Negligent Use of a Dangerous Mind: the defense would like to call jesus christ to the stand

Friday, January 27, 2006

the defense would like to call jesus christ to the stand

In Italy, a judge began hearing arguments this morning based on a complaint filed by an atheist (Cascioli) who claims that the Roman Catholic Church has been tricking people for the last 2000 with claims that Jesus existed, and that priest Enrico Righi is violating two Italian laws by perpetuating the Church's claims:

Cascioli filed a criminal complaint in 2002 after Righi wrote in a parish bulletin that Jesus did indeed exist, and that he was born of a couple named Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem and lived in Nazareth. Cascioli claims that Righi's assertion constituted two crimes under Italian law: so-called "abuse of popular belief," in which someone fraudulently deceives people; and "impersonation," in which someone gains by attributing a false name to a person.

"The point is not to establish whether Jesus existed or not, but if there is a question of possible fraud," Cascioli's attorney, Mauro Fonzo, told reporters before the hearing.
Cascioli says the church has been gaining financially by "impersonating" as Christ someone by the name of John of Gamala, the son of Judas from Gamala. He has said he has little hope of the case succeeding in overwhelmingly Roman Catholic Italy, but that he is merely going through the necessary legal steps to reach the European Court of Human Rights, where he intends to accuse the church of what he calls "religious racism."

My favorite part about the whole thing is that the plaintiff's attorney's last name is Fonzo, and the whole time I was reading this, I kept wondering if his offices are in the bathroom of a diner. Or if he has a strange attachment to leather jackets and pomade.