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Suppose I'm in charge of the opening of a new safari somewhere in the United States. The particular venue is chosen because it is not near to any known epicenter, fault line, volcano and the last typhoon that hit this place was recorded thousands of years ago.

Then I met the god of storm and invited him over as guest of honor at the opening ceremony. The event runs smoothly until the wind suddenly picks up speed and is accompanied by lightning striking the ground several times.

My question -- can this incident be written off as Force Majeure since it is the will of god? Or I must be held responsible for all the casualties that occurred inside the premise since I am the one who sent out the invitation?

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    $\begingroup$ It's not clear how this is about worldbuilding - more writing-choices really. Are you asking about the society's legal system? The prevailing attitudes in your world? Could you clarify the worldbuilding aspect and what the problem to be solved might be. $\endgroup$
    – Escaped dental patient.
    Commented Mar 28, 2022 at 15:52
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    $\begingroup$ It opens a lot of questions for me: For what reason was this God invited, did a supervisor request this, or would having not sent an invite offend the God and make matters even worse? Was the God ever asked during any time, "we are trying to protect this land, could you help us in ensuring it's protection?" Can the God control its powers, or does proximity alone affect the weather? What benefit was the invitation attempting the gain? Was any damage done? Is the appearance of a God in social situations a common thing, or were people freaked out by seeing a literal God? We need more context. $\endgroup$
    – Danger Lake
    Commented Mar 28, 2022 at 16:17
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    $\begingroup$ Seems like you are open to both civil and criminal action due to your negligence. You could have invited the Butterfly God instead. You could have sedated the Storm God. You could reduced risk lots of ways. Instead, by action or inaction, you set the conditions for the disaster. You may not be the proximate cause of each death or disfigurement, but you clearly share responsibility with the actual perpetrator. $\endgroup$
    – user535733
    Commented Mar 28, 2022 at 19:35
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    $\begingroup$ This is a neat question but I really wonder whether Law.SE would be the best place for it. (Perhaps tagged law-in-fiction.) $\endgroup$
    – Tom
    Commented Mar 28, 2022 at 23:41
  • $\begingroup$ In our world, you can't sue God mostly as a consequence of being unable to look Him/Her/They up in the phone book to send a summons. Stories like the Devil & Daniel Webster are just that - stories. We've never had to deal with the thorny legal issues concerning who has power to make whom answer to whose rules. If the gods regularly interact with mortals like in this setup, you WOULD need those answers. Asking what that intersection between the law and supernatural entities might look like is clearly on topic. But those answers depend on details not supplied, hence my VTC. $\endgroup$
    – Ton Day
    Commented Mar 29, 2022 at 0:46

7 Answers 7

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Force Majeure requires unforeseen circumstances.

It boils down then to, "would the presence of this God cause foreseeable circumstances?"

If this god is unknown to any, and only newly known about to the invite sender, they may or may not know that the God's presence causes weather events. We don't know if the God has specific control on their powers to prevent themselves from causing damage. We don't know that even if they did, that they had been asked to prevent damage to the location using such control. If the invite sender simply didn't know, this could lean on the side of these events being "unforeseen" and applicable. There may or may not be expectations to find out about the risks before sending the invite. (How common is it to invite a God to a social event?)

If the god is well known, and that they don't have the ability to prevent weather events causing damage, or that the mere presence of the god creates storms that potentially damage the area, then inviting this God could be assumed to cause damage. This would then make it reasonable for the invite sender to "foresee" the risk of damage unfolding before the invite was sent. This would not allow the damage to be considered "unforeseen" which would then cause the invite sender to be a knowing cause for the damage occurring.

There's a lot of ifs involved currently, but it would be similar to the situation of inviting a known problem-causing friend to a work event and that friend then causing a problem at the event where the solution would be "don't invite the friend that you know poses a risk" If you still invite that friend, knowing the risk of problems occurring as a result, that's a bad call on (you) the invite sender's part.

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  • $\begingroup$ just curious what kind of evidence can be admitted in courts to show that I am in cahoots with god of storm, the invitation letter or the fact that we (common consensus) associate god of storm with natural disaster and death? I really liked your answer but the reasoning doesn't sound impartial of course I am not so naïve thinking that the world we lived in is without prejudice but still. $\endgroup$
    – user6760
    Commented Mar 29, 2022 at 5:02
  • $\begingroup$ I can't speak to whatever prejudices exist in your world, but if the legal system were similar to our own (and accepting of mortals influencing the actions of gods) the sort of evidence you'd be looking for are any correspondence between the God and Agent (call records, texts, video of meetings) to establish if the actor could know enough about the God to make an assessment of risk. The invitation information would be needed too. Did the invitation include information to inform the God that damage was to be avoided. We want to see if any attempt was made to alert the God not to damage things. $\endgroup$
    – Danger Lake
    Commented Mar 29, 2022 at 15:42
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Causing the storm is will of god.

Inviting the god to the place where the storm happens after thousands of years is your will and action. You are responsible for your actions.

Your reasoning is the same as somebody pleading innocent because "your honor, I didn't kill the people at the event. I just placed the bomb. It's the bomb explosion which killed them, not me. You should punish the bomb and release me"

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    $\begingroup$ To make the example not ridiculous. It would be like creating a tall building without a lightening rod. The lightning is your fault, even if it is an act of god $\endgroup$
    – Andrey
    Commented Mar 28, 2022 at 16:01
  • $\begingroup$ Another example is I leave the front door unlocked, and then a bad person comes in my house and sprays turpentine in my family's eyes. Clearly(!) that was my fault for leaving the door open. $\endgroup$
    – Daron
    Commented Mar 28, 2022 at 17:02
  • $\begingroup$ @Andrey: nice example, but can I just install more lightning rods to shed my responsibility? $\endgroup$
    – user6760
    Commented Mar 29, 2022 at 5:11
  • $\begingroup$ @user6760 yes. I think at the end of the day it's up to a judge or jury to determine if your actions were criminaly ore otherwise negligent $\endgroup$
    – Andrey
    Commented Mar 29, 2022 at 12:57
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There is nothing in force majeure particular about gods. On the contrary, something as particularly human as outbreak of war is (usually) considered as one. The whole point of this concept is to account for "certain acts, events or circumstances beyond the control of the parties".

