Åke Green
Encyclopedia
Åke Green born 3 June 1941, is a Swedish Pentecostal Christian
pastor who was prosecuted, but acquitted, under Sweden's law against hate speech
because of critical opinions on homosexuality
in his sermon
s. The district court found him guilty and sentenced him to one month in prison. The sentence was appealed to the court of appeals (hovrätt
). On 11 February 2005 Göta hovrätt overturned the decision and acquitted Åke Green. On 9 March, the Prosecutor-General (Riksåklagaren) appealed this decision to the Supreme Court
, which on 29 November also acquitted him.
The Supreme Court stated that Åke Green had violated Swedish law as it currently stands, but a conviction would probably not be upheld by the European Court
.
included references to sexual orientation in a list of groups protected against persecution in the form of threats and expressions of disdain. The list appears in a section of Swedish criminal law
(Brottsbalken) known as The Act on Persecution of Minority Groups (Lagen om hets mot folkgrupp).
, Green delivered a sermon in which he described "sexual perversions" (referencing homosexuality) as "abnormal, a horrible cancer
ous tumor
in the body of society." He also said that a person cannot be a Christian and a homosexual at the same time.
He insisted that homosexuality is chosen, not inborn, and claimed that "[e]verybody can be set free and delivered."
At the end of his sermon, Green said: "We cannot condemn these people — Jesus
never did that either. He showed everyone He met deep respect for the person they were (...) Jesus never belittled anyone."
Green had invited media to attend the sermon, but when nobody turned up he wrote a summary of the sermon, including the above-mentioned quotes, which was printed in the local newspaper Ölandsbladet. A representative of nearby Kalmar
's RFSL, an LGBT
equal rights organization, reported the sermon to the police and the controversy began.
) and Green's lawyer maintained his client's religious freedom had been violated. On 11 February 2005 Göta hovrätt overturned the decision and acquitted Åke Green. On 9 March, the Prosecutor-General (Riksåklagaren) appealed this decision to the Supreme Court
, which on 29 November also acquitted him.
The Supreme Court stated that Åke Green had violated Swedish hate speech law (Lagen om hets mot folkgrupp). A conviction would probably not be upheld by the European Court
considering Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights
, which covers freedom of religion. After a discussion of the case law
regarding Article 9 and 10 the court stated: "Under these circumstances, it is likely that the European Court, in a determination of the restriction of Åke Green’s right to preach his Biblically based opinion that a judgment of conviction would constitute, would find that this restriction is not proportionate, and would therefore be a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights."
The sentence has raised a controversy all around the world, with disputes between those who see it as a victory for human rights
and freedom from intolerance, and those who see it as an attack on religious freedom
and the right to free speech
, which in themselves are both regarded as human rights.
Green became a cause celebre for anti-gay
preacher Fred Phelps
, who has labelled anyone who held the belief that God
could love non-elect sin
ners as being eternally damned
. Nonetheless, Phelps installed a monument praising Green on his website. (All of the other "monuments" to people on Phelps' sites actually express joy at the death of that person.) Phelps also launched a new website, , partially in tribute to Green. Green subsequently denounced Phelps. "I think it is appalling that people say things like that," Green said, "it is extremely unpleasant." In response, Phelps and his organization, the Westboro Baptist Church
, denounced Green as a traitor and an ingrate, and he later removed the Green tribute from his website.
Åke Green was also supported by Ulf Ekman
of Livets Ord
and Robert Vesterlund's Info-14
.
Responding to the sentence, Sören Andersson, the president of Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights
(RFSL), said that religious freedom could never be used as a reason to persecute people. On the other side, Jonathan Sarfati
, who agrees with Green's statement and has denounced Phelps, called the law under which Green was jailed "sodomofascist" and the law's proponents "homonazis".
, a Swedish temperance movement, decided to withdraw Åke Green's membership, stating that his statements about homosexuality conflict with IOGT-NTO's bylaws.
