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TechnoratiAn attorney in Texas has taken the initiative to defend God against a lawsuit filed last week by a senator in Nebraska.
(Photo: AP Images / Nati Harnik)Douglas County District Court legal file clerk Mark McGuire holds legal papers pertaining to a lawsuit filed by Nebraska state Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha against God, Friday, Sept. 21, 2007, in Omaha, Neb. God apparently responded to a lawsuit filed by Chambers, and one of the filings seems to have dropped in from the heavens. Signed by 'God,' it argues the defendant is immune from some earthly laws and the court lacks jurisdiction over God. St. Michael the Archangel is listed as a witness.
According to the latest update on a case that is serious yet comic, attorney Eric Perkins in Corpus Christi, Texas, said Friday that he filed one of two responses to a lawsuit from Nebraska State Sen. Ernie Chambers (D-Omaha), who has accused God of making “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."
"It's kind of a turn on 'What would Jesus do?'" Perkins said, according to The Associated Press. "I thought to myself, "What would God say?"
Last Friday, Chambers, a self-proclaimed agnostic and considered by many to be one of the Nebraska Legislature’s most controversial and colorful members, filed a lawsuit accusing God of causing "fearsome floods, egregious earthquakes, horrendous hurricanes, terrifying tornadoes, pestilential plagues" and more.
Chambers’ lawsuit asks for a "permanent injunction ordering Defendant to cease certain harmful activities and the making of terroristic threats."
"It's a lawsuit against a defendant who has perpetrated much harm and damage on the human race," he said on CNN.
Although he is known to skip morning prayers during the legislative session and often criticizes Christians, Chambers said he isn't suing God because he has any kind of personal objections against Him.
The Omaha senator told a local Fox affiliate that his lawsuit is in response to bills brought forth by other state senators to try and stop frivolous lawsuits from being filed.
"The Constitution requires that the courthouse doors be open, so you cannot prohibit the filing of suits," Chambers said. "Anyone can sue anyone they choose, even God."
According two responses to the lawsuit, however, Chambers cannot sue God.
"Defendant denies that this or any court has jurisdiction ... over Him any more than the court has jurisdiction over the wind or rain, sunlight or darkness," according to Perkins' response, as reported by AP.
As for Chambers' contention that God made terroristic threats, inspired fear and caused "widespread death, destruction and terrorization," Perkins wrote that God "contends that any harm or injury suffered is a direct and proximate result of mankind ignoring obvious warnings."
Perkins, who said he is a Christian, faxed one of at least two responses to Chambers' lawsuit.
The other, which remains a mystery, had appeared at the Douglas County Courthouse in Omaha, a local CBS affiliate reported Wednesday.
"It was on the counter in legal filing yesterday,” Gordon Rieber in the Clerk of the District Court's office told Omaha’s Action 3 News. “No one saw it come in. She (an employee) turned her back and there it was."
In the paper, marked "Special Appearance," “God” says Chambers' suit should be thrown out because there was “[n]o proper and sufficient service of summons” by a deputy.
And although He doesn’t issue “terroristic threats,” as the senator had claimed in his lawsuit, “God” wrote that Chambers would receive an “appropriate punishment.”
“He is going to take care of the senator by removing him from office next year,” attorney Bill Gallup told Action 3. The CBS affiliate noted that “’God’ apparently has a sense of humor – term limits keep Chambers from serving another term.”
Gallup, a longtime defense attorney, said the filed document looked to him “like a legitimate document that would have to be sustained by the judge," also noting that “God” has a good strategy.
Several attorneys that were interviewed denied writing the document, but said they're available if God needs them in court.
"He (God) hasn't called me yet!" defense attorney James Martin Davis told Action 3.
Perkins, meanwhile, said he hopes the lawsuit against God was just a stunt by Chambers, but added that "maybe his timing has something to do with world affairs."
"I'd hate to be that person who sat back and did nothing," he said.
Whether the issue goes before a judge may largely depend on how hard Chambers pushes the issue. The senator isn't asking that notice be served to God, but says in his lawsuit that if he doesn't get a summary judgment in the case, he wants a hearing – "if the court deems such a hearing not to be a futile act."
