Bad Behavior

American Flag Photo by Lisa Setrini-Espinosa

With all the political ads in the mail and on TV before this election, it makes me wonder where the Christian influence has gone. Attack ads are everywhere and they are filled with half truths and outright lies. I believe the attack ads and name calling has gotten worse over the years. And there seems to be lots of attacking and name calling during the non-election “off-season” too. That is disturbing.

Note in the past there have always been some of these ads that have happened, and that is because unfortunately attack ads work. Today I am concerned that the continual negativity is destructive to America. Once, in a past election, I voted against a candidate because of a horrendous attack ad that his allies had aired.

I believe this negative behavior and attack ads are not good for the country. It divides the country with half truths and outright lies, and it creates an atmosphere of hatred. And these ads also cause some people to wonder what is really true. The truth gets lost, and some people will not vote. Others will believe the lies that fit with what they want to believe and end up discounting the truth. Again this is not good for the country.

Right now these negative ads are flooding the airwaves, especially in areas with hotly contested races. I believe these negative ads and name calling have become worse. I believe it is because we are living in a postchristian age and as the Christian influence wanes the moral basis of society has changed for the worse. Forgiveness and love of all are no longer moral standards.

At the Charlie Kirk Memorial Service, Charlie’s wife Erika Kirk said in regards to Charlie’s killer,

“I forgive him because it was what Christ did and is what Charlie would do.” And she said, “The answer to hate is not hate. The answer we know from the Gospel is love and always love.”

That is the Christian answer. After Erika, President Trump spoke and said,

“[Charlie Kirk] did not hate his opponents. He wanted the best for them. That’s where I disagreed with Charlie. I hate my opponent and I don’t want the best for them, I’m sorry,”

I think President Trump’s attitude is not that uncommon today in our postchristian society, because forgiveness is an unnatural act. Unfortunately, that attitude is divisive.

You might think that name calling is not that bad and these negative ads are just “the cost of doing business”. But Jesus says even name calling is a wrong deserving hell (Matthew 5:22). As followers of Jesus, we are called to love even our enemies (Matthew 5:44). That is radically different from the culture today. President Trump’s comment expresses what many of us today believe that we need to hate those who oppose us. Again this thinking is very divisive and destructive for America. We do not need it.

So how as Christians can we navigate this negativity during this election season? As Christians we should not sit back and do nothing. Instead, God has called us to be good citizens and to promote the welfare and wellbeing of the land (Jeremiah 29:7). This means we can promote Christian principles that would be good for our country, state, county, and city. Because we are called to be good citizens, we should vote wisely. We should first pray for wisdom and understanding as we consider and research the candidates and issues. I found this document to be helpful in evaluating the issues through a biblical lens. (Also it may be helpful to find some organization that you trust who has already done the work for you, but you need to note the bias the organization will have.) When you look at the candidates you need to recognize that they are not perfect and they have flaws, so you may have to choose “the lesser of two evils”. You should look at what the policies they support. Do the policies align with Christian principles? You should also consider their character. Do they have integrity? Will they be able to govern effectively or will their personality cause problems? And we need to remember to pray for the election process and for our leaders that they would lead in a God pleasing way (1 Timothy 2:1-2).

Do we want the best for our opponents and enemies? That is how Jesus would want us to live. Love and forgiveness are missing in today’s society. By loving all people including our enemies, and by forgiving those who hurt us, we can be a force for good and so unite people and not divide them.

Also prayerfully consider the candidates and issues on how they align with biblical values, and then vote. Please vote.

Hedonistic and Nihilistic Beliefs

Do you live for the weekend? Is being entertained very important? If so you may have some hedonistic beliefs. Or do you think none of this really matters? That is to say what you believe and how you live does not matter. Then you have nihilistic beliefs. Or are you somewhere in between with some of each. The last is more likely because Americans pick and choose what they believe. They decide what the moral truths are and what is reality. We are going to look at the hedonistic and nihilistic belief systems through the lens of some diagnostic questions. In my last blog post we looked at moralistic and therapeutic belief systems. Again I am using Mark Sayer’s “Sin Chart” taken from a blog post by Jake Meador at Mere Orthodoxy. I am adding answers I would give as Christian to these 5 diagnostic questions.

