By Allie Martin and Jenni Parker
November 30, 2005

(AgapePress) - An attorney with the AFA Center for Law & Policy is joining
other U.S. Christians in commending a Swedish minister for standing up for
his religious-speech rights after he was charged of a hate crime,
convicted, and sentenced to prison for preaching a message deemed
"disrespectful" to homosexuals.

Two years ago Pentecostal pastor Ake Green denounced homosexuality during
a sermon at his church in the village of Borgholm in southern Sweden. The
minister first issued his message, entitled "Are people born with
homosexual orientation, or is it the result of influence by evil powers?"
from the pulpit and, afterward, had it published in a local newspaper.

In the sermon, Green compared the sins of his nation to the sin of Sodom
and described homosexuality as a "deep, cancerous tumor" on Swedish
society. And although he ended his message with a reminder that "Jesus
never belittled anyone" but instead "offered them grace," local
homosexuals protested the content of the message and a district
prosecutor charged the minister with hate speech.

Last year, Green was convicted in district court and given a month in
jail. He appealed and saw the 2004 conviction overturned earlier this
year, but Sweden's chief prosecutor appealed the reversal. Now, however,
that nation's Supreme Court has acquitted the pastor once and for all,
ruling that his remarks are protected by freedom of speech and religion
under the European Convention on Human Rights.

Benjamin Bull, an attorney with the Alliance Defense
Fund -- a group that assisted Green
in his defense -- said prior to this final ruling that homosexual
activists in Sweden and all over the European Union were hoping to make an
example of the minister. Bull recently stated that the outcome of this
case was "critical" not only for people of faith in Sweden but also "for
freedom of religious expression in America," considering the U.S. Supreme
Court's tendency in recent years to take international law into account in
some of its decisions.

Several Christian leaders in the U.S. are welcoming the news of Green's
acquittal. Robert Knight, director of Concerned Women for America's
Culture and Family Institute, says Pastor Green
was preaching "straight from the Bible ... warning his
congregation about what God clearly calls sin and inviting people
trapped in homosexuality to repent like any other sinners." He notes that
the minister also warned his listeners about the medical risks that
homosexual activity poses.

"For telling the truth," Knight says, Green "was under a legal cloud and
threatened with jail time." He says this Swedish court trial "should wake
up Americans to the dangers of so-called 'hate crime' laws, which so often
lead to suppression of Christians and others who hold to
traditional morality."

International human rights attorney Yuri Mantilla, who serves as Focus on
the Family's Director of International Government
Affairs, agrees. He noted that, with this ruling, the
religious community has "seen Sweden's Supreme Court uphold true human
rights."

It is important, Mantilla adds, for observers to understand what was at
stake with this case: that is, "the defense of fundamental human rights
and a precedent that sets a standard regarding the right to religious
freedom and the right to freedom of expression." Also, the human rights
lawyer points out, "The effort to send Pastor Green to jail is an
example of the dangerous implications of pro-homosexual legislation."

The International Impact of Pastor Green's Trial
Steve Crampton, chief counsel with the American Family Association Center
for Law & Policy, says Green's case has been
closely followed worldwide. One reason for the international
interest, he asserts, is that Christian and pro-family advocates in many
nations recognize -- like Bull -- the implications of this case for free
speech and religious tolerance in their own societies.

Crampton definitely believes this is true for pro-family forces in the
United States. "Just this past fall," he notes, "our own House of
Representatives, where we thought we were the strongest for the cause of
the family, actually voted in a majority to enact a hate crimes
provision."

Thankfully, the attorney says, it appears that America "may have headed
that one off" for now. However, he adds, "The fact is, what is happening
in Sweden today is going to be law in America tomorrow unless we all take
action."

Green was the first clergyman convicted under Sweden's hate crimes
legislation, which states that any "person who, through expression or
other communication that is disseminated, threatens or expresses
disrespect for a ... group of persons with respect to race, skin color,
national or ethnic origin, faith or sexual orientation, shall be found
guilty of incitement against a group of people and sentenced" to fines if
the offense is judged to be minor. And if the offense is deemed major, the
person convicted of the hate crime could be sentenced to as many as four
years in prison.

Crampton finds the case disturbing, along with its implications for free
speech and freedom of religion. Although Sweden is a society that has
prided itself on its tolerance, he says Green's conviction did not take
the international faith community entirely by surprise.

"We knew that one day it was going to come," the AFA Law Center
spokesman contends. "We didn't expect it quite as soon as it happened, but
these hate-speech laws are calculated to take out this particular kind of
speech -- even from the pulpit of a long-established church."

Crampton finds it encouraging that the Swedish pastor accused of hate
speech for disseminating his biblical message on homosexual sin was
finally acquitted of all charges. However, the pro-family lawyer
believes the lengthy foreign court case may serve as a bellwether for what
Christians and other faith community leaders in other "free
societies" can expect if they do not stand up and fight for their rights
as Green did.