Can you sue God's publishers?

[NNN0LHI]

http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/religion_theseeker/2008/07/can-you-sue-the.html

If you can't sue the Lord for libel, what are your options? A Michigan man is about to find out. Bradley LaShawn Fowler, 39, has filed lawsuits in a Michigan federal court against Zondervan Publishing and Thomas Nelson Publishing, claiming some editions of the Bibles those companies put out call homosexuality sinful, which has led him to suffer discrimination, emotional pain and mental instability.

"Defendant willfully caused me to endure acts of hate, discrimination, and loss of sleep, appetite, by structuring their New King James Bible to reflect God’s distaste of homosexuals," Fowler wrote in his complaint against Thomas Nelson filed this week.

"By designing this product to promote hate and violence toward homosexuality, because such product is promoted as being the ‘authentic word of God,’ it is a design defect," says Fowler’s lawsuit.

[rpannier]

1. This will most likely be thrown out as a frivilous lawsuit nt

[Smarmie Doofus]

6. Gotta love the irony: the lawsuit is frivolous; the bible is not. nt

[roguevalley]

2. I hope not. If God is infallible, then homosexual people are part of

his great plan. I hope he wins. If he does, then God does too.

[newmajority]

3. Who's going to represent God in court?

I thought all lawyers went to Hell? :evilgrin:

[panader0]

4. "some editions"? Is there some other edition?

I too hope he wins. Then sue Gideons and all major religions.

[rpannier]

7. The phrase homosexual

does not appear in many editions of the Bible or in Jewish scripture.

In some it says, "It's an abomination in the eyes of God for a may to lay down in bed with a man, like he would a woman."

That can be taken a variety of ways -- One such would be "Sodomy is ok with a man, but not a woman."

I have a friend who is a Rabbi and he says that in Jewish scriptures it says, "It is an abomination in the eyes of God for a man to lay in his bed with a man the way he does with his wife."

Using that quote, it can mean That having sex with a man in the same bed that you do your wife is an abomination.

So, there are many editions of the Bible that omit the word homosexual.

[Smarmie Doofus]

5. It's an interesting idea.

>>>>The suit against Zondervan claims 1982 and 1987 editions of the publisher’s Bible declare homosexuality to be wrong in 1 Corinthians 6:9:"Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders."

Fowler claims the term was edited out of the 1989 and 1994 editions, but consumers were not informed.>>>>

What's not clear is whether the publisher altered a previous edition to *add* "homosexual offenders" where the "original" version left it out. In which case it's hate speech dressed up in religious garb.

But it seems the basis of the suit ( as I read the article) is that Zondervan *deleted* the term in the later editions ( perhaps evidencing conciousness of guilt? It's not clear.) and is being sued for that reason..... which doesn't make a lot of sense.

Anyway, the bible is in its essence a mishmosh of various prejudices and irrationalities and it's kind of fun as well as instructive to watch the drop-add process go on in fron of us.

Interesting and creative use of the court system.