Questions	Hedonistic Answers	Nihilistic Answers	My Christian Answers
What is the purpose of life?	Life is pleasure.	Feel nothing. What about pleasure? It’s hard to get and doesn’t cover pain. Do good? What’s the point. Feel peace? Fat chance. Better to just feel nothing.	To know God and trust Him, and to live life by loving Him and loving others. This is only possible because of God’s grace.
What is sin?	Preventing pleasure.	Something that permeates everything. Sin is reality.	Self-centered attempts to be God by doing things our way. This makes us broken.
What is the world?	A playground. The world is there for you to enjoy. A flourishing life is to have the maximum experiences and maximum pleasure. The world is for self-pleasure and awakening. The world is there to be a conduit for your pleasure.	A disaster.	A broken place that is full of broken people in need of God’s grace.
What is its attitude toward faith?	Faith is too moral.	Faith is corrupt. But so is everything else.	Faith in Jesus Christ brings a full life and it begins the restoration process.
What is the solution to the moral ills of the world?	Just chill out. Less rules, more pleasure. If it doesn’t hurt anyone, just do it. Experience the world. Say “yes” to your desires. Look inside. What’s your heart telling you to do?	Escape. Retreat into games, into your bedroom. Escape somehow, perhaps with augmented reality? It’s depressing out there.	We cannot solve the ills of this world, but God can. Jesus Christ came and paid the price for our sin. He rose from the dead so that we might have life. God is at work in us.

I see escaping reality in both hedonism and nihilism. Nothing matters in nihilism so just dull the senses and concerns and escape into whatever to avoid dealing with all this stuff that does not matter. Hedonism is similar. What matters is me and me being happy. Nothing else matters. I am going to do what I am going to do to make me feel good. That is all that is important, so escape to good feelings. You can see some elements of that hedonism in today’s Critical Expressive Individualism and also a little bit in Moralistic Therapeutic Deism. It is all about you and you fulfilling your desires, because your pleasure is what matters in hedonism. In nihilism you might as well do what you want since it does not really matter. There are no absolutes. Nihilism can lead to despair because there is no purpose to life and no hope that things will improve.

Since most Americans will pick and choose what they believe and how they see reality, you will find people with combinations of several beliefs and that means there will be very few people with pure hedonistic or pure nihilistic beliefs. However, Mark Sayer’s “Sin Chart” gives a good insight into moralistic, therapeutic, hedonistic, and nihilistic beliefs, and by looking at what people believe you can pick out elements of these beliefs. Can you see elements of the hedonistic and nihilistic belief systems in your own beliefs or in the beliefs of others?

As I have studied different worldviews and the modern mashup of different belief systems, it is obvious to me that the Christian Faith has the best view of reality among all the different worldviews. It is what is true.

Moralistic and Therapeutic Beliefs

Americans today are synchronistic in their beliefs about reality. That means they pick and choose what they believe. They decide what the moral truths are and what is reality. One common combination is “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism”. It was popular 30 years ago and still is fairly common in America though what I call Critical Expressive Individualism seems to be the popular belief mashup today. We are going to look at the moralistic and therapeutic belief systems through the lens of some diagnostic questions. I am using Mark Sayer’s “Sin Chart” taken from a blog post by Jake Meador at Mere Orthodoxy. I am adding answers I would give as Christian to these 5 diagnostic questions.

