It’s Monday, January 15th, A.D. 2024. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard at www.TheWorldview.com. I’m Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com)

By Adam McManus

Finnish Christian parliamentarian found not guilty of hate speech

In a win for religious freedom, the Helsinki Court of Appeal found Christian Member of Parliament Päivi Räsänen and Lutheran Bishop Juhana Pohjola not guilty, reports Alliance Defending Freedom International. The two had been accused of inciting hate-speech after sharing their beliefs on biblical marriage between a man and a woman.

Räsänen, who expressed her beliefs on social media, was facing charges under a section in the Finnish criminal code titled “War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity.” And Pohjola faced charges for publishing a booklet on biblical marriage, which Räsänen wrote almost 20 years ago.

Paul Coleman, Executive Director of Alliance Defending Freedom International, was exuberant.

COLEMAN: “This crucial ruling upholds the fundamental right to freedom of speech, making clear that free speech extends to opinions some people might disagree with.  This battle has been won, but the war against censorship around the world continues.

“In a free society, everyone should be allowed to share their convictions, faith-based or otherwise, without fear of censorship. Criminalizing speech through so-called hate speech laws shuts down public debates and poses a grave threat to our democracies.”

In John 16:33, Jesus said, “In the world, you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Trump reiterates claim that Heartbeat laws are political losers

Last Wednesday, when the remaining GOP presidential contenders were debating one another, former president Donald Trump appeared in a Town Hall meeting on Fox News with Brett Baier and Martha MacCallum.

Mary Margaret Olohan, a senior reporter for The Daily Signal, asked about his recent statement indicating that a Heartbeat Bill is  “terrible,” reports LifeSiteNews.com.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, one of Trump’s rivals for the GOP nomination, signed a Heartbeat Bill into law in April 2023 which protects babies in the womb whose heartbeats can be detected, typically at the sixth week of pregnancy.

On NBC’s September 17, 2023 edition of Meet the Press, Kristen Welker asked Trump about DeSantis’ decision to sign the Florida Heartbeat bill into law.

TRUMP: “DeSanctus was willing to sign a five-week and six-week ban.”

WELKER: “Would you support that? You think he went too far?”

TRUMP:  “I think what he did is a terrible thing and a terrible mistake!”

With that background in mind, here is Mary Margaret Olohan’s question from last Wednesday in Iowa.

Listen.

OLOHAN:  “For me, it all comes down to this question between you, sir, President Trump and Ron DeSantis because you both talk a lot about pro-life, your record. And that’s my number one issue and the cry of my heart.”

TRUMP: “Good.”

OLOHAN: “… is justice for all people.  I’ve been, you know, vocal and celebrating with you all of your pro-life victories from the past. But then, in this campaign, you’ve also blamed pro-lifers for some of the GOP losses around the country, and you’ve called Heartbeat Laws, like Iowa’s, terrible. And so I’d just like some clarity on this, because it’s such an important question to me.”

TRUMP: “Okay.”

OLOHAN:  “I’d like for you to reassure me that you can protect all life, every person’s right to life without compromise.”

After recounting his success in appointing three Supreme Court Justices – Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett – who helped to overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022, Trump said this.

TRUMP: “I happen to be for the exceptions, like Ronald Reagan, with the life of the mother, rape, incest. … But I will say this, you have to win elections. Otherwise, you’re going to be back where you were, and you can’t let that ever happen again. You’ve got to win elections.

“Ron DeSantis, his poll numbers have gone down to a level that he’s going to be out of the race very soon. I don’t know if that were the reason. I hope it wasn’t the reason. I hope it’s for other reasons. He’s doing very, very poorly. It happened to coincide with that – [his signing the Florida Heartbeat bill into law].  Because a lot of people say a lot of you know, if you took five or six weeks, a lot of women don’t know if they’re pregnant in five or six weeks. I want to get something where people are happy.”

Trump has indicated that he likes the idea of a national ban on abortions at 15 weeks, an idea that his former Vice President Mike Pence had proposed.

Help pay for legal defense of pro-life rescuers

And finally, as The Worldview reported on Friday, 10 faithful pro-life Christians are facing a federal trial, which begins tomorrow, for rescuing pre-born babies from certain death on March 5, 2021 at an abortion mill in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee.

The trial, which could lead to astronomical fines and up to 11 years in federal prison, will be located at the Federal Court House, 801 Broadway, Nashville, TN 37203.

If you live in the area, please attend a prayer rally that begins at 7:30am outside the court house.  But, no matter where you live, please pray that justice would be done and the peaceful pro-lifers would not be penalized for participating in righteous civil disobedience.

Three quick updates to that story.

First, listen to the first-hand accounts of some of the pro-life rescuers at the website StifledCry.com.

Second, Chet Gallagher, the organizer of the Mt. Juliet, Tennessee 2021 pro-life rescue has a powerful testimony. Back in January 1989, he was a Las Vegas, Nevada policeman. Not only did Gallagher refuse to arrest pro-life rescuers in Las Vegas, but he felt convicted in 1989 to join them, for which he himself was arrested while in uniform. Gallagher was subsequently fired from the Las Vegas Police Department for his pro-life stand.

And third, The Personhood Alliance has set up a GiveSendGo donation page to help pay the legal expenses of Paul Vaughn, one of the 10 pro-life rescuers. Vaughn, age 55, is the father of 11 and the president of Personhood Tennessee.

His oldest is 27 and his youngest is 18 months. Four of his children are married, and seven of them still live at his home. Vaughn told The Daily Signal, “It is not uncommon for pro-life people to have large families because the very concept of having children is something that we believe is a gift from God and something to be valued and sought after.”

Appearing on Fox News, Vaughn described what happened when he was arrested by the FBI agents who were pointing guns at him and using guns to intimidate his children.

VAUGHN: “When my kids go out to the car to go to school, and the FBI pulls up, armed, running to the door, and one of them goes to the kids and holds the kids with a long gun at the side of my driveway, and does not let them go into the house, that is absolutely, as my wife said in the video, unacceptable.”

In Deuteronomy 30:19, God said, “I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.”

So far, Christians across America have donated $24,056 toward the $100,000 goal.  Please consider making a donation today.

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And that’s The Worldview in 5 Minutes on this Monday, January 15th in the year of our Lord 2024. Subscribe by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com.  Or get the Generations app through Google Play or The App Store. I’m Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com).  Seize the day for Jesus Christ.