the Christian concept of humanity". Alongside her they also convicted Juhana Pohjola, the Luther Foundation bishop who was responsible for the pamphlet's distribution. The English version of it can be found here.

The entire legal process took an astonishing seven years, which goes to show how difficult it is for the courts to draw the line between religious abuse expression and hateful propaganda. The verdict came from specific claims, such as calling homosexuality a "psychosexual development disorder", which the judges correctly identified as something other than a Bible quote. Instead, it was pseudo-medical rhetoric from a licensed MD, which in my personal opinion is pretty damn disgusting.

The Supreme Court verdict is important, because it delivers the message that it's not okay to smuggle just any kind of bs between the covers of a religious publication. Minus the specific passages the court ordered to be removed, the pamphlet is still on the Internet though, available in multiple languages. Most of it remains uncensored, because as the court process demonstrated, our authorities really are careful not to touch any of the religious bits with a ten foot pole.

I have no such qualms, though. Let me just wield that pole for a minute, okay?
I promise I'll be gentle.

But here's the thing: just because something isn't against the law doesn't make it right. And just because something is in the Bible (or any other religious text) doesn't make it ethical. A classic example is slavery, which is nowhere condemned in the Bible: quite the opposite, in fact. This allowed the pro-slavery advocates of the American South to argue that God was on their side. 

You don't get off the hook by quoting a religious text. If you're spreading harmful crap, it is you who are responsible for doing so. You are the one who decides which passages to promote and which to ignore. And those choices will reflect your values.

When she spouts hurtful things about homosexuals, Päivi Räsänen claims she's only following God's commands. But she isn't following all of them, and we know this because otherwise her ass would be in jail for something far more serious than agitation. Should we stone our kids to death for disobeying their parents? Even Päivi Räsänen doesn't seem to be willing to promote that, even though as she points out in her pamphlet, "In none of His speeches did Jesus nullify the Old Testament Law".

Our laws and ethics are not static. As our society develops, they too must develop. And while religion certainly plays a part in that process, it's by no means the most important driving force, nor should it be. Our ethics are shaped by many things, but the most important one should be our desire to create better lives for all of us, and to care for each other.

To love.

Wasn't that what your God is supposed to be all about? Why does a filthy atheist like me need to remind you of this?

If you are a person of faith, it is for you to decide how to carry that torch forward. Our ethics and values cannot remain static and stuck to ancient texts, and neither can your traditions if you want to keep them alive. They have never been static either. In case of the Bible, its traditions have shifted in all kinds of ways even within its texts, let alone during the centuries that have passed since they were written.

Besides, you're not worshipping a book, right?