Questions	Moralistic Answers	Therapeutic Answers	My Christian Answers
What is the purpose of life?	To do good.	To feel peace.	To know God and trust Him, and to live life by loving Him and loving others. This is only possible because of God’s grace.
What is sin?	Oppression that comes from ignorance.	The causing of mental or emotional discomfort or pain.	Self-centered attempts to be God by doing things our way. This makes us broken.
What is the world?	A good place ruined. The world is good but ignorant people create ignorant structures and that creates oppression.	A dangerous place filled with pain, trauma, and discomfort. You’re seeking a smaller world where you don’t feel those things.	A broken place that is full of broken people in need of God’s grace.
What is its attitude toward faith?	The church is immoral.	It can be acceptable when used as a tool for personal peace. It’s utilitarian.	Faith in Jesus Christ brings a full life and it begins the restoration process.
What is the solution to the moral ills of the world?	Virtuous education. Inform everyone through education of what is the new moral code and how we live that. If we do that, the world will slide toward a virtuous future.	Harm minimalization. Create a place that’s safe where harm will not be done.	We cannot solve the ills of this world, but God can. Jesus Christ came and paid the price for our sin. He rose from the dead so that we might have life. God is at work in us.

Most Americans will pick and choose what they believe and how they see reality, so you will find people with combinations of several beliefs. Mark Sayer’s “Sin Chart” gives a good insight into moralistic, therapeutic, hedonistic, and nihilistic beliefs. But Americans will take what they like from each of these beliefs and from other beliefs too. While they tend to create their own belief systems, many times their beliefs will mostly match one belief system or another. This is because the culture influences Americans and helps guide them into their belief system. So the culture tends to make the personal beliefs of others more consistent with the general population. Over 60 years ago, the culture was supportive of the Christian worldview. The culture has transitioned away from the Christian worldview to beliefs like Moralistic Therapeutic Deism and then today to beliefs like Critical Expressive Individualism. Both of these belief systems have elements of moralistic and therapeutic beliefs in them. Can you see elements of the Moralistic and Therapeutic belief systems in your own beliefs or in the beliefs of others?

My next blog post will cover the hedonistic, and nihilistic beliefs from Mark Sayer’s “Sin Chart”.

Three Bad Church Words

Today, most people think all of us are naturally good. The Bible says differently (Romans 3:10-18,23), and from what I have observed in people’s interactions and in myself I would have to agree with the Bible. We are naturally bad, and there are three words, church words found in the Bible, that describe our condition, ‘sin’, ‘transgression’, and ‘iniquity’.

‘Sin’ is a bad church word that is defined as a thought, word, or action that breaks God’s moral law. It is wrongdoing, wrong speaking, and wrong thinking. But it is much more than that. The Greek and Hebrew words mean ‘missing the mark’ or ‘missing the goal’ with the Hebrew word also having the meaning of failure. We are to love God and love people (Mark 12:30-31). That sums up God’s moral law. When we fail to love, we sin. Note the love here is about putting others and their concerns ahead of ourselves. It is the selfless sacrificial agape love.

Sin is a big part of our lives. Our selfish desires cause us to act for our own benefit at the expense of others. We hurt others. We are truly self-centered to the core of our being. Sin is like a beast crouching at our door seeking to take us captive (Genesis 4:7). In fact, without Jesus, we are slaves to sin. As Christians we have been set free from sin through our baptism (Romans 6:3-8). Unfortunately, sin still lives in our bodies (Romans 7:15-19). We are not yet totally free from sin.

Another bad church word like ‘sin’ is ‘transgression’ which also may be translated as ‘rebellion’ or ‘trespass’. The word in Hebrew and Greek is about betrayal, that is the breaking trust in a relationship. Adam broke the relationship with God when he disobeyed God, and because of that we all lived in that broken relationship with sin, but Jesus came and graciously restored that relationship by making us righteous (Romans 5:12-17).

And the third bad church word is ‘iniquity’. The word in Hebrew and Greek is about crooked behavior and the crooked consequences due to our choices. It is sometimes translated as “guilt” or “punishment”. Note we call criminals crooks, because they have departed from the straight moral way.

