Finnish police continue to question politician about her booklet on homosexuality

For almost three centuries Europeans were not persecuted for their theological opinions, but that era has ended.

The magazine First Things reports that former Finnish Minister of the Interior Päivi Räsänen was interrogated for five and a half hours by the police about a booklet she wrote in 2004 explaining and defending the Lutheran church’s position on sexual ethics. It was titled “Male and Female He Created Them: Homosexual relations challenge the Christian concept of humanity.” Mrs Räsänen is a doctor and belongs to the Christian Democrats.

'Räsänen’s booklet was already investigated last autumn, at which time the police concluded that the contents were not criminal. Despite that, the Prosecutor General has reopened the case and directed the police to conduct another preliminary investigation of the booklet—along with fresh criminal investigations. Räsänen told me she will be subject to “at least two further interrogations” by the Helsinki Central Police, which could lead to formal prosecution. These investigations involve a TV appearance in which Räsänen discussed the Bible, Christ, and the concepts of sin and grace, and a talk show radio interview on the subject “What would Jesus think about homosexuals?” Both cases have been reopened despite the police previously concluding that “there was no reason to initiate a preliminary investigation as no crime has been committed.”'