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The Overton window for Christian beliefs is narrowing
Unherd ^ | 1 April 2022 | LOIS MCLATCHIE

Posted on 04/04/2022 4:58:15 AM PDT by oblomov

In 17th Century Europe, you’d have swung for blaspheming against the dominant church of the day. In 2022, you can now be criminalised for professing the scripture of that same faith.

A Bishop and a parliamentarian have been tried for ‘hate speech’ in Finland, in this case for merely quoting and affirming biblical views. In 2019 MP Päivi Räsänen, grandmother of seven, had sent a tweet, accompanied by a Bible verse, criticising her church for co-sponsoring the Helsinki Pride parade.

Less than 280 characters triggered a life-changing police investigation. Räsänen was charged for the tweet, and also for backing biblical teaching on marriage and sexuality in a radio interview. Her third strike was a pamphlet she had written for her church in 2004 titled, tellingly, ‘Male and Female He Created Them’. Bishop Juhana Pohjola was tried for having published the pamphlet.

Thankfully, the Court in Helsinki struck down the case on Wednesday in a thundering victory for free speech. But for voicing opinions contrary to the orthodoxies of the day, the pair were prosecuted for ‘ethnic agitation’, a charge under the section of ‘war crimes and crimes against humanity’ in the Finnish criminal code. Brought in under a 2011 amendment, the charge bans the ‘[public] expression of opinion or another message where a certain group is threatened, defamed or insulted’. Maximum penalty — two years imprisonment.

(Excerpt) Read more at unherd.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: finland; overtonwindow; postrationalism; religion; religiouspersecution
This is what the West has become.
1 posted on 04/04/2022 4:58:15 AM PDT by oblomov
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To: oblomov
Less than 280 characters triggered a life-changing police investigation.

Yes, Finland is ready to join NATO

2 posted on 04/04/2022 5:03:44 AM PDT by PGR88
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To: oblomov

Could anyone explain what this has to do with the Overton window?

Seems like a fancy concept thrown in for no particular purpose, in the midst of a gravely serious topic.


3 posted on 04/04/2022 5:30:33 AM PDT by Gratia
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To: oblomov

Deep down, queers hate their abnormality and will do everything possible to destroy anything normal. Doing so will somehow make them “normal”.


4 posted on 04/04/2022 6:01:51 AM PDT by bk1000 (Banned from Breitbart)
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To: Gratia

Re: the Overton Window, there is less there than meets the eye. It was beloved by the pseudo-wonk Glenn Beck back in the day, when he wanted desperately to appear to have some arcane insight into the world. All it means is the set of ideas and memes that are acceptable in the general discourse to a given population at a given time.


5 posted on 04/04/2022 6:11:39 AM PDT by hinckley buzzard ( Resist the narrative.)
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To: oblomov

.


6 posted on 04/04/2022 6:18:55 AM PDT by sauropod (So may we start? It's time to start.)
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To: oblomov

The end may be nearer than most people think. I hope so.


7 posted on 04/04/2022 6:23:29 AM PDT by Democrat = party of treason
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To: hinckley buzzard

Yes.

Think of Clinton’s triangularization in the wake of the 1994 Congressional elections. Suddenly Ole Bill was a lot less Leftist and took on Sista Soldja, wanted Biden’s crime bill, etc.


8 posted on 04/04/2022 7:04:57 AM PDT by Alas Babylon! (Rush, we're missing your take on all of this!)
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To: hinckley buzzard

The Cymbeline window is still wide open. Take that, Overton!


9 posted on 04/04/2022 7:12:34 AM PDT by cymbeline
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To: oblomov
‘The Gods of the Copybook Headings’
by Rudyard Kipling

AS I PASS through my incarnations in every age and race,
I make my proper prostrations to the Gods of the Market Place.
Peering through reverent fingers I watch them flourish and fall,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings, I notice, outlast them all.

We were living in trees when they met us. They showed us each in turn
That Water would certainly wet us, as Fire would certainly burn:
But we found them lacking in Uplift, Vision and Breadth of Mind,
So we left them to teach the Gorillas while we followed the March of Mankind.

We moved as the Spirit listed. They never altered their pace,
Being neither cloud nor wind-borne like the Gods of the Market Place,
But they always caught up with our progress, and presently word would come
That a tribe had been wiped off its icefield, or the lights had gone out in Rome.

With the Hopes that our World is built on they were utterly out of touch,
They denied that the Moon was Stilton; they denied she was even Dutch;
They denied that Wishes were Horses; they denied that a Pig had Wings;
So we worshipped the Gods of the Market Who promised these beautiful things.

When the Cambrian measures were forming, They promised perpetual peace.
They swore, if we gave them our weapons, that the wars of the tribes would cease.
But when we disarmed They sold us and delivered us bound to our foe,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "Stick to the Devil you know."

On the first Feminian Sandstones we were promised the Fuller Life
(Which started by loving our neighbour and ended by loving his wife)
Till our women had no more children and the men lost reason and faith,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "The Wages of Sin is Death."

In the Carboniferous Epoch we were promised abundance for all,
By robbing selected Peter to pay for collective Paul;
But, though we had plenty of money, there was nothing our money could buy,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "If you don't work you die."

Then the Gods of the Market tumbled, and their smooth-tongued wizards withdrew
And the hearts of the meanest were humbled and began to believe it was true
That All is not Gold that Glitters, and Two and Two make Four
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings limped up to explain it once more.

