United States ex rel. Gerald Mayo v. Satan and His Staff

A Pennsylvanian man named Gerald Mayo sought legal action against the devil for misery, threats, and obstacles placed in his way, and that these actions caused his "downfall" and loss of constitutional rights. In addition to not being specific about the charges at all, Mayo also claimed that he could not afford the costs of the suit and that they should be waived.

The U.S. District Court in Pennsylvania was as professional about the situation despite the absurdity of the claim. The court argued that there was no precedent in the case, as no other lawsuits have ever been brought against the devil. In addition, it would have been difficult to determine the proper jurisdiction in a case where the devil himself was a defendant. Referencing a fictional story where the devil was sued in the state of New Hampshire, the court determined that the devil could be considered a foreign prince, and would be unable to determine if the devil could enact sovereign immunity.

The case was ultimately dropped, additionally because a U.S. Marshal (in charge of federal-level arrest warrants) would be unable to give the devil a notice of legal action. In my personal opinion though, even if a trial against the devil were successfully conducted and the devil was found guilty, is the devil really going to pay damages. Anyone remotely familiar with the devil's character can see that the entire endeavor was pointless.

More about the case can be learned through Wikisource.

The Devil is a Part-timer

Since you are familiar with anime like I am, perhaps you have heard of Hataraku Maou-sama (The Devil is a Part-timer)? In it, the devil is chased from his castle in a parallel world named Ente Isla, and escapes through a portal into modern-day Tokyo. With no resources and no way to regain his powers, the devil decides to work part-time at the local McDonalds. Also, the devil is actually a really nice guy and is just misunderstood by others, who knew? A high school girl who is his co-worker has a crush on him as well despite knowing he is the devil, much to the chagrin of the hero who is tasked with killing him.

The light novels touch upon names and concepts that appear in biblical and other lore, such as Alciel, Lucifer, the tree of life Yggdrasil, and various means of regaining magical force. Overall though, the series seems to only lightly touch upon any religious imagery, instead relying on a character driven story with comedic elements. More about the series can be learned from Wikipedia, Yen Press, and its anime page on MyAnimeList.

First Post

I find the class interesting so far. The structure is very different from any other class I've taken and it will definitely take some getting used to. I really enjoy the group I'm currently in. All of the other members are funny and easy to talk to.

I will say that I think some of the assigned reading is pretty long. My eyes start to gloss over when reading things such as Avesta, especially when there's no context to the reading. "Read this by Tuesday" isn't as helpful as "When reading this for Tuesday, pay attention to this theme, or focus on the relationship between these two people". It's helpful to know what to look for, or why a particular reading is important.