Psalm 32:5 has all three of these bad church words, so I am going to be bold and use the meanings of these three words and create my own version of the verse.

I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. (Psalm 32:5; ESV)

I acknowledged to you that I missed the mark with my disobedience; I did not hide my crooked behavior; I said, “I will confess my fault in breaking trust with you, oh Lord,” and you forgave the crookedness of my failure. (Psalm 32:5; “my version”)

We need to confess our sin, but how often do we shrug off our sin and do not seek the forgiveness our gracious God offers. Many times these church words have lost their seriousness for me and I need to be reminded of the meaning of these words. These words are life and death words. These words show the bad that we all have in us. We do not love, and we end up hurting ourselves and others. We separate ourselves from God. We are broken and crooked. But “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:25a). God does forgive us. Jesus paid the price for our sin, our transgressions, and our iniquity. Because of all Jesus has done, we can be set right and made whole and brought into relationship with God (John 3:16). Jesus has done it all for us.

This post was inspired by three great Bible Project videos. Check out “Khata/Sin”, “Pesha/Transgression”, and “Avon/Iniquity”.

American Federal Debt

A year ago, I wrote about the USA debt. Back then I noted that 27% of federal spending was on borrowed money for fiscal year 2024. For fiscal year 2025, because of President Trump’s DOGE effort and his tariffs, 25% of federal spending was on borrowed money. (There was a deficit of 1.78 Trillion dollars and spending was 7.01 Trillion dollars.) That is a slight improvement, but if you had to borrow a dollar for every four dollars you spend you would be in serious financial trouble. And yet we continue to borrow more and more money.

So far this fiscal year (through June 2026), it is not looking good. Federal spending is up 3% and deficit spending is up 2% when compared to the same time period last year and right now the 15% of the federal spending goes for interest. The only category with a larger percentage is Social Security (23%). Every other category (e.g. medicare, defense) has a smaller percentage than interest. But that is not the whole story. 19% of all federal spending goes to maintaining the federal debt, so the effect is more than the 15% of interest payments.

We are not making any headway on the federal debt. In fact, we are digging ourselves deeper and deeper into debt. I predict in just a few years, interest payments will be the largest category of federal spending. We are and we will be paying for money we already spent in years past. We have to stop kicking the can down the road. This is a case of pay now or pay more later.

I have always been concerned about the federal debt. I first voted in1976 and the debt was 3.54 Trillion dollars in 2025 inflation adjusted dollars. 25 years ago, in 2001, there was the last federal surplus. The debt then was 10.55 Trillion dollars in 2025 inflation adjusted dollars. At the end of the fiscal year 2025 the debt was 37.64 Trillion dollars. It has more than tripled in 24 years, and is more than ten times the debt from 1976.

Some people will argue it is not that bad because the economy is much larger. There is some truth in that but if we compare the debt to the gross domestic product (GDP) we find disturbing record numbers. At the end of the fiscal year 2025 the federal debt to GDP was 124%. Outside of the last 15 years, the only time the ratio was close to that high was in 1946 when the federal debt to GDP was 106%. That was due to all the borrowing during World War II. And after the war, the post-war economic boom and government surpluses brought down the ratio. We need those government surpluses to bring the deficit and debt under control.

As I have always said, we need to raise taxes and cut spending. And we need to be smart about it. It will hurt a little, but it needs to be done now. If we wait, it will hurt a lot more when we finally address the deficit.

Two Kingdoms

Christians need to hold a Biblical view of civil government. The Biblical view is that we are citizens of two kingdoms, a spiritual kingdom and an earthly kingdom. For Christians, the head of the spiritual kingdom is Jesus Christ. The Christian Church on earth is the visible component of the spiritual kingdom. The Church shares the Good News of Jesus Christ and offers mercy, grace, and forgiveness. The earthly kingdom, our civil government, is the country we live in, and it offers a stable environment of laws that promote the common good. Neither the visible Church or the civil government are perfect. They both have their problems because we are broken sinful humans. So as Christians and good citizens, we should make our Christian principles known for the betterment of the people.

