Friday, September 21, 2007

Suing God

I've often said, when talking to pro-choice types, that if they have a complaint about the fact that women get pregnant and men don't, they should take it up with God. That's not exactly saying they should sue God, but close. And, evidently, somebody decided God must be stopped!

God has apparently responded to a lawsuit filed by a Nebraska lawmaker, and one of the filings seems to have dropped in from the heavens.

"This one miraculously appeared on the counter. It just all of a sudden was here, poof!" said John Friend, clerk of the Douglas County District Court in Omaha.

The response was one of at least two to a lawsuit filed against God last week by state Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha, the state's longest-serving lawmaker.

Chambers said in his five-page lawsuit that God has made terroristic threats against him and his constituents, inspired fear and caused "widespread death, destruction and terrorization of millions upon millions of the Earth's inhabitants."

The self-proclaimed agnostic is seeking a permanent injunction against God.

Signed by "God," the response filed Wednesday argues the defendant is immune from some earthly laws and that the court lacks jurisdiction over God.

Blaming the Almighty for human oppression and suffering misses an important point, it says.

"I created man and woman with free will and next to the promise of immortal life, free will is my greatest gift to you," according to the response.

Free will--that God allows all of us to make good and bad choices--is one of the essential tenets of both Judaism and Christianity (I'm not certain about Islam). It's also one of those tenets that atheists and agnostics tend to misunderstand, either incidentally or intentionally.

The lawsuit may be considered tongue-in-cheek or quite serious but, as the plaintiff states, it makes the point that anybody can sue anybody. Do we really need to be reminded of that?