Actor-presenter Christoffer Strandberg says that he met MP Päivi Räsänen face to face and was surprised.
Christoffer Strandberg says that he met Päivi Räsänen face to face. Arttu Timonen
Last week, the Supreme Court sentenced MP Päivi Räsänen (kd) to a fine for inciting against a people’s group. Actor-presenter Christoffer Strandberg, 36, was surprised by the public debate and speeches that followed the verdict, claiming that Räsänen’s religious freedom was restricted. Räsänen himself defended his sentence.
– No sentence will change Päivi Räsä. He has said quite a lot for the last 20-30 years and now it went beyond the opinion of the Supreme Court. I believe that the judges of the court, who are professionals in their field, know jurisprudence better than I do, says Strandberg.
According to his words, he has no opinion on the verdict itself. He thinks the setting is ungrateful to homosexuals.
– I decided not to enter into this discussion, where my right to live as an equal member of society is put in question. The right of Pai to call me mentally ill is basically the same. The whole setup is absurd!
Strandberg says that he takes his hat off to Räsänen, who shoots his opinions heartily.
– I can respect Päivi’s conviction. But in his position, as a member of parliament and a doctor, words really do matter, regardless of whether he thinks they’re talking about charity. I’m a Christian myself, but I think we have to treat fundamentalists of every religion with the same seriousness, but we don’t do that, he points out.
Invited Päivi to chat
In 2021, Strandberg publicly criticized his employer’s decision to hire Päivi Räsänen Masked Singer Finland program, and the commotion was complete. Strandberg was one of the program’s detectives.
The State Prosecutor’s Office had just brought three charges of incitement against a national group, and Strandberg wondered on Instagram how a politician who made insulting comments about sexual minorities, and who was indicted for these comments, was included in an innocent entertainment program. Räsänen commented on the matter with surprise in TV interviews.
Masked Singer Finland – there was an after-show in the uproar, which Strandberg has never talked about publicly before. He didn’t want to make Räsäse a morkö for himself, so an invitation went out to the MP The Christoffer Strandberg Show as a guest.
– I was really surprised and happy when Päivi came.
Strandberg had an hour-long warm and respectful conversation with Räsänen. It was quite good for him when in public they were painted as each other’s arch-enemies.
– I was told that I belong to the church, which I think surprised Päivi. We didn’t talk so much about our values, but about how such a commotion feels and what our point of view was on it. It was a good conversation, and I feel that I have no personal problem with Päivi, he says.
Strandberg was already excited about how an episode of a talk show could open up something new for viewers when shown on television.
– But then Nelonen decided not to show the episode. I completely understand the decision, because the week the episode was supposed to air, it came out that Päivi sued her own church because the church allowed same-sex ordinations in their premises. The other guests and content of the episode would have been left at the feet of a completely new commotion. Without it, I would have really wanted to show the episode.
Meeting Päivi Räsänen surprised the well-known presenter. Timur Yilmaz
Common ground
Strandberg says that he is happy to have met Räsänen alone. That’s when he realized that there is that other person: a person with his own values.
Strandberg found common ground in the fact that he too finds church rituals purifying and treats them with respect.
– My grandmother was a devout Christian and I always prayed the evening prayer when I was with her in care as a child. I admire his way of being a Christian, it was never a pushover. With her behavior and words, Grandma truly represented to me what it means to love one’s neighbor. It’s not about calling people sick because of their sexual orientation.
In Strandberg’s opinion, there is room for different interpretations in Christianity, and that is why he has not left the church either, although he has thought about it in adulthood. If the Bible starts to be interpreted literally, quite a lot of Finnish laws will soon be broken.
As for Räsänen’s sentence, Strandberg reminds us that freedom of speech is still valid. But so is word responsibility. We all have a moral responsibility for how we talk about each other. What goes beyond the limits of the law is for the courts to decide.
– Päivi can still say exactly what she wants in the name of her faith. About me and everyone like me.