As it will be in the future, it was at the birth of Man
There are only four things certain since Social Progress began.
That the Dog returns to his Vomit and the Sow returns to her Mire,
And the burnt Fool's bandaged finger goes wabbling back to the Fire;

And that after this is accomplished, and the brave new world begins
When all men are paid for existing and no man must pay for his sins,
As surely as Water will wet us, as surely as Fire will burn,
The Gods of the Copybook Headings with terror and slaughter return!

10 posted on 04/04/2022 7:36:44 AM PDT by T.B. Yoits
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To: oblomov

This has been going on across the developed world (which is actively regressing). I remember that about 25-30 years ago, a Canadian pastor was jailed for reading the Leviticus prohibitions against homosexuality.


11 posted on 04/04/2022 9:45:54 AM PDT by Albion Wilde (If science can’t be questioned, it’s not science anymore, it’s propaganda. --Aaron Rodgers)
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To: Gratia; hinckley buzzard
The generic term "Overton window" refers to "the range of policies politically acceptable to the mainstream population at a given time. It is also known as the window of discourse. The term is named after American policy analyst Joseph Overton." (Wikipedia)

So, with reference to the OP, the range of allowable speech about Christian concepts is narrowing in Europe, as it is here. I think it may be worse over there, from what I've read.

12 posted on 04/04/2022 9:53:11 AM PDT by Albion Wilde (If science can’t be questioned, it’s not science anymore, it’s propaganda. --Aaron Rodgers)
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The Overton Window theory postulates that for a particular area of public policy, at any given time only a narrow range of policy options are acceptable.

The acceptable policy positions aren’t just those currently in effect but also those that might be considered tolerable.

Outside of the range of the “window” are those policies which are considered unacceptable; policies that even though a politician may wish to promote, would likely lead to his downfall because they are considered unthinkable or radical.

But, with a shift in societal attitudes towards those policies, choices which were untenable may shift to being acceptable, sensible, popular, and finally, policy.

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2696806/posts


13 posted on 04/04/2022 4:10:17 PM PDT by deks
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To: Albion Wilde

Bump


14 posted on 04/04/2022 5:00:50 PM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: oblomov

I think it’s down to the Overton Peephole by now.


15 posted on 04/04/2022 5:14:57 PM PDT by 9YearLurker
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To: Albion Wilde
the range of allowable speech about Christian concepts is narrowing in Europe, as it is here.


 
We are living in a Genesis 19:9 world...
 

"Get out of our way,” they replied.
“This fellow came here as a foreigner, and now he wants to play the judge!
We’ll treat you worse than them.”
They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


The Health Risks of gay sex.


 

And now,  a BIBLICAL Message about homosexuality



 
Genesis 13:13
Now the men of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the LORD.

Genesis 18:20-21
20. Then the LORD said, "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and 
their sin so grievous
21. that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know."

Genesis 19:4-7
4. Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom--both young and old--surrounded the house.
5. They called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them."
6. Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him
7. and said, "No, my friends. Don't do this wicked thing.


Leviticus niv

18:22 Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable.

20:13 If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. 

           They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.

 
 


Psalms 12:8 The wicked freely strut about when what is vile is honored among men.

Isaiah 3:9 The look on their faces testifies against them;

they parade their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it.

Woe to them! They have brought disaster upon themselves.

================================================

2 Peter 2:13b Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight.

They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you.

================================================

Ezekiel 16:49-50  "`Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom:

She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.

They were haughty and did detestable things before me.

 Therefore I did away with them as you have seen.

 


Romans 1     New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
 
 18 The wrath of God is indeed being revealed from heaven against every impiety and wickedness of those who suppress the truth by their wickedness. 19 For what can be known about God is evident to them, because God made it evident to them. 20 Ever since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes of eternal power and divinity have been able to be understood and perceived in what he has made. As a result, they have no excuse; 21 for although they knew God they did not accord him glory as God or give him thanks. Instead, they became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless minds were darkened. 22 While claiming to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for the likeness of an image of mortal man or of birds or of four-legged animals or of snakes.
 

24 Therefore, God handed them over to impurity through the lusts of their hearts for the mutual degradation of their bodies. 25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and revered and worshiped the creature rather than the creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. 26 Therefore, God handed them over to degrading passions. Their females exchanged natural relations for unnatural, 27 and the males likewise gave up natural relations with females and burned with lust for one another. Males did shameful things with males and thus received in their own persons the due penalty for their perversity. 28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God handed them over to their undiscerning mind to do what is improper. 29 They are filled with every form of wickedness, evil, greed, and malice; full of envy, murder, rivalry, treachery, and spite. 


2 Peter 2

1. But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them--bringing swift destruction on themselves.
2. Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.
3. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.
4. For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment;
5. if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others;
6. if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly;
7. and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men
8. (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)--
9. if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment.
10. This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature and despise authority. Bold and arrogant, these men are not afraid to slander celestial beings;
11. yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not bring slanderous accusations against such beings in the presence of the Lord.
12. But these men blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like brute beasts, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like beasts they too will perish.
13. They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. 
Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you.


What kind of a people are we;

that we allow men dressed in womens clothes

to pervert the minds of little children?


But there IS hope!!!

1 Corinthians 6:9-11

  9. Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived:
      Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders
10. nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
11. And that is what some of you were. 
But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

If you could NOT change, you would be in most pitiful shape...


 


16 posted on 04/05/2022 3:56:55 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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