Some Christians disagree with the idea of two kingdoms, but when we look at what the Bible says, the two kingdoms idea fits. Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world” to Pilate (John 18:36), and later Jesus also told Pilate, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above” (John 19:11). This shows the two kingdoms, God’s spiritual Kingdom and the God instituted civil government. The Apostle Paul explains more about the role of the civil government in Romans 13:1-7. Note Paul, like Jesus, treats the civil government separately from the Church. We are to submit to the governing authorities because they are God’s servants for our good by punishing those who do wrong. We do good, pay our taxes, and give our civil authorities honor and respect. However, because the government is run by humans, there may be times when we have to obey God rather than the civil authorities (Acts 4:19-20), but I believe those cases in America are pretty rare.

There are those in the United States who endorse the idea that Christianity in America should be given preferential treatment and that Christianity in some form should be the official religion of the nation. This did not work out well in Europe. The Christian faith ended up as the secondary partner to the government and in my opinion Christianity was crippled. Having Christian laws and an official Christian religion did not change people’s hearts. Changed hearts is the work of the Gospel message and the Holy Spirit. It is found in the spiritual kingdom, the Church, not in civil government.

This does not mean as Christians we should sit back and do nothing. No, God has called us to be good citizens and to promote the welfare and wellbeing of the land (Jeremiah 29:7). This means we can promote Christian principles that would be good for our land. We are also called to pray for our leaders (1 Timothy 2:1-2). And we also can seek the welfare of the land by becoming leaders and officers in government. We have the examples of Daniel (Daniel 2:48-49) and Joseph (Genesis 41:39-40), who were high ranking officials in pagan governments.

Today, many Christians are concerned with America losing its Christian roots. We can pray, humble ourselves and turn from our wicked ways (2 Chronicles 7:14) and let God work. Our job is to share the Gospel message, the good news of what Jesus has done for us, and then let the Holy Spirit do the rest. Changed hearts, not more laws, will restore America.

Happy 250th Birthday, America!

Islam

Americans do not know much about Islam. Many assume that Islam must be a lot like Christianity since Islam is a Abrahamic monotheistic religion. Others are full of fear and are worried that all Muslims are potential terrorists. There is some truth that can be found in both statements, but both statements are false. Islam is very different from Christianity, and the average Muslim is not a terrorist and does not want to be a terrorist. Muslims need to come to know Jesus, the only one who can save us from our brokenness.

Muslims believe in one god, Allah. Christians also believe in one god, God, who is Triune (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). The Quran denies the Trinity saying that Allah is above having a son, and many Muslims believe Christians worship three gods, Father, Son, and Mary. I will use “God” for our Christian god and “Allah” for the Muslim god. (Allah means god in Arabic.) Allah can not be conceived or comprehended. He is transcendent like God. God is personal and desires to connect with us in a personal manner (John 14:23). Allah is completely separate from his creation. Allah is impersonal, unlike God. Muslims also believe Allah has preordained every event. This fatalism can lead to a denial of responsibility though there is also the idea of Allah rewarding those who do good.

Muslims believe in angels. Each person at birth gets two angels, one to record all the good deeds and the other to record all the bad deeds. One also gets a qarina (a jinn tempter (like a demon)) whose job is to haunt and distract people from the good straight path. Christians too believe in the spirit world of angels and demons. We believe in guardian angels and demons. We do not believe in recording angels who keep track of our good and bad deeds, because of Jesus paying the price for us on the cross so we are free from any good and bad deed accounting.

