Finland’s Discrimination and Equality Board has fined the city of Espoo €10,000 and ordered it to pay €2,500 in compensation to a student who was exposed to Christian content at school celebrations — including a graduation hymn sung by Finnish schoolchildren for generations.
The board found that in 2024 the student was exposed to the hymn Suvivirsi at a spring graduation ceremony and the song Varpunen jouluaamuna at a Christmas event. The city failed to notify the student or guardians in advance or offer an option to leave the events. The student reported feeling discriminated against over a six-year period from 2018 to 2024.
Neither the discrimination board nor Finnish media clarified what religious belief the student held that found offensive the ideas of God rewarding friends of the poor or promoting gratitude for natural beauty. School principals in Espoo have since notified parents that the traditional spring hymn will still be sung at this year’s celebrations.
The ruling comes on the heels of the Finnish Supreme Court’s conviction of MP Päivi Räsänen for a theological pamphlet on biblical sexuality — a country now prosecuting Christians for both preaching and singing. Finland is making the progressive case that Christian tradition, when encountered without warning, constitutes an act of discrimination. That argument is as absurd as it sounds.
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