Finland is a northern country that allied with the Nazis during World War II to help it fight off the Soviets.  It's also known for Finlandia vodka, Nokia phones, and Marimekko designs.  It was once a staunch Lutheran country, but it has just proven itself one of the world's most repressive countries when it comes to biblical Christianity — at least the part of Christianity that believes there are only two sexes and that heterosexuality is the norm.

Seventy percent of Finns call themselves "Christians."  Indeed, according to Wikipedia, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland isn't just Finland's largest religious body; it's also one of the largest Lutheran churches in the world.  As is true across the Western world, though, Finland's allegiance to Christianity is fading, with the Church losing roughly 1% of its members every year.  Religion is mostly a pro forma activity (hyperlinks and footnotes omitted):

In 2016, 69.3% of Finnish children were baptized and 82.3% were confirmed in 2012 at the age of 15, and over 90% of the funerals are Christian. However, the majority of Lutherans attend church only for special occasions like Christmas ceremonies, weddings, and funerals. The Lutheran Church estimates that approximately 1.8% of its members attend church services weekly. The average number of church visits per year by church members is approximately two.

According to a 2010 Eurobarometer poll, 33% of Finnish citizens responded that they "believe there is a God"; 42% answered that they "believe there is some sort of spirit or life force"; and 22% that they "do not believe there is any sort of spirit, God, or life force".

Finland, a constitutional republic, has a typical European constitution, one that speaks in terms of "rights" but that, in fact, makes no distinction between rights, which are inherent, and privileges, which are revocable gifts from the government.  In Finland, the constitution spells out "Basic rights and liberties."  These rights ostensibly include equality before the law; the "the right to life, personal liberty, integrity and security"; "freedom of movement"; "privacy"; and "freedom of expression."  One more thing: "Everyone has the freedom of religion and conscience."

In addition, there are multiple socialist privileges that only pretend to be rights: "Education rights," "Right to one's language and culture," "The right to social security," and "Responsibility for the environment."  I'm pretty sure that the right to social security, language, and culture didn't come from the Creator.

It's the absence of a Creator that highlights what's unique about America's rights: they are God-given.  That is, they are bigger than man and government, neither of which can take them away.  Our God-given rights are the fulcrum on which everything else balances and from which we Americans leverage ourselves into greater liberty than any other citizens on Earth.

If you need proof of the unique difference between American's real rights and the simulacrums of rights in other Western countries, look what happened to Päivi Räsänen, who once served as Finland's minister of the interior: the 61-year-old Räsänen has been criminally charged for expressing traditional views on marriage and sexuality.  The press release from the Finnish state prosecutor, when run through Google translate, explains her "crime" (hat tip: Rod Dreher; emphasis mine):

Räsänen has written, "God created them as men and women. Gay relationships challenge the Christian conception of man." In her writing, Räsänen has presented opinions and information that denigrate homosexuals. Among other things, Räsänen has claimed that homosexuality is a scientifically proven disorder of psychosexual development. Pohjola has published the article on the websites of the Finnish Luther Foundation and the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission.

In addition, Räsänen has published on her Twitter and Instagram account and Facebook page an opinion that denigrates homosexuals, according to which homosexuality is a shame and a sin. [Note: She tweeted out a Bible verse. —RD]

Räsänen, on the program of the Yle Puhe radio channel, in its episode "What did Jesus think about gays?" made derogatory statements about homosexuals. In it, Räsänen has said that if homosexuality is genetic, then it is a genetic degeneration and a genetic disease that causes the disease. In Räsänen's view, homosexuals are also not created by God like heterosexuals.

According to the indictment, the statements further specified in Räsänen's indictments are derogatory and discriminatory against homosexuals. The statements violate the equality and dignity of homosexuals, so they transcend the boundaries of freedom of speech and religion.

I'm not defending Räsänen's crude nastiness in expressing her religious beliefs.  I'm just pointing out that the Finnish constitution's promise of the rights to religious freedom and freedom of speech isn't worth the paper it's written on.  Now, Mr. Catholic, pro-abortion Biden has set out his administration's fealty to "equity," race, and transgenderism, the only thing standing between those Americans who oppose the Democrat agenda and the federal government pressing criminal charges is our own Bill of Rights — which we hope is a lot more than Finland's worthless piece of paper.

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