Facts from Finland
|
|
|
By Jyrki Jahnukainen and Ilkka Malmberg
Denying the genocide of the Armenians at the beginning of the 20th century is against the law in France, and it may well be that before long it is punishable under that country's penal code. It is also forbidden to deny the Holocaust, or that the slave trade was a crime against humanity.
Now that the French have taken it upon themselves to defend these grave truths on the world's behalf, little Finland could play its part by throwing in jail anyone who questions certain known facts of the nation's past or present.
We could start off with five self-evident truths, the disputing of which - even in jest - would now become a matter for the courts.
1. The Mainila Shelling of November 1939 (which started the Winter War) came from the Soviet side.
2. Mannerheim wasn't gay.
3. Finnish food is cleaner and purer than that elsewhere in Europe.
4. Multiple Olympic gold medallist Lasse Virén didn't use blood-doping.
5. Finnish design is spare and elegant and timeless.
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print in the November issue of the monthly supplement Kuukausiliite
JYRKI JAHNUKAINEN AND ILKKA MALMBERG / Helsingin Sanomat
jyrki.jahnukainen@hs.fi, ilkka.malmberg@hs.fi
