In Finland, LHF Author, Editor Charged with Hate Speech

A Finnish booklet funded by LHF in 2004 has led to charges being brought up against Rev. Dr. Juhana Pohjola (LHF project coordinator) and Dr. Päivi Räsänen, the author.

“Male and Female He Created Them” presents the traditional, Biblical view of marriage and human sexuality.

After this booklet came to the attention of Finnish prosecutors over a year ago (same-sex marriage was legalized in Finland in 2017), Rev. Pohjola and Dr. Räsänen were accused of “incitement against a group of people” (what Americans might call “hate speech”). If found guilty, they face the possibility of several years in prison and/or fines.

Dr. Päivi Räsänen

(To read the booklet in English, go to www.LHFmissions.org/Publications and search for the title. Click on the PDF icon to view the text.)

“We have a long history of Lutheran teaching in our country,” Rev. Pohjola said in a previous interview with LHF. “However, it is extensively forgotten. We continue to work with LHF in order that future generations would know what treasure we have in Lutheran teaching, in which Jesus Christ is the beginning and the end, and a disturbed conscience can find a true peace.”

Rev. Pohjola is the bishop-elect of the Evangelical Lutheran Mission Diocese of Finland, a partner church of the LCMS.