Fighting for Free Speech is Fighting for the Gospel
The intersectionality of religion and politics is a huge bone of contention in the present social dialogue. People from the right and left are both attacking the idea of Christian Nationalism—in whatever way it may be defined. However, the idea of free speech is foundational to Western culture, and it is extremely important to New Testament Christianity. Defending free speech should rise above any discussion of Christian Nationalism.
It’s not that Christianity cannot survive without free speech. It did for 70 years behind the Iron Curtain even though free speech—especially on the subject of religion—was reduced to nearly nothing. But Christianity expanded and grew in the Western world during those seven decades—millions trusted Christ—while it did little more than survive under communist totalitarianism.
But free speech is now under attack in the “free” world, and it seems almost more than it was under communism.
Hate speech is not about the truth, but about who is insulted.
Last week, Finnish Politician Päivi Räsänen was facing trial for the second time regarding a tweet she posted about four years ago.
Räsänen shared a social media post directed at the leadership of her church – The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland – questioning their official sponsorship of the Helsinki Pride Parade in 2019 with an accompanying picture of Bible verses from the book of Romans. (Realclearreligion)
Her post was made before the laws were changed outlawing such posts, but that did not matter to the Finnish court. Not only that, it did not matter to the court that her post was true—that supporting a Gay Pride celebration is directly incompatible with biblical statements.
During the appeal trial, the prosecution stated that it didn’t matter whether what Räsänen stated – namely that affirming same-sex marriage is incompatible with Christian teaching – was true or not, but that it was insulting.
It is a serious charge in Finland. It comes under the category of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
“But it’s Finland, not the US!” Beware, the same thinking that got them there is alive and well here.
This is about the gospel.
Many may argue that the whole “pride” discussion is not about the gospel. It is about the gospel. The gospel itself has life transformation implications, so much so, that James says that if there are no works accompanying the gospel, then that faith is “dead”(James 2:17-18). The real gospel will produce real–moral and social–changes in the lives of those who submit to it. That life-change, and the teaching and discussion that goes along with it, can be criminalized, and if so, it criminalizes the essence of Christianity itself.
Another reason this is about Christianity is the fact that the gospel itself is offensive to many. Asserting the sinfulness of all humanity—especially many specific sinful acts—is offensive to sinners. It always has been. People do not like being told that they are wrong or that they are sinners. If offending someone is the nature of a hate crime, then stating the gospel will eventually be, and already is in some places, a hate crime.
From a human perspective, if free speech is lost, it criminalizes the declaration of the gospel, which in turn has devastating results for Great Commission activity here and around the world.
Defending free speech is defending the gospel and Christians must fully engage in the struggle for their faith and for the opportunity to share it with billions of eternal souls that inhabit our world.
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