People with consciences and a modicum of intelligence are turning an alarmed and angry eye at the eruption of 21st-century brownshirts at Columbia University and other college campuses across the country. They have every reason to be concerned since this latest incarnation of antisemitism is an outward and visible sign of the state of affairs of the nation.
Over at The Free Press, Olivia Reingold points out that many of the well-heeled malcontents staging the anti-Israel jamboree on the Columbia lawn are spending their time chatting, eating, making friendship bracelets, painting signs, doing their nails, and hunting for their vape pens. They may don keffiyehs to shout, intimidate, and wave Palestinian flags, but many of these spoiled scions seem to be under the impression that they are having fun at a music festival from hell.
None of that excuses their actions. During the Holocaust, Nazis held parties, went on outings, and generally had a fine time in the shadow of the smokestacks of the concentration camps. In the aftermath of the war, many of them lied through their teeth and either claimed to be following orders or that they were ignorant of the atrocities. Like the Nazis, these people have reached the age of accountability.
While our microscopes have been trained on the Petri dishes at Columbia and other institutions of lower learning, we should not forget that these events are not just the product of collegiate DEI/CRT programs. This is a global pandemic, and the vectors of infection are everywhere. A recent story from The Blaze bears witness to this.
Dr. Päivi Räsänen is a Finnish politician and former minister of the interior. In June 2019, she posted a shot of a Bible passage to social media. The post was a reaction to the participation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland in a Pride event in Helsinki.
The passage she posted, Romans 1:24-27, reads:
Therefore, God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator — who is forever praised. Amen.
Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way, the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.
The post had the caption, "How does the doctrine of the church, #raamattu agree with the fact that shame and sin are raised as a matter of pride?" Räsänen came under fire from the LGBTQ community and the Finnish government. Following a police investigation, Räsänen was charged with three counts of three counts of incitement against a minority group under a section of Finnish law dealing with "war crimes and crimes against humanity."
War crimes? Crimes against humanity? Granted, Räsänen's post is incendiary for some people, but they hardly fall under the auspices of a law designed to prosecute war crimes, let alone crimes against humanity.
In the ensuing years, three judges and an appellate court have decided that the charges against Räsänen were without merit. But state prosecutors want to make Räsänen an object lesson in the dangers of wrong-think. State prosecutor Anu Mantila is taking the matter to Finland's Supreme Court for a third trial.
In one of the previous court proceedings, Manila allowed that the issue was not that Räsänen cited the Bible. The criminal act was the way she interpreted the Bible. Räsänen, it seems, does not harbor the approved thoughts.
Regarding her upcoming court date, Räsänen said:
In my case the investigation has lasted almost five years, has involved untrue accusations, several long police interrogations totaling more than 13 hours, preparations for court hearings, the District Court hearing, and a hearing in the Court of Appeal. This was not just about my opinions, but about everyone's freedom of expression. I hope that with the ruling of the Supreme Court, others would not have to undergo the same ordeal. I have considered it a privilege and an honor to defend freedom of expression, which is a fundamental right in a democratic state.
Räsänen's case is a stark reminder that totalitarianism isn't just found on college campuses or in an interminable DEI meeting at the office. It doesn't just pop up in the dusty halls of a bureaucracy. It creeps in under various guises, usually under the most honorable pretenses. It usually hides in plain site the entire time.
