There is no shortage of stories in the media about how people sold possessions, spent their savings, incurred debts, quit jobs and other things along those lines in anticipation of the world ending today. Since we’re all still here, it evidently didn’t happen.
Can those people win a law suit against Camping for his false claims or does his followers being stupid or gullible relinquish Camping of any responsibilities for what his predictions cause?
Additionally, some other media outlets are predicting that some people might commit suicide when the world doesn’t end. Can criminal charges be brought against Camping for his role in this? Or can civil charges have a chance of winning in court?
I put it in this forum because while there might be factual answers to these questions, I can imagine folks here debating it anyway…
The fact that his lies were religiously themed certainly does, as far as the law is concerned. Look at faith healers; people die because of them yet they go unpunished despite medical fraud and practicing medicine without a license both being serious crimes.
Yes, that’s the rub. The precedents all point against anybody winning. Probably the area that has the most precedents simply because there are so many people involved is the area of ex-Mormons suing the LDS Church after they learn the truth behind the Church’s history. However, even there the law in this country simply doesn’t provide any means for winning a case like that, and none has ever been won. Here’s a page that explains why:
There are laws against Snake Handling in churches, even though the leaders of those churches are adamant about how snake handling is in integral part of their religious ceremonies. So if someone dies because they voluntarily attend a ceremony involving snake handlers, the leader(s) can be charged. That’s something, inn’it?
What if it could be proved that he was financially planning for his future beyond May 21st while telling everyone else “It’s 100%, the Bible guarantees it”?
Since many death penalty cases have been overturned in the US after an innocent person was convicted to death, someone should have the balls to sue the divine entity that the US courts force people to swear to when they testify, which is also an entity that the courts have declared to have a supervisory authority on all legal decisions.
Probably misinformed. I’ve never had occasion to be in court, and if I hadn’t read that specific SD column years ago I would have assumed everyone swore on the Bible since after all that’s all you ever see mentioned.
I’m aware that people can request to have an alternate affirmation of truth telling in court rather than swearing to a book, but very few people, in the US at least, are aware of this fact.
I have been in courts several times, and have yet to see a bible. No one has to exercise any alternative; the judge just said raise your right hand and swear or affirm that you will tell the truth.
No you’re not! You’ve been reported to the cyber police!
In a slight modification to the OP, have any of the hidden camera/prank shows (producers, networks, whatever) been successfully sued by a target? If so, if one could conclusively prove that Camping was intentionally making things up (whatever proof you want; as long as it’s enough to convince a jury), and one could establish a direct link between him and a local, known-to-him, believer (i.e., the connection is not so tenuous as a radio or Internet listener), would that make a difference?
I assume that if I put on a feathered headress and pretended to put a curse on someone, no matter how much they believed it would fail the ‘reasonable person’ test (I’m pretty sure there have been cases like this, but I can’t find any at the moment). Does that mean free rein for predictions and malicious pranks as long as there’s a supernatural element?
Again, these questions are predicated on there being some case law that went against a person for leading someone to believe a situation was other than it was.
In terms of Camping’s failed prophesy, there are a few problems. First, you can’t prove that he KNEW it was false. Even if he comes around and confesses to being wrong, it doesn’t prove that he knew it was wrong all along. Innocent mis-statements don’t amount to fraud. Second, you can’t prove that it was obvious it was false and that Camping “should have known” what he was saying was false, since people believed him and anyone who DID believe him is basically saying that the beliefs were reasonable and thus can’t reasonably say the the plaintiff believed in good faith in something and suffered because of it when that thing was inherently incredible and that any reasonable person should have seen it was false.
Religious belief is not falsifiable, in the sense that you can PROVE it false so as to establish its falsity as a matter of fact. If it WAS falsifiable, it would be SCIENCE, not religion. Thus, since you can’t prove that religion is false, it becomes a much more difficult proposition to prove that statements made by ANY preacher are “false”, so the idea of suing or prosecuting a preacher for fraud regarding religious doctrine is basically unthinkable under US law.
You’d have to show that he knowingly and intentionally defrauded those people. That is certainly possible, but would be pretty difficult. Not sure if the fraud would have to involve personal gain on his part, but if so, that would raise the bar further.