Certainly, inviting the god was something you had full control over.

Also, in a world when gods roam the land, expect standard insurance clauses targeting eg. displeasing one. And insurance inspectors trying to prove you haven't prayed enough or your prayers were insincere...

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It's not one or the other.

Force Majeur is a disaster that no one could have predicted or prevented. This does not apply here since the god of storm could have prevented the disaster by choosing not to rain down lightning bolts. They are the God of Lightning after all.

The God of Lightning chose to kill those people and then did. That is called murder, and by human laws, they should be locked up in some sort of rubber cage. Perhaps we can attach an electrode to one corner of the cage and get free renewable energy.

How much responsibility falls on you depends on how often the God of Lightning has done this sort of thing in the past. If they have never done it before then it should be treated as unpredictable from your point of view, and you are not to blame. For example if the god has full control over their powers and has never killed anyone before.

Imagine instead of the god of thunder you invited former US President Barry Bar-Bar-Obama to open the event. But midway through his speech he starts chucking hand grenades into the crowd. You will not be blamed for this (provided the grenades were well hidden).

The other option is the god has no control of their powers. They are followed everywhere they go by a storm. Sometimes the storm gets much worse and they don't get to decide when. This is similar to if you invited the Joker from Batman to open the event. Everyone knows he's dangerous after all. So you endanger everyone at the event by bringing him here.

Of course it is not a case there is a given amount of responsibility which is split between you and the guest. For example there is 50 years imprisonment for each person killed, and that must be divided among you and the guest. That is not how it works. It's more like 50 years per victim goes to the guest, and then the background will determine how many years you get in addition.

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  • $\begingroup$ I believe the correct name of the 44th President is "Barry H. Bamz", although that's perhaps an issue best decided by your in-house style guide. ;) $\endgroup$
    – Tom
    Commented Mar 28, 2022 at 23:39
  • $\begingroup$ @Tom That's the guy I'm talking about. $\endgroup$
    – Daron
    Commented Mar 29, 2022 at 13:14
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As it's required to be a lawyer, the answer must always be "that depends"

First of all, it depends on where in the world you are, since there are different applications and interpretations to "force majeure". I'm since presuming you're in a common law country, and applying the common conceptions of US Law in general.

In this case, we need to trace some comparisons, since, obviously, there's no jurisprudence in the case.

Let's work some scenarios: Is this a known God? If so, how is the literature on its temperament? Is he known to make such displays of power? If you're assuming the risk that he will "behave", than you're very much liable. This would be in line with bringing a Tiger to the party, trusting it being raised by humans and "domesticated" it would pose no danger. It's still a dangerous wild animal, that can react unpredictably, no matter your experience with it.

Otherwise it would be like bringing a friend to a party who you knows like to carry a weapon. Do you know him to be violent? Or is he just a gun guy? If he opens fire in the party, your liability would be directly related to how much of his temperament you had previous knowledge, and how much chance you assumed of him not being violent. It's a judicial battle in which cross examination would be central do the case.

I'm also assuming you had previous knowledge of his "Godly" status, and it's not hapchance that him of all people was your "guest of honor", in which case it would fall under "force majeure".

I'm also discarding his will, and assuming it was an accident, with no intent of hurting and killing people, in which case the questions of "did you know, or had meanings to become knowledgeable about his intentions?" would play the central role in devising your guilt in the matter.

Also, you put him in the status of a "God", and it bears the question, is this a status solely related to his level of overall power, or it has a religion in which he plays a role as revered deity? This would also change how laws would read the situation, because he would no longer be a "regular guy doing unpredictable things", but a true, real and alive deity, which would mean that the religion is much more central to your world, being that the deities are empirically real (as in it's not an act of faith, but a proven fact), and it could be easily dealt in it's own cards, as in it's not supposed to be in your power to control a deity, and his presence is such a high praise and note that's not at all reasonable to expect you wouldn't want him there. Therefore it wouldn't be "force majeure" per se, but it would have the same legal effect.

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Probably Not.

But Expect a Protracted Legal Battle Regardless

Does the state recognize gods as having free will?

If yes, and according to the law, the God(s?) walking among us have free will (and presumably control over their actions), then it becomes an issue of personal responsibility. Your guest caused destruction, and the standard liability that entails if they were any mundane guest causing damage. Possibly with harsher sentencing due to the supernatural nature of the guest.

In this case, your best bet for avoiding liability is probably to press charges and shift the blame to the God-person, rather than "force majeure"

This assumes the God is subject to the legal system and does not carry some immunity. If the God in question has immunity than it'll probably be the legal equivalent of the 'no' response.

If no, then (as the other answers state), this was something you brought and only if you have exceptionally good lawyers could you argue it's "beyond your control".

If undefined, and this is literally the first time this has ever happened... Then you'll have a shot. However in this scenario the case will likely be dismissed because there are more pressing issues (re: the sudden appearance of divine entities). If for some reason it does not (perhaps you have an exceptionally bad legal team and/or a vindictive DA/Judge), then you could try "force majeure", but really it should never get to this point.

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Stop whining, you're to blame

Weather Gods are so predictable. You could have known and you deserve the gods you ask for.

https://www.bol.com/nl/nl/f/we-deserve-the-gods-we-ask-for/9200000033569847/

enter image description here

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