CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS – Tom's Blog

Finnish authorities are investigating a Christian MP and former interior minister over her Facebook post that included verses from the Bible, which police say may amount to an “attack” on the LGBT community.

Päivi Räsänen is an MP for the Christian Democrats, and was Interior Minister between 2011 and 2015. Back in June, she criticized the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (ECLF) over its participation in Helsinki’s LGBT Pride events.

“How does the foundation of the church’s teachings, the Bible, fit with elevating sin and shame as reasons for pride?” Räsänen posted, alongside a photo of the Bible open to Romans 1:24-27 from the New Testament, which describes homosexuality as “sinful,” “shameful” and “unnatural.”

Now it has emerged that the police have opened an investigation against her for alleged “incitement against sexual and gender minorities,” a spokesperson confirmed to the Helsinki Times.

Speaking to the online portal Faithwire on Thursday, Räsänen said she was not afraid for herself, but was concerned that the investigation has had a “chilling effect” on Christians in Finland.

“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.

Räsänen also said that her point was not to insult sexual minorities, but criticize the leadership of the church, adding that she will continue to share Bible verses and Christian teachings despite the investigation.

We must obey God rather than man.

ECLF bishop Taipo Luoma has responded to Räsänen’s criticism by saying that “same-sex couples are welcome at all church activities” and that it is “only a matter of time” before the church started performing same-sex marriages.

The “scope and depth of the negative feedback was a surprise,” he admitted.

Räsänen is one of three Finnish MPs currently being investigated for alleged hate speech. Juha Mäenpää of the True Finns (SP) is accused of likening asylum seekers to an “invasive species,” while the Iraqi-born Hussein al-Taee of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) is being probed for Facebook posts from 2011 and 2012 derogatory to“homosexuals, Jews, Sunnis, Somalis and other groups.”

By EMMA R. 25 April 2019

Today, around 120,000 Syriac Christians reside in Sweden. While many of them fled genocide in the Middle East, attacks against their churches and threats against their organisations are still not uncommon.

Following repeated threats, the Syriac National Federation in Sweden has stepped up security measures, from camera surveillance to its own security guards, the news outlet Samhällsnytt reported.

A recent Facebook post by the Syriac National Federation has detailed expletive-loaded threats it received from speakers of Arabic.

According to the federation’s spokesperson, this is not the first time such an incident has occurred. Most often, he said, the callers speak either Swedish with a thick Middle Eastern accent or even Arabic.

The police, however, chose not to investigate the matter, explaining that obscene language is not illegal.

“As soon as something happens in the Middle East or we are somehow visible in the media, we get these calls, so we are used to this.”

“At one point they say they will do the same to us in Sweden as they did in the Middle East. A genocide has been carried out in the Middle East against Christians. We have fled these groupings to Sweden, but they have caught up with us here”, the spokesperson said.

The Syriac National Federation has repeatedly turned to the authorities, but found no understanding, except among the Christian Democrats.

According to Samhällsnytt, there is a widespread feeling of resignation among Syriacs in Sweden amid concerns over the future of the rule of law and the state’s ability to protect people and prosecute crimes.

“We expect some fucking civil war between different groups unless someone puts their foot down. The people who did terrible acts in the Middle East, they are here now… and no one seems to care”, the spokesperson concluded.

Syriac churches in Sweden have witnessed a series of bomb and arson attacks, such as the Saint Afrem church in Södertälje and the Saint Mary church in Norrköping.

The incidents have caused strong reactions in the Syriac circles. While some argued that the time was ripe to leave Sweden if the state is unable to protect all its citizens, others suggested to get “a police force of our own” in the comments.

Tag: CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS

Sweden: Christian migrants repeatedly attacked by Muslim migrants fear civil war will break out in the country

Today, around 120,000 Syriac Christians reside in Sweden. While many of them fled genocide in the Middle East, attacks against their churches and threats against their organisations are still not uncommon.