Muslims believe in prophets, Allah’s messengers, communicating the message from Allah to the world. The major prophets are Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and the final prophet, Muhammad. According to Islam, Jesus is a prophet and nothing more than a prophet though he was unique because he was sinless and had a virgin birth. He was not the Son of God, rather the Quran calls him, the Son of Mary. According to the Quran, Jesus did not die on a cross rather he ascended into Heaven. He will return for Judgement Day.

These prophets brought scriptures with them, and Muslims acknowledge the Torah, Psalms, Gospels, and Quran. Except for the Quran, all the other scriptures have been corrupted and since the Quran exists, these scriptures have been superseded and canceled. Muslims believe that the Quran is the final revelation and is eternal and uncreated, meaning it existed before the creation of the world. In 650 A.D., Caliph Uthman standardized or canonized the Quran, and again in 1924 Egypt created an official version of the Quran, which is the version used today. In both cases, any variant versions of the Quran were destroyed, so there is little evidence of the variant versions today.

The Hadith is a record of Muhammad’s sayings, actions, and approvals. The Hadith is also important to Muslims for it tells them how to live. From the Hadith is derived most of Sharia Law (part of Ahkam). As Christians we are called to imitate Jesus (1 Corinthians 11:1), and Muslims use the Hadith to imitate Muhammad.

Allah requires obedience. The Five Pillars of Islam (as well as Sharia Law) is what a Muslim needs to obey. The first pillar is confession. You need to confess that Allah is the only god and Muhammad is his prophet. The second pillar is prayer. The ritual includes washing, facing the Kaaba in Mecca, greeting your personal angels, and reciting a prayer. This is done 5 times a day. The third pillar is daytime fasting during the month of Ramadan. At night you can feast. The fourth pillar is almsgiving. You give one fortieth or 2.5% to Islamic causes or to the poor. It can cancel out some of your sins. The fifth pillar is a pilgrimage to Mecca. These acts increase one’s chances of making it to Paradise. Note that all these actions are to please Allah. The external actions are what are important. As Christians, we value all what God has done for us. We do not have to do anything to get into Heaven. Jesus did it all to restore a broken relationship with us. That relationship is internal and out of gratitude we do good deeds, not to earn our way to Heaven. We pray to a God who hears us and cares for us.

Islam is more than just a religion. It is also a political movement and a culture that ultimately wants to unite the entire world under a single Islamic government or at least having a single Islamic culture governing everyday life. Muslims have a religious and a political identity. Christianity is separate from politics (Mark 12:17). Jesus did not come to govern. He came to save us from our sins (1 John 2:2). (Those times when the Christian Faith and government were connected, Christianity took a back seat to government priorities and its mission was corrupted.) Muhammad militarily conquered the Arabian Peninsula. He created a government under him. His followers continued to conquer lands after Muhammad’s death. Under Islamic Law, Christians and other non-Muslims were and are second class citizens that have to pay a special tax for being non-Muslim.

Radical Islam promotes the idea of martyrdom (Istishhad) as the only sure ticket to Paradise. (Christians have the assurance of Heaven. Muslims do not.) It is all about waging war against the enemies of Islam. According to the Quran (sura 3:169-171), “those martyred in the cause of Allah” will be rewarded and transported to Paradise. Islam has always highly regarded martyrs, and Radical Islam has used this passage to promote suicide killings. These killings happen much more often in Islamic countries than in the West with rival factions using suicide killings to promote their version of Islam.

Islam is very different from Christianity, and I believe the difference comes down to the two primary individuals, Jesus who died a violent death and then rose again, and Muhammad who used violence to conquer Arabia. And Jesus taught about the unconditional love God has for us, while Muhammad taught about our required obedience to Allah. Christians imitate Jesus, and Muslims imitate Muhammad. I believe this is the big difference between the two religions.

When we talk to a Muslim, we need to show them the love that Jesus brings, and we need to be aware that we may not totally understand what is being said and our Muslim friend may not understand what we are saying. This is because of the differences between Islam and Christianity. Be sure to ask questions to clarify so that you can understand each other. And remember it is all about Jesus, the only way to Heaven (John 14:6).

