Man Who Sued God Appears in Earthly Court

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On August 5, Nebraska state senator Ernie Chambers appeared in court to pursue his lawsuit against God. Chambers sued God in 2007, saying he was trying to make a point that anyone could file a lawsuit. “Anybody can file a lawsuit against anybody,” he said at the time.

I assumed that meant he was trying to show that there are too many frivolous lawsuits, trying to make his point by filing the most ridiculous one he could think of. According to this report, though, he was actually trying to make the opposite point—that the courthouse doors should be open to everyone and that the legislature should not restrict access by declaring categories of lawsuits to be frivolous.

If so, filing a lawsuit against God was a poor way to make that point.

it appears that the hearing on August 5 was for the purpose of argument on a motion to dismiss, possibly because, as Chambers concedes, he has not been able to serve the deity with a summons. The content of the argument wasn’t reported, and the judge took the case under advisement.

Chambers was optimistic that the judge would rule in his favor—I think. “He may reach a decision on the 12th of never, and when that happens I may be crippling around here and I’ll say it came to pass on my 120th birthday, and at that point I’ll be able to tell that it did come to pass,” Chambers was quoted as saying. Whatever he meant by that, I think we can be confident it actually won’t come to pass.