Instead, Green became an adherent of the Christian temperance movement, the Blue Ribbon. He was involved in another controversy following the announcement that he was to hold a speech at a common manifestation together with the Social Democrats
on 1 May 2008, in Vänersborg
. The Social Democrats excluded members of the Blue Ribbon, including Green, after several protests, some of which were published in Vänersborgs local newspaper, TTELA.
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
pastor who was prosecuted, but acquitted, under Sweden's law against hate speech
Hate speech
Hate speech is, outside the law, any communication that disparages a person or a group on the basis of some characteristic such as race, color, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, religion, or other characteristic....
because of critical opinions on homosexuality
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
in his sermon
Sermon
A sermon is an oration by a prophet or member of the clergy. Sermons address a Biblical, theological, religious, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law or behavior within both past and present contexts...
s. The district court found him guilty and sentenced him to one month in prison. The sentence was appealed to the court of appeals (hovrätt
Hovrätt
The Hovrätt was the highest judicial body in Sweden until Gustav III of Sweden founded the Supreme Court of Sweden in 1789. The first hovrätt, Svea hovrätt, was founded in 1614...
). On 11 February 2005 Göta hovrätt overturned the decision and acquitted Åke Green. On 9 March, the Prosecutor-General (Riksåklagaren) appealed this decision to the Supreme Court
Supreme Court of Sweden
The Supreme Court of Sweden is the supreme court and the third and final instance in all civil and criminal cases in Sweden. Before a case can be decided by the Supreme Court, leave to appeal must be obtained, and with few exceptions, leave to appeal can be granted only when the case is of...
, which on 29 November also acquitted him.
The Supreme Court stated that Åke Green had violated Swedish law as it currently stands, but a conviction would probably not be upheld by the European Court
European Court
European Court could mean:* the European Court of Justice , an institution of the European Union for the resolution of disputes under EU law, based in Luxembourg....
.
Background
In 2002, the Swedish parliamentParliament of Sweden
The Riksdag is the national legislative assembly of Sweden. The riksdag is a unicameral assembly with 349 members , who are elected on a proportional basis to serve fixed terms of four years...
included references to sexual orientation in a list of groups protected against persecution in the form of threats and expressions of disdain. The list appears in a section of Swedish criminal law
Criminal law
Criminal law, is the body of law that relates to crime. It might be defined as the body of rules that defines conduct that is not allowed because it is held to threaten, harm or endanger the safety and welfare of people, and that sets out the punishment to be imposed on people who do not obey...
(Brottsbalken) known as The Act on Persecution of Minority Groups (Lagen om hets mot folkgrupp).
The Sermon
At his church in BorgholmBorgholm
Borgholm is a city and the seat of Borgholm Municipality, Kalmar County, Sweden with 3,093 inhabitants in 2005. It is located on the island of Öland in the Baltic Sea....
, Green delivered a sermon in which he described "sexual perversions" (referencing homosexuality) as "abnormal, a horrible cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
ous tumor
Tumor
A tumor or tumour is commonly used as a synonym for a neoplasm that appears enlarged in size. Tumor is not synonymous with cancer...
in the body of society." He also said that a person cannot be a Christian and a homosexual at the same time.
He insisted that homosexuality is chosen, not inborn, and claimed that "[e]verybody can be set free and delivered."
At the end of his sermon, Green said: "We cannot condemn these people — Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
never did that either. He showed everyone He met deep respect for the person they were (...) Jesus never belittled anyone."
Green had invited media to attend the sermon, but when nobody turned up he wrote a summary of the sermon, including the above-mentioned quotes, which was printed in the local newspaper Ölandsbladet. A representative of nearby Kalmar
Kalmar
Kalmar is a city in Småland in the south-east of Sweden, situated by the Baltic Sea. It had 62,767 inhabitants in 2010 and is the seat of Kalmar Municipality. It is also the capital of Kalmar County, which comprises 12 municipalities with a total of 233,776 inhabitants .From the thirteenth to the...
