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View Full Version : LMFAO!!! Court In Italy To Determine Whether Christ Was Real



Hardrock69
01-06-2006, 01:40 AM
Did Jesus exist? Court to decide

Wednesday, January 4, 2006; Posted: 1:35 p.m. EST (18:35 GMT)


ROME, Italy (Reuters) -- Forget the U.S. debate over intelligent design versus evolution.

An Italian court is tackling Jesus -- and whether the Roman Catholic Church may be breaking the law by teaching that he existed 2,000 years ago.

The case pits against each other two men in their 70s, who are from the same central Italian town and even went to the same seminary school in their teenage years.

The defendant, Enrico Righi, went on to become a priest writing for the parish newspaper. The plaintiff, Luigi Cascioli, became a vocal atheist who, after years of legal wrangling, is set to get his day in court later this month.

"I started this lawsuit because I wanted to deal the final blow against the Church, the bearer of obscurantism and regression," Cascioli told Reuters.

Cascioli says Righi, and by extension the whole Church, broke two Italian laws. The first is "Abuso di Credulita Popolare" (Abuse of Popular Belief) meant to protect people against being swindled or conned. The second crime, he says, is "Sostituzione di Persona," or impersonation.

"The Church constructed Christ upon the personality of John of Gamala," Cascioli claimed, referring to the 1st century Jew who fought against the Roman army.

A court in Viterbo will hear from Righi, who has yet to be indicted, at a January 27 preliminary hearing meant to determine whether the case has enough merit to go forward.

"In my book, 'The Fable of Christ,' I present proof Jesus did not exist as a historic figure. He must now refute this by showing proof of Christ's existence," Cascioli said.

Speaking to Reuters, Righi, 76, sounded frustrated by the case and baffled as to why Cascioli -- who, like him, came from the town of Bagnoregio -- singled him out in his crusade against the Church.

"We're both from Bagnoregio, both of us. We were in seminary together. Then he took a different path and we didn't see each other anymore," Righi said.

"Since I'm a priest, and I write in the parish newspaper, he is now suing me because I 'trick' the people."

Righi claims there is plenty of evidence to support the existence of Jesus, including historical texts.

He also claims that justice is on his side. The judge presiding over the hearing has tried, repeatedly, to dismiss the case -- prompting appeals from Cascioli.

"Cascioli says he didn't exist. And I said that he did," he said. "The judge will decide if Christ exists or not."

Even Cascioli admits that the odds are against him, especially in Roman Catholic Italy.

"It would take a miracle to win," he joked.


http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/01/04/italy.jesus.reut/index.html


:D

Nickdfresh
01-06-2006, 07:56 AM
Silly.

jhale667
01-06-2006, 02:41 PM
OK, isn't the definition of 'faith' a belief in something that can't be proven empirically? :confused:


...Not like I'm saying organized religion HASN'T been guilty of any fraud (ever :rolleyes: ), but how could you prove it?

Ally_Kat
01-06-2006, 03:17 PM
Does he plan on going after Xenu, too? I mean, if you want to talk about conning people, Scientology does it worse than most other religions.

Jérôme Frenchise
01-06-2006, 03:34 PM
Mmh... suing religions should have happened at the birth of ANY newborn Republic... But now?

Italy has been ruined by that old crook Berlusconi for these last few years. It's terrifying, eveything is derilict there, from institutions, politics - Berlusconi avoids all invitations from Italian Justice - the media (he controls the entire information system, TV in particular), culture (state drama hardly gets a dime to work, for instance), up to Italian people's everyday life...

Italy has become a shitty, grotesque Berlusconian circus... I don't know when their next general elections will take place, but they really have to kick that dirty clown out of the command of their business...

Jesus Christ
01-06-2006, 05:24 PM
Do they want Me to testify as to My existence? :confused:

Jérôme Frenchise
01-06-2006, 05:25 PM
Originally posted by Jesus Christ
Do they want Me to testify as to My existence? :confused:

:D Yeah, hard task... Any "clue"? ;)

jhale667
01-06-2006, 06:30 PM
Originally posted by Jesus Christ
Do they want Me to testify as to My existence? :confused:


...Are you offering to clear your schedule? ;)

Dr. Love
01-06-2006, 09:21 PM
Originally posted by jhale667
...Are you offering to clear your schedule? ;)

What, and take time away from his visits to the Front Line to debate US politics?

Seshmeister
01-06-2006, 09:27 PM
Originally posted by Ally_Kat
Does he plan on going after Xenu, too? I mean, if you want to talk about conning people, Scientology does it worse than most other religions.

What are you saying here Ally?

Christianity is less bad than Scientology because it's been around for longer?

Hardrock69
01-07-2006, 02:39 AM
Fuck em all....