{"id":39941,"date":"2021-11-25T18:38:10","date_gmt":"2021-11-26T00:38:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=39941"},"modified":"2021-11-25T18:38:10","modified_gmt":"2021-11-26T00:38:10","slug":"persecution-in-europe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/persecution-in-europe\/","title":{"rendered":"Persecution in Europe"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

Source:\u00a0<\/strong>Joy Pullman, “In Case With Global Implications, Finland Puts Christians On Trial For Their Faith<\/a>,”\u00a0The Federalist<\/em>, 23 November 2021.<\/p>\n

“Rasanen’s alleged crimes in a country that claims to guarantee freedom of speech and religion include tweeting a picture of a Bible verse. Potential penalties if they are convicted include fines and up to two years in prison. … Rasanen and Pohjola are being charged with “hate speech” for respectively writing and publishing a 24-page 2004 booklet that explains basic Christian theology about sex and marriage, which reserves sex exclusively for within marriage, which can only consist of one man and one woman, for life. The Finnish prosecutor claims centuries-old Christian teachings about sex “incite hatred” and violate legal preferences for government-privileged identity groups.”<\/p>\n

“In advance of the trial, Rasanen and Pohjola have been interrogated by police for hours about their theology. Pohjola told me in the interrogation police treated Christian beliefs as thought crimes. In a statement,\u00a0Rasanen noted that the police publicly admitted their interpretation of Finland’s law would make publishing the Bible a hate crime.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven<\/em>” (Matthew 5:10-16).<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Source:\u00a0Joy Pullman, “In Case With Global Implications, Finland Puts Christians On Trial For Their Faith,”\u00a0The Federalist, 23 November 2021. “Rasanen’s alleged crimes in a country that claims to guarantee freedom of speech and religion include tweeting a picture of a Bible verse. Potential penalties if they are convicted include fines and up to two years…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[310,572],"class_list":["post-39941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-issues","tag-government","tag-persecution"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2857,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-if-a-man-feels-he-cannot-wait-to-have-sex\/","url_meta":{"origin":39941,"position":0},"title":"What if a man feels he cannot wait to have sex?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 9, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What if a man cannot wait? What if a man really wants to have sex with a girl? What should the man do? Answer: \"Now concerning the things of which you wrote to me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. Nevertheless, because of sexual\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25817,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/we-need-encouragement-to-stay-sexually-pure\/","url_meta":{"origin":39941,"position":1},"title":"We need encouragement to stay sexually pure","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 26, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My society frowns at early marriage and yet pretends not to notice the prevalence of premarital sex. I am 29, with a fiancee, and a Christian. I know the pressure, but God has been helpful. If I am allowed, I will marry, but we have to wait. 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When I confronted her about this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":51836,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-i-have-to-marry-him-because-we-had-sex\/","url_meta":{"origin":39941,"position":3},"title":"Do I have to marry him because we had sex?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 29, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am in my early twenties, a newly born-again Christian and a Protestant. I am in a relationship with a Catholic guy for over five years. We did have sex and he has been loyal to me all these years. He is also a violent and angry person. As\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":83260,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/thank-you-for-your-posts-regarding-sex-within-a-christian-marriage\/","url_meta":{"origin":39941,"position":4},"title":"Thank you for your posts regarding sex within a Christian marriage","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 16, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I just wanted to message you and thank you for the posts on your website. I had questions concerning intercourse in Christian marriage and was grateful to read your biblical perspective. 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