Much of this information came from the excellent book “Engaging Islam” by Georges Houssney, and if a book is too much, I found that the booklet, “A Biblical Response to Islam” by Hesham Shehab, is also an excellent read and is only 32 pages.

Blessed

Jesus Christ Statue Photo - Myriam Zilles

Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, we have peace with God (Romans 4:24-5:2). He has restored the broken relationship between us and God. Jesus paid the price for our sins (1 Peter 2:24). Out of love, Jesus died for us while we were still enemies of God (Romans 5:6-11). Because of Jesus, God forgives our wrongdoing and thoughts and counts us as righteous (Romans 4:6-8; Psalm 32:1-5). We are truly blessed (Ephesians 1:3-8)!

This blessing stretches all the way back to Abraham, when God promised Abraham that he would bless Abraham and through Abraham (in particular, his descendant, Jesus) all peoples would be blessed (Genesis 12:1-3). The blessing comes to us too through faith (Galatians 3:14, 29).

Blessing may be physical wealth or physical well being but many times it is not. Jesus stretches the definition of blessing. Jesus blesses those who struggle in life for righteousness sake and for those who promote peace and God (Matthew 5:1-12). Jesus blesses those who suffer for his sake. It is a different blessing that assures us and brings hope. In his grace, Jesus calls us to be salt and light to the world (Matthew 5:13-16). We are to share that blessing. We are not a reservoir, keeping God’s blessing to ourselves, rather we are like a river, sharing God’s blessing. This means we are blessed so that we can abound in every good work (2 Corinthians 9:6-15; Ephesians 2:10) and by doing so give glory to God. (Note God does not need our good works but those around us do.)

Since we are called to be salt and light to the world (Matthew 5:13-16), we repay evil with blessing (1 Peter 3:8-9), and we overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21). We are even called to love our enemies and bless those who curse us (Luke 6:27-28). We are to be conduits of God’s love, and not just consumers of his grace. The Jesus revolution is one of blessing and not one of power and control. So because of the great blessing we received, let us share that blessing of God’s love with the world.

Censorship in Finland

I believe clashing worldviews, between the old traditional Biblical Christian worldview and the new worldview which I call “Critical Expressive Individualism” (CEI), has led to a 24 page 22 year old booklet being censored with all copies to be destroyed. The booklet, “Male and Female He Created Them” (English translation), promotes the Biblical worldview of heterosexual marriage and argues against some of the common reasons to support same-sex unions. The booklet was written in 2004 after Finnish legislation that allowed same-sex partnerships to register. I think it might be a little like the idea of civil unions that was kicked around in America. This booklet was written many years before same-sex marriage became legal in Finland. Although the Finnish Supreme Court did not find the booklet to incite hatred or violence, it did find that having the booklet “made available, to the public and kept available to the public, opinions that insult homosexuals as a group on the basis of their sexual orientation.” Therefore in a 3-2 vote the Finnish Supreme Court found the two accused guilty and ordered all copies of the booklet to be destroyed.

This was a 7 year battle in the courts. It started with a tweet in 2019, and the tweet and the booklet (and the two authors) went through the courts in Finland. All the lower courts (and the police) found the accused innocent and no laws were broken but the prosecutors kept appealing the rulings. The Finnish Supreme Court found the tweet did not break any laws, but they found that the booklet did insult homosexuals on the basis of their sexual orientation therefore the two accused and the foundation that published the booklet were fined, and the court ordered all copies of the booklet to be destroyed.

Reading the English translation of the booklet, I did not find any inciteful or insulting language. No one or any group was degraded or threatened. It did state we all are sinners, and the Bible declares homosexual behavior to be a sin and homosexuality was not best for society. Interestingly, I did find the booklet felt dated, because the arguments were about homosexual unions and homosexual families. That surprised me and it makes me wonder if American Christians have accepted the premise of homosexual marriage and moved the battle on to Transgenderism. If so, we all need to read this booklet and realize homosexual marriage is not neutral but it changes society and not for the better. I did not find any “hate speech” in my reading of the booklet.

