There is a criminal investigation going on in Finland against a Christian lawmaker and her pastor who have been accused of hate speech. If tried and convicted, both of them face two to four years in prison and thousands of dollars in fines. And the supposed crime … publishing Bible verses and Bible-based information on sexuality. Not just any topic on sexuality is considered a crime, mind you. It is only a hate crime when a person holds a biblical view regarding homosexuality.
Finnish LGBT activists were able to push a bill through their legislature that made them a protected class under Finnish law. At the time, there were warnings that these kinds of laws would result in making the Christian message illegal, but these warnings were brushed off as being an overreaction. Turns out, they were not. Now, Christians are actually being prosecuted based on these laws.
Of course, that is Finland. America is different, right? We have our first amendment rights that guarantee this couldn’t happen here. Well guess what, freedom of religion is also a guaranteed right in the Finnish Constitution.
But we really don’t have to look to Finland to begin being concerned in America. The same problem is already starting to emerge here. As of this writing, over 60 cities and states in America have instituted laws that ban “change counseling” in one form or another. Change counseling has been defined as counseling to help people who are struggling with unwanted same-sex attraction. These cities and states have, literally, outlawed counseling by people who hold a biblical view of sexuality. Beginning to sound a little like Finland, it seems to me.
What is even more interesting, though, is that these LGBT activists are doing exactly what they have accused Christians of doing. While they condemn Christians as bigots for advocating for biblical morality, they themselves use bigoted language against Christians for not accepting their beliefs about morality. For them, tolerance only goes one way.
There is definitely a case to be made for Christians standing up against this kind of intolerance in the legal and political realms. But in an ultimate sense, laws and politics will not solve this problem. It is possible to win in the legislature and in the courts for now, only to see those decisions overturned in the future as the LGBT activists continue forward with their crusade. In the long run, the only remedy is to change hearts and minds.
God exists objectively as a real person, and the Bible is true. When people open their life up to Christ, their hearts and minds are changed. It is only this kind of transformation that will ever be able to turn the tide. Christians must move beyond the passivity that characterizes most believers today by equipping themselves with the knowledge to share their faith in Christ – along with the biblical truth about how reality is actually structured. Without this, nothing changes.