But I never believed in genies -- that was just storybook stuff. (At the time I saw no contradiction.)
Imagine my surprise to find genies treated as real beings in the Qu'ran. And now it would appear that someone is trying to sue one.
A family in Saudi Arabia has taken a genie to court, alleging theft and harassment, according to local media.Cell phones. Voice mail. I'm tempted to say that these people don't deserve the technology that they have. And the same goes for some Christians -- today I saw someone smear a woman with cooking oil in an attempt to convince a supernatural being to heal her. That these people can even use a phone is amazing to me.
The lawsuit filed in Shariah court accuses the genie of leaving them threatening voicemails, stealing their cell phones and hurling rocks at them when they leave their house at night, said Al-Watan newspaper.
Pre-deconversion, I'd have thought that suing an angel was crazy, so I wouldn't be surprised to hear that some Muslims think that suing a genie is equally crazy. Then again, if you think that angels and genies are real beings, it makes perfect sense to sue them like anyone else. This family's unquestioning faith in their scriptures looks like insanity. Doesn't it?
So here's an interesting continuum. On the one side are people who are rational, don't believe in supernatural beings, and live in the real world. On the other side, you have people who believe in angels and genies, and may try to sue them. They're the ones who really believe their religion, but they're (quite frankly) nuts. Someone in the middle of the continuum, like me back then, claims to believe in those things, but doesn't really. These people can exist in the real world, but that means they believe in their religion somewhat less. This suggests that one is insane to the extent that they believe in the unreal beings presupposed by their religion.












