Helvetin Pastori/Pastor of Hell

This is a short update on my previous post , which you need to read for context. While I wasn't planning on returning to this topic this quickly, recent development deserve a post on their own. So let's get started. After a total objector avoided jail time last year by successfully appealing his case courts haven't been able to sentence total objectors. Since the decision made by the Helsinki Court of Appeals the Finnish Supreme Court decided not to handle the appeal made by the prosecutor effectively solidifying the status quo. The Finnish government on the other hand proposed legislation that would "solve" the situation by taking away the special exemption given to Jehovah's Witnesses. This legislation is currently going through committees within the Finnish parliament before a final vote which it's guaranteed to pass. On the 6th of February 2019, a day before I'm writing this, the parliaments constitutional committee gave their stance on the iss...

Well, it's been a while. It's been four months since my last post here, although that was not my plan. So, what has happened during this time? Short answer, work. As I've mentioned before, I actually work two jobs. Considering some of the things I've said here, it might be surprising that I work in security. I mainly work as a security guard and on the side as a bouncer. And as if working two jobs wasn't hard enough, bouncers mostly work nights, meaning I also have to deal with changing my daily cycle fairly regularly, which seriously messes up my sleep patterns.So basically, since I work to jobs, I don't have that much time to spend on writing and whenever I have any free time, lot of times I'm just too tired to focus on a longer post. Now, since my last post I've changed jobs. I was hired as a substitute for the Summer, during which my job was mostly to guard the entrance to an industrial area and monitor the traffic. However that ended in the end of...

I wasn't planning on staying silent for this long, but unfortunately my real world commitments prevented me from writing anything. However, recent developments, though not surprising, have left me disappointed and pissed off. In other words, it's time to talk about conscription yet again. Now, I've already explained the system in previous posts , but in a nutshell to those not familiar: Finland is one of the few western countries to retain conscription. This means that every able bodied man is required to serve in the military or complete alternative civil service, while women on the other hand are allowed to volunteer. Refusing to serve, people doing so referred to as "total objectors", leads to a six month jail sentence or house arrest depending on your specific circumstances. The only exception to this are Jehovah's Witnesses (JW's) who have been exempt from service since mid 80's, because of reasons I've talked about in the post linked above....

You know, when I started this blog, I wasn't planning on conscription being this big of a topic. But, since it seems to be a gift that keeps on giving, I see no reason to stop talking about this. Especially after the recent court case where a conscientious objector had charges dropped against them, which I covered in my previous post , the discussion has reached new heights. While I'm happy that this seems to have fueled the discussion to another level, this has led to some questionable actions by the government. As I said, I've already covered this case in more detail in the post linked above, so I'm not going into detail here. In summary, while Finland still retains conscription, Jehovah's Witnesses have been exempt from service since 1987. This has caused some controversy and over the years, multiple total objectors, meaning people who refuse both military and the alternative service, have argued that the practice is discriminatory towards other convictions an...

On the 23rd of February 2018, the Helsinki Court of Appeals made a land mark decision. The court acquitted a total objector, meaning a person who refuses both military and the alternative civil service, from charges on "refusal of civil service", on which he had previously been sentenced to 173 days in prison. This is the first time this has happened, so the question is, what does this decision mean for the future? First some background information. In my first post on this matter , I mentioned that Jehovah's Witnesses have been exempt from conscription since 1987. This is because back in the day, Witnesses were practically the only group of total objectors in the country. Just like today, the system received a lot of criticism on human rights violations, not the least of which was directed towards the practice of imprisoning  total objectors. In an effort to end the criticism, the Finnish government at the time passed a law which allows Jehovah's Witnesses to avo...