Italian Court to decide whether Jesus existed

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

Source

 

Did Jesus exist? Italian court to decide

 

By Phil Stewart

ROME (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 to 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.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

...some people need to spend their time doing much better, more constructive things, like getting laid.

 

Oh, wait...Catholic...uhhhhh...like owning slaves? No...like touching little boys? Wait, that's too basic of a Catholic joke, even for an idiot like me. Uhhh...let's see...how about by KILLING HIMSELF? He's an Atheist, he's not contributing positively to our world, so why doesn't he just play a game of Russian Rolette, Solitaire-style, with an automatic Beretta 9mm?

[SuperJerk 0]

The above post made absolutely no sense, whatsoever.

[2GOLD 0]

Neither of the top two posts made sense.

And this guy:

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

 

Sounds just a touch bitter about something.

[Rob Anybody 0]

Those bastards. They took a man who may or may not have existed and are now using him as a reason for people to look after one another.

 

Why doesn't he just go for disproving the existence of God? If you're going to go against a pillar of any religion, you may as well go for the main one.

 

"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.

 

Seriously. If that's the only way he's going to play this case, he may as well focus on the big one.

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

It's easier to disprove the existence of a prophet due to birth records and other historical accounts surviving than it is to disprove the existence of an all-encompass formless entity.

 

And my post earlier really didn't make sense. Basically, I was saying that the guy wasn't contributing anything positive to society and was, in fact, being a detriment, so he should kill himself while he's ahead.

[Skywarp! 0]

Neither of the top two posts made sense.

And this guy:

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

 

Sounds just a touch bitter about something.

 

Well, he does have a point about the Church keeping society in the stone age. For example, Christian missionaries in AIDS-ridden Africa incorrectly teaching the locals not to use condoms, since according to them, they don't work. Of course, the reason for these lies is the Church's negative stance on any form of birth control.

[SuperJerk 0]

And my post earlier really didn't make sense. Basically, I was saying that the guy wasn't contributing anything positive to society and was, in fact, being a detriment, so he should kill himself while he's ahead.

 

So you're saying that anyone who doesn't agree with your religion should die?

[Guest CWMwasmurdered]

Yes, that was TOTALLY what he's saying.

[CheesalaIsGood 0]

Wow, I hope he wins.

[Vampiro69 0]

Ahh good times

[2GOLD 0]

Neither of the top two posts made sense.

And this guy:

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

 

Sounds just a touch bitter about something.

 

Well, he does have a point about the Church keeping society in the stone age. For example, Christian missionaries in AIDS-ridden Africa incorrectly teaching the locals not to use condoms, since according to them, they don't work. Of course, the reason for these lies is the Church's negative stance on any form of birth control.

 

True, but it's not Jesus fault. He didn't do it. Leave him out of this! Water to wine was fucking tight.

You wanna attack the church, sue the Pope. It's more fun.