's RFSL, an LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
equal rights organization, reported the sermon to the police and the controversy began.
Controversy
The district court found Åke Green guilty and sentenced him to one month in prison. The sentence was appealed to the court of appeals (hovrättHovrätt
The Hovrätt was the highest judicial body in Sweden until Gustav III of Sweden founded the Supreme Court of Sweden in 1789. The first hovrätt, Svea hovrätt, was founded in 1614...
) and Green's lawyer maintained his client's religious freedom had been violated. On 11 February 2005 Göta hovrätt overturned the decision and acquitted Åke Green. On 9 March, the Prosecutor-General (Riksåklagaren) appealed this decision to the Supreme Court
Supreme Court of Sweden
The Supreme Court of Sweden is the supreme court and the third and final instance in all civil and criminal cases in Sweden. Before a case can be decided by the Supreme Court, leave to appeal must be obtained, and with few exceptions, leave to appeal can be granted only when the case is of...
, which on 29 November also acquitted him.
The Supreme Court stated that Åke Green had violated Swedish hate speech law (Lagen om hets mot folkgrupp). A conviction would probably not be upheld by the European Court
European Court
European Court could mean:* the European Court of Justice , an institution of the European Union for the resolution of disputes under EU law, based in Luxembourg....
considering Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights
European Convention on Human Rights
The Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms is an international treaty to protect human rights and fundamental freedoms in Europe. Drafted in 1950 by the then newly formed Council of Europe, the convention entered into force on 3 September 1953...
, which covers freedom of religion. After a discussion of the case law
Case law
In law, case law is the set of reported judicial decisions of selected appellate courts and other courts of first instance which make new interpretations of the law and, therefore, can be cited as precedents in a process known as stare decisis...
regarding Article 9 and 10 the court stated: "Under these circumstances, it is likely that the European Court, in a determination of the restriction of Åke Green’s right to preach his Biblically based opinion that a judgment of conviction would constitute, would find that this restriction is not proportionate, and would therefore be a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights."
The sentence has raised a controversy all around the world, with disputes between those who see it as a victory for human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
and freedom from intolerance, and those who see it as an attack on religious freedom
Freedom of religion
Freedom of religion is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance; the concept is generally recognized also to include the freedom to change religion or not to follow any...
and the right to free speech
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without censorship. The term freedom of expression is sometimes used synonymously, but includes any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used...
, which in themselves are both regarded as human rights.
Green became a cause celebre for anti-gay
Homophobia
Homophobia is a term used to refer to a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards lesbian, gay and in some cases bisexual, transgender people and behavior, although these are usually covered under other terms such as biphobia and transphobia. Definitions refer to irrational fear, with the...
preacher Fred Phelps
Fred Phelps
Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr. is an American pastor heading the Westboro Baptist Church , an independent Baptist church based in Topeka, Kansas...
, who has labelled anyone who held the belief that God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
could love non-elect sin
Sin
In religion, sin is the violation or deviation of an eternal divine law or standard. The term sin may also refer to the state of having committed such a violation. Christians believe the moral code of conduct is decreed by God In religion, sin (also called peccancy) is the violation or deviation...
ners as being eternally damned
Damnation
Damnation is the concept of everlasting divine punishment and/or disgrace, especially the punishment for sin as threatened by God . A damned being "in damnation" is said to be either in Hell, or living in a state wherein they are divorced from Heaven and/or in a state of disgrace from God's favor...
. Nonetheless, Phelps installed a monument praising Green on his website. (All of the other "monuments" to people on Phelps' sites actually express joy at the death of that person.) Phelps also launched a new website, , partially in tribute to Green. Green subsequently denounced Phelps. "I think it is appalling that people say things like that," Green said, "it is extremely unpleasant." In response, Phelps and his organization, the Westboro Baptist Church
Westboro Baptist Church
The Westboro Baptist Church is an independent Baptist church known for its extreme stance against homosexuality and its protest activities, which include picketing funerals and desecrating the American flag. The church is widely described as a hate group and is monitored as such by the...
