2023-09-03 14:56:28
Largely unnoticed by the German press, freedom of expression in Europe is currently being defended by an inconspicuous, friendly elderly lady: Päivi Räsänen, Finland’s former interior minister. The doctor, mother of five and multiple grandmother had to answer before the Finnish Court of Appeal on August 30 and 31, 2023. The bone of contention is a 2019 tweet in which Räsänen questioned the fact that the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland had declared itself an official partner of Pride: in Räsänen’s view incompatible with the Bible.
Verdict Against “Hate Speech”
Finland: A historic victory for freedom of expression The Christian Democrat supported this view with a photo of Bible verses from the letter to the Romans that deal with homosexuality. In addition, almost 20 years ago, the practicing Christian published a church pamphlet entitled “Male and Female He Created Them” in which she presented a view of marriage and family rooted in Christian anthropology. The Lutheran Bishop Juhana Pohjola is also on trial for the publication of this document.
The criminal offense of “ethnic agitation”, which is dealt with in the Finnish penal code under the section “War crimes and crimes once morest humanity”, would probably correspond most closely in Germany to that of incitement to hatred; basically it is an accusation of “hate speech”. Massive accusations, then, sparked off by a tweet that simply expresses a rejection of Pride – a legitimate opinion, one would think, given that there are enough people within the LGBTQ community who do not support all expressions of a queer lifestyle.
Neither Räsänen nor Pohjola incites hatred anywhere; nor do they agitate once morest people who don’t share their view of marriage, family, or sexuality. They simply state the attitude that arises from their faith and explicitly profess the equality and dignity of all people. According to the public prosecutor’s office, that’s not enough: they appealed once morest the unanimous acquittal.
struggle for freedom of speech
Causa Räsänen: With the EU, marriage between a man and a woman might turn into “hate speech” The fact that charges might be brought at all is worrying enough: ADF International, a human rights organization that coordinates Räsänen’s defense, points out that that due to the arbitrary nature of “hate speech” paragraphs, the “unhindered exchange of even controversial opinions”, which is “fundamental” for a democracy, is reduced to absurdity and ultimately made impossible. In fact, it is difficult to even imagine discourse under such circumstances: Who will determine in the future who may feel offended by what? Will the definition of what “hate” is soon depend on human maturity and the ability to differentiate? Censorship and self-censorship seem inevitable when the right to free speech is undermined by the delegitimization and criminalization of opinion.
Now, with the Räsänen/Pohjola case, the right for Christians and members of other religions to be able to verbalise their faith may be at stake – in itself a dramatic encroachment on religious freedom. But the two do not only stand up for believers, but for all European citizens: “The point is not whether it is true or not, but that it is offensive,” ADF quoted the prosecutor as saying. A revealing sentence. Behind the attack on freedom of opinion, speech and religion is an attack on the truth itself. The statement implies that even speaking the truth might be punishable as soon as someone finds it offensive. An attitude that is already beginning to find its way into case law in Germany with the planned self-determination law: Here, for example, it is forbidden to name a biological man as such if he does not want it.
When opinions contrary to state doctrine or prevailing views are prosecuted as hate speech, no one is safe from ending up in court for daring to disagree in a controversy. Censorship and self-censorship are becoming the norm. If even the truth is subjected to such parameters, we move a decisive step closer to totalitarianism.
Olaf Scholz learned from Kurt Hager
When the Federal Chancellor calls on publishers to self-censor That such thoughts even occur to a lawyer in the service of the state is symptomatic of the no longer just creeping erosion of European values. It is all the more astonishing that in Germany there is hardly any media interest in addressing this and other cases: For years, people have been balancing like sleepwalkers along an abyss that threatens to engulf our fundamental rights. There can no longer be any talk of “resist the beginnings” here, rather the courts regularly issue embers of totalitarian requests – for now. The concepts of the free-democratic basic order are unconcernedly trusted. It does not seem to have penetrated the general consciousness that this is not a sure-fire success, but only works as long as people with the appropriate value system live and realize this order.
Even if Räsänen and Pohjola were exotic oddballs with marginalized outsider opinions, it would be imperative that the state protect, not attack, their right to freedom of expression. With Räsänen’s acquittal in 2022, Europe’s freedom self-image got off with a black eye – now the Finnish public prosecutor’s office is striking once more: “Freedom always dies inch by inch,” said Guido Westerwelle once. A warning that must be heeded at the very latest when public commenting on Bible verses is criminalized.
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