February 3, 2022

Dear John,

In America, quoting the Bible can't land you in prison -- yet. But in Helsinki, Finland it's a different story.

In a case that has stunned the West, Finnish member of parliament, Paivi Rasanen, is facing trial for three counts of "ethnic agitation" -- a hate speech provision in Finland's criminal code -- simply for expressing widely held biblical beliefs.

It all began when Paivi published a tweet in June 2019 that included an image of Romans 1:24-27 and questioned the decision of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (her own denomination) to partner with Helsinki's gay pride parade. Paivi thought nothing of it and moved on -- but the tweet launched three police investigations since 2019, and she was ultimately charged in April 2021.

In addition to her 2019 tweet, Paivi is also being charged over comments she made on radio in 2019 about homosexuality and over a 2004 booklet articulating her church's teaching on sexuality titled, "Male and Female He Created Them: Homosexual Relations Challenge the Christian Concept of Humanity." (Lutheran Bishop Juhana Pohjola, who published the booklet, is himself being charged with one count of ethnic agitation.)

On "Washington Watch," Paul Coleman, Paivi's lawyer from Alliance Defending Freedom International, explained the process: "[Paivi] was invited to the police station. She was interrogated, asked about her Christian beliefs, asked about what the Bible taught, about what she meant by this tweet, and then in the process of this investigation, they started digging up many other things that she had said and written over the years. They went back almost two decades. They found a pamphlet that she wrote for her church in 2004. They extracted three minutes of a radio debate, took it out of context and used that. And they compiled all of these things together and then charged her with hate speech."

For these acts, Paivi, a soft-spoken 62-year-old grandmother and trained medical doctor, could end up spending two years in jail.

With the trial concluding Monday, February 14, Paivi urgently needs our prayer support!

Add Your Name to the Pledge to Pray for Paivi Rasanen

The Pledge to Pray states:

Dear Paivi Rasanen,

I, the undersigned, want you to be encouraged that I am praying for you and Bishop Juhana Pohjola as you are being persecuted and attacked for sharing the truth of Scripture regarding God's design for marriage and sexuality. Your bold stand to live out Acts 5:29 by obeying God rather than man is inspiring to Christians in Finland, the United States, and around the world. I am praying that the Lord Jesus will give you favor in the courtroom where you are on trial for your faith. May God open the eyes of those deceived by the culture to the truth of His Word. No matter the outcome of your case, may the Lord's peace surround you as you stand upon His promise in Romans 8:28 "that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

John, our goal is to gather thousands of pledges to pray from brothers and sisters in Christ like you by next Tuesday, February 8. So please click here to add your name to the pledge to pray right away.

FRC's Special Advisor for Religious Freedom Andrew Brunson will be personally delivering the prayer pledge with the names of all who sign it to Paivi before the final trial date.

Having endured two years in Turkish prisons for his faith, Andrew knows well the power of prayer to lift a person's spirits when facing persecution for righteousness' sake -- as thousands of believers interceded for him during his own trial in 2018.

Like Andrew, Paivi Rasanen is not a firebrand. She wasn't looking to cause a stir, and she didn't want this fight. The Finnish prosecutor general targeted her.

Since then, Paivi has taken up the role of a gracious advocate for free speech, including the expression of sincerely-held religious beliefs now considered culturally taboo in the West.

We must not let her stand alone.

This hostility to orthodox biblical beliefs isn't a distant threat -- we see it playing out every day here in America too. That's why we must obey the call of Scripture to:

"Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body." (Hebrews 13:3, ESV)

Thank you in advance for signing the Pledge to Pray for Paivi, and for also interceding for Bishop Pohjola as they await the court's ruling, that the judges will ultimately side with freedom of religion and speech.

Standing (Eph. 6:13),

Tony Perkins
President