, denounced Green as a traitor and an ingrate, and he later removed the Green tribute from his website.
Åke Green was also supported by Ulf Ekman
Ulf Ekman
Ulf Ekman is a Swedish charismatic pastor and founder of the charismatic church Livets Ord , which brought the Word of Faith movement to Sweden.-Ministry:...
of Livets Ord
Livets Ord
Livets Ord, literally Word of the Life, is the largest parish within the Swedish Word of Faith movement. The parish was founded in Uppsala by Ulf Ekman on May 24, 1983, who also served as its leader until 2000. Ekman passed on the local pastorship in Uppsala to Robert Ekh that year and instead...
and Robert Vesterlund's Info-14
Info-14
Info-14 is a Neo-Nazi newspaper, published in paper form since April 1995 until may 2000, when it was transformed into a website. The paper was started as a binding factor within the National Alliance with Robert Vesterlund, earlier member of the Sweden Democrats and chairman of Sweden Democratic...
.
Responding to the sentence, Sören Andersson, the president of Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights
Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights
Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights is a Swedish organization working for LGBT rights.It was founded in 1950, which makes it one of the oldest LGBT rights organizations in the world...
(RFSL), said that religious freedom could never be used as a reason to persecute people. On the other side, Jonathan Sarfati
Jonathan Sarfati
Jonathan D. Sarfati is a former New Zealand national chess champion and creationist author with a PhD in chemistry. Sarfati works for Creation Ministries International , formerly part of Answers in Genesis , a non-profit Christian Apologetics ministry specialising in Young-Earth creationism...
, who agrees with Green's statement and has denounced Phelps, called the law under which Green was jailed "sodomofascist" and the law's proponents "homonazis".
Temperance organisations
In the beginning of 2008 the organisation IOGT-NTOIOGT-NTO
IOGT-NTO is a Swedish temperance movement, the Swedish branch of IOGT International. IOGT-NTO has about 45,000 members. IOGT-NTO has a junior organisation, Junis....
, a Swedish temperance movement, decided to withdraw Åke Green's membership, stating that his statements about homosexuality conflict with IOGT-NTO's bylaws.
Instead, Green became an adherent of the Christian temperance movement, the Blue Ribbon. He was involved in another controversy following the announcement that he was to hold a speech at a common manifestation together with the Social Democrats
Social democracy
Social democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...
on 1 May 2008, in Vänersborg
Vänersborg
Vänersborg is a locality and the seat of Vänersborg Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 21,672 inhabitants in 2005. Until 1997 it was the capital of Älvsborg County, which was dissolved in 1998. Since 1999 Vänersborg is the seat of the regional parliament of Västra Götaland County...
. The Social Democrats excluded members of the Blue Ribbon, including Green, after several protests, some of which were published in Vänersborgs local newspaper, TTELA.
See also
- Bibeltemplet: A parallel case also in SwedenBibeltempletBibeltemplet is a Christian website in Sweden, whose administrator Leif Liljeström was sentenced in April 2005 to two months in prison for holding and expressing critical views on homosexuality...
- Homosexuality and ChristianityHomosexuality and ChristianityChristian denominations hold a variety of views on the issues of sexual orientation and homosexuality, ranging from outright condemnation to complete acceptance. In accordance with the traditional values of Abrahamic religions, most Christian denominations welcome people attracted to the same sex,...
- TolerationTolerationToleration is "the practice of deliberately allowing or permitting a thing of which one disapproves. One can meaningfully speak of tolerating, ie of allowing or permitting, only if one is in a position to disallow”. It has also been defined as "to bear or endure" or "to nourish, sustain or preserve"...