Grisham's Italian Bible

There's lots to love about Italy. If you are vacationing, there are few places in the world where you will find a better combination of physical beauty, sublime cuisine, masterful examples of all forms of art and a rich cultural heritage. If your life revolves around the appreciation of beauty, Italy can easily be your muse. But if you are trying to do business, it's something else entirely. Italy reminds me of the prototypical sorority girl- nice to look at, fun to be around but utterly devoid of any hard skills or usefulness. In the schema of nations, Italy is a hostess. Italy is a prop. Even France is more useful.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in the ridiculous Italian court system which only belittles itself when it issues edicts they have no wherewithal to enforce. Earlier this year, the Italian courts indicted several CIA agents for the rendition of a terror suspect. That's nice and all but a decision like that does nothing but highlight the fact that Italy has no way to actually bring those men before their justice system. It's not like Bin Laden where we can't find the guy. If the USGOV simply refuses to cooperate, the Italian government can do nothing but whine. When I first heard about this, I thought it was just a case of political grandstanding- something very typically Italian. But with this recent case brought before the Italian courts, I'm beginning to think the problem is deeper- more insidious. I can't put my finger on it exactly but it smells an awful lot like crazy.

Luigi Cascioli is suing Enrico Righi, a Catholic priest, and the Roman Catholic Church as an entity. He's accusing them of breaking two Italian laws.

1. Abuso di Credulita Popolare (Abuse of Popular Belief)
2. Sostituzione di Persona (Impersonation)

Casciolla maintains that the Church created the myth of Christ and based him on John of Gamala, a first century Jew who fought against the Romans. "I started this lawsuit because I wanted to deal the final blow against the Church, the bearer of obscurantism and regression," as Casciolli was quoted by Reuters. Righi's side of the story will be heard by a court on January 27 in Viterbo to determine if the case will proceed. He was yet to be indicted but it could happen on the grounds that he "tricks" people.

This is kind of a creative tact I suppose- suing a priest for fraud and trying to compel evidence of Jesus Christ. But I think in true Italian fashion, Casciolli half-assed it. Why sue about the existence of a man who probably existed in some way, shape or form? Why not shoot for the whole ball of wax and just sue for the existence of God? Let's see the Italian courts make a ruling on that. Let's see them try to enforce it.

I can't wait to see how this plays out.