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Lawsuits against supernatural beings, such asGod or thedevil, have occurred in real life and in fiction. Issues debated in the actions include theproblem of evil and harmful "acts of God".
In 1969, Arizonan lawyer Russel T. Tansie filed a suit against God on behalf of his secretary, Betty Penrose, seeking $100,000 in damages. Penrose blamed God for his "negligence" in allowing a lightning bolt to strike her house.[1] The lawsuit was filed in a Californian court under the argument that God owned property inSonoma County, California, due to theLimeliters singer Lou Gottlieb transferring the deed of hisMorning Star Ranch to God about a week before. The deed was ruled invalid, due to God not being able to take possession of the property, and hence Penrose's lawsuit was also ruled invalid.[2]
United States ex rel. Gerald Mayo v. Satan and His Staff was a 1971 case filed before theUnited States district court for theWestern District ofPennsylvania in which Gerald Mayo alleged that "Satan has on numerous occasions caused plaintiff misery and unwarranted threats, against the will of plaintiff, that Satan has placed deliberate obstacles in his path and has caused plaintiff's downfall" and had therefore "deprived him of his constitutional rights". (Depriving someone of constitutional rights is prohibited under several sections of theUnited States Code.) Mayo filedin forma pauperis—that is, he asserted that he would not be able to afford the costs associated with his lawsuit and that they therefore should be waived. The Court refused the request to proceedin forma pauperis because the plaintiff had not included instructions for how theU.S. Marshal couldserve process on Satan.[3]
In 2005, a Romanian prisoner Pavel Mircea, serving 20 years after beingconvicted of murder, filed a lawsuit against theRomanian Orthodox Church, as God's representatives inRomania, for failing to keep him from the Devil, essentially stating that hisbaptism had been abinding contract.[4]
The suit was dismissed by the court in Timisoara in 2007, ruling that "God is not a person in the eyes of the law and does not have an address."[5][6]
In theU.S. state ofNebraska,State SenatorErnie Chambers filed a suit in 2008 against God, seeking a permanent injunction against God's harmful activities, as an effort to publicize the issue of public access to the court system.[7] The suit was dismissed because God could not be properly notified, not having a fixed address. The Judge stated, "Given that this court finds that there can never be service effectuated on the named defendant this action will bedismissed with prejudice".[7] The senator, assuming God to besingular andall-knowing, responded "The court itself acknowledges the existence of God. A consequence of that acknowledgement is a recognition of God's omniscience. Since God knows everything, God has notice of this lawsuit."[7][8]
Nebraska media inaccurately reported that Chambers filed the lawsuit in response to another lawsuit that he considered to befrivolous and inappropriate.[9] Chambers clarified that, on the contrary, his intention was to demonstrate that no lawsuit should be considered frivolous. He feels anyone should be able to sue anyone else, "Little Orphan Annie no less thanDaddy Warbucks andWarren Buffett." By suing God he "emphasized that attempts by the Legislature to prohibit the filing of any lawsuit would run afoul of theNebraska Constitution's guarantee that the doors to the courthouse must be open to everyone."[10]
In response to Chambers' case, two responses were filed. The first was from aCorpus Christi lawyer, Eric Perkins, who wanted to answer the question "what would God say".[11] The second was filed inDouglas County, Nebraska District Court. The source of the second response, claiming to be from God, is unclear as no contact information was given.[11]
On July 30, 2008, local media sources reported that the Douglas County District Court was going to deny Chambers' lawsuit because Chambers had failed to notify the defendant.[12] However, on August 1, Chambers was granted a court date of August 5 in order to proceed with his lawsuit. "The scheduling hearing will give me a chance to lay out the facts that would justify the granting of the motion," Chambers was quoted as saying. He added, "Once the court enters the injunction, that's as much as I can do ... That's as much as I would ask the court. I wouldn't expect them to enforce it."[13]
However, a judge finally did throw out the case, saying the Almighty was not properly served due to his unlisted home address.[14] As of November 5, 2008, Chambers filed an appeal to theNebraska Supreme Court.[15] The former state senatorJohn DeCamp and E. O. Augustsson in Sweden, asked to represent God. Augustsson's letters, mentioningthe Bjorn were stricken as "frivolous". The Appeals Court gave Chambers until February 24 to show that he notified DeCamp and Augustsson of his brief,[16] which he did. The case was finally closed on February 25 when the Nebraska Court of Appeals dismissed the appeal and vacated the order of the district court. The court quoted cases according to which "[a] court decides real controversies and determines rights actually controverted, and does not address or dispose of abstract questions or issues that might arise in hypothetical or fictitious situation or setting".
Chandan Kumar Singh, a lawyer fromBihar,India, sued the Hindu godRama for mistreating his wife, the goddessSita. The court dismissed his case, held on 1 February 2016, calling it "impractical".[17][18]
Consolatio peccatorum, seu Processus Luciferi contra Jesum Christum is a 14th century tract byJacobus de Teramo which depicts the Devil suing Jesus Christ for trespass following Christ'sdescent into Hell.
In the Australian comedy filmThe Man Who Sued God (2001), a fisherman played byBilly Connolly successfully challenges the right of insurance companies to refuse payment for a destroyed boat on the common legal exemption clause of an act of God. In a suit against the world's religious institutions as God's representatives on Earth, the religious institutions face the dilemma of either having to state God does not exist to uphold the legal principle, or being held liable for damages caused by acts of God.[19]
An Indian film,OMG – Oh My God! (2012), has a protagonist Kanji Mehta (played byParesh Rawal) file a lawsuit against God when his shop is destroyed in an earthquake and the insurance company refuses to take his claim, stating that "act of God" is not covered under his insurance policy. The Telugu filmGopala Gopala is a remake of this, as is the 2016 Kannada-languageMukunda Murari.[20]
In theFyodor Dostoyevsky novelThe Brothers Karamazov (1880), one of the characters tells the story of agrand inquisitor in Spain who meets an incarnation ofJesus, interrogates him and exiles him.[citation needed]
FormerAuschwitz concentration camp inmateElie Wiesel is said to have witnessed three Jewish prisoners try Godin absentia for abandoning the Jewish people during theHolocaust. From this experience, Wiesel wrote the play and novelThe Trial of God (1979). It is set in a Ukrainian village during 1649 after a massacre of the Jewish inhabitants, possibly as part of theKhmelnytsky Uprising. In the play, three travelingminstrels arrive in the village, having intended to perform a play. Instead they perform a mock trial of God for allowing the massacre. The verdict is innocent, after a stirring lone defence by a stranger who, in a twist, is revealed to be the Devil.[citation needed]
The television playGod on Trial (2008), written byFrank Cottrell Boyce, depicts a scene similar to that attributed to Elie Wiesel, but is also described by Boyce as "apocryphal".[21] In it, three Auschwitz prisoners sue God. The trial returns a guilty verdict, although with likely reasons for appeal.[22]
