Åke Green

Ake Green (born 3 June, 1941) is a Pentecostal Christian pastor who was sentenced to one month in prison under Sweden's law against hate speech. On February 11, 2005 an appeals court, "Göta hovrätt", overturned the decision and acquitted Åke Green. On March 9, the Prosecutor-General appealed this decision to the Supreme Court, which on November 29 also acquitted him. In their opinion, while Åke Green had violated Swedish law as it currently stands, a conviction would most likely be overturned by the European Court of Human Rights, based on their previous rulings regarding Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights. [sv icon cite press release|publisher=Supreme Court of Sweden|date= 2005-11-29|title=Högsta domstolen har fastställt hovrättens domslut i målet mellan riksåklagaren och Åke Green|url=http://www.hogstadomstolen.se/pressmeddelanden.htm]

In 2002, the Swedish parliament 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's lawyer maintained his client's religious freedom had been violated.

The Sermon

At his church in Borgholm, Green delivered a sermon [http://www.eaec.org/bibleanswers/ake_green_sermon.htm] in which he described homosexuality as "abnormal, a horrible cancerous tumor in the body of society," and homosexuals as "perverts, whose sexual drive the Devil has used as his strongest weapon against God." 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. [Den svenska politiken - Struktur, processer och resultat. Henry Bäck, Torbjörn Larsson, 2006. p. 78]

Controversy

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.

Despite his forgiving sentiment, Green became a cause celebre for American, Calvinist Baptist, radical anti-gay preacher Fred Phelps, who has labeled anyone who held the belief that God could love non-elect sinners 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 www.godhatessweden.com [http://www.godhatessweden.com] , partially in tribute to Green. Green subsequently denounced Fred Phelps for this. [http://www.thelocal.se/article.php?ID=818&date=20050107] "I think it is appalling that people say things like that," Green said, "it is extremely unpleasant." Enraged, Phelps 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, [http://webdiary.smh.com.au/archives/phil_uebergang_comment/001242.html] called the law under which Green was jailed "sodomofascist" and the law's proponents "homonazis". [http://www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/feedback/2005/0218.asp]

Temperance

In the beginning of 2008 the organisation IOGT-NTO, a Swedish temperance movement, decided to withdraw Åke Green's membership, claiming that his opinion about homosexuality conflicts with IOGT-NTO's bylaws [ [http://www.iogt.se/templates/NewsPageSmall____15743.aspx (Swedish) IOGT-NTO's decision to exclude Åke Green] ] .

Instead Green became an adherent of the Christian temperance movement, the Blue Ribbon. He was involved in another controversy following the announchment that he was to hold a speech at a common manifestation together with the Social Democrats at the 1th of May, 2008, in the Swedish town of Vänersborg. The Social Democrats excluded members of the Blue Ribbon, including Green, after several protests [ [http://www.ttela.se/?article=38461 (Swedish) "Åke Green no longer welcome", story published in local paper TTELA] ] , some of which were published in Vänersborgs local newspaper, TTELA.

See also

* Anti-clericalism
* Persecution of Christians
* Homosexuality and Christianity
* Freedom of religion
* Freedom of speech
* Political correctness
* Religious tolerance
* Hate crime
* A parallel case also in Sweden
* Westboro Baptist Church

References

External links

* [http://www.cbn.com/CBNNews/News/040907aa.asp English translation of the sermon]
* [http://www.akegreen.org Freedom of religion on trial in Sweden - akegreen.org]
* [http://www.domstol.se/Domstolar/hogstadomstolen/Avgoranden/2005/Dom_pa_engelska_B_1050-05.pdf Judgment of the Supreme Court (translated to English from Swedish)]