This ruling brings up the question of hate speech and what is it? Unfortunately hate speech is hard to define. Hate speech is offensive and it targets a specific group or individual based on certain intrinsic characteristics. It can be used to intimidate, vilify, demean, and/or humiliate. Its purpose is to incite violence or hostility, to promote discrimination, and/or to create divisions in society.

I believe the CEI worldview is how Western Culture views the world today. CEI is very individualistic. It says that every individual gets to decide what is true and what is false. You look inside yourself at your feelings and desires and you then decide who you are and what you believe. And CEI also wants to remove any oppressive social structures so that all people can express themselves freely. CEI sees people as naturally good, and with proper training and the removal of oppressive social structures a better world can be created. I feel that it was from this perspective that the court made its decision to censor the booklet.

I believe the traditional Biblical Christian worldview is the best description of reality, not CEI. The Christian worldview recognizes that we all are broken self-centered people. It is God, the Creator of everything, who sets the standards of right and wrong, and true and false. We find our identity in him. He created us male and female, and he gave the two sexes characteristics that complement each other. He loves us and wants to have a relationship with each one of us. Following God’s example, as Christians we are called to love and not hate. We love even our enemies and we want the best for everyone. We want to unite people in Christ and not divide. We do not want to oppress anyone and we are against “hate speech”, but in love we want to share with others the better way of life that better matches reality. That is what I think this booklet was trying to do. The booklet was not about insulting the homosexual community, rather it was trying to point out a better way of life. I believe the booklet should not have been censored and copies destroyed.

More information on this ruling can be found with these two articles, “Finnish Lutherans Convicted of ‘Hate Speech’ by Finland Supreme Court” and “Finnish Supreme Court Convicts Päivi Räsänen of ‘Hate Speech’”.

Reconcile

To reconcile means to restore a friendly relationship between two persons. Because of our brokenness, we are at odds with each other and with God. Broken relationships are common. In fact, all our relationships contain elements of brokenness, because we are broken. Reconciliation requires love and forgiveness. People are reconciled when in love forgiveness is given and accepted. It is not easy to love and forgive but with the help of the Holy Spirit we are able.

Reconciliation starts with God. Out of his great love for us, while we were still enemies and ungodly sinners, Jesus died for us to reconcile us to God (Romans 5:6-11), not counting our sins against us (2 Corinthians 5:18–19). On the cross, Jesus made peace with God by reconciling us with God (Colossians 1:19-20). We are forgiven because of Jesus (Ephesians 1:7). It is all God’s doing. He wants to restore that broken relationship he has with us.

With that restored relationship, we are blessed, and since we are blessed we are called to be a blessing (Genesis 12:2-3). Being a new creation, a blessing, means we are part of the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:16-21), where we share that message of reconciliation to the world. We called to imitate God (Ephesians 5:1-2). That means showing love and forgiveness to those around us . Just as we have been forgiven so very much, so we forgive others (Matthew 18:21-35). In imitating God, we get to love our enemies, do good to those who hate and abuse us, and bless those who curse us (Luke 6:27-28). We do not repay evil for evil, instead we bless (1 Peter 6:9) because we are called to overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21).

We are different from those of the world. We are truly countercultural. Today’s culture sees the world in terms of power. Many times it is expressed in terms of oppression. It divides the world into us versus them by pointing out that they have and we want, or they are in control and we are not. This view is very divisive. Christians on the other hand are in the business of reconciliation. We see the world through the lens of God’s love. We want to unite all people under Jesus Christ, because God desires for all people to come to know him (1 Timothy 2:3-6). So let us reach out in love and forgiveness and share that Gospel message of love and reconciliation.