It’s unthinkable that an emergency legal challenge had to be mounted to gather in peace in the political heart of Europe.
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The effort to shut down a mainstream conservative conference in Brussels last week shows partisan censorship is a serious and mounting problem in the West. Although the attempted cancellation failed—thanks to a legal challenge supported by ADF International, the faith-based legal advocacy organization I lead—it is part of a broader, deeply concerning trend.
Take, for example, the news on Friday that the “hate speech” prosecution of former Finnish interior minister Dr. Päivi Räsänen for tweeting Bible verses will be appealed to the country’s Supreme Court. Räsänen has already been unanimously acquitted by two courts, but the ideologically driven effort to punish her for her Christian views continues into its fifth year. Her steadfast response of standing by her faith in the face of this ordeal is a lesson in how to respond to cancel culture: with fortitude.
