Man Receives Spirit, Sues
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From The Smoking Gun: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2008/0605081spirit1.html
JUNE 5--Last June, Matthew Lincoln was attending an evening service at his nondenominational Tennessee church when he approached the altar where a visiting minister was offering individual prayers for parishioners. Assigned "catchers" were present on the altar in case congregants fainted, fell, or otherwise lost control. When the minister, Robert Lavala, slightly touched his forehead, the Knoxville-area man "received the spirit and fell backwards." Except nobody was there to catch him, Lincoln charges in a $2.5 million lawsuit filed yesterday against Lakewind Church and its pastors. Lincoln, 58, claims that he fell backwards, striking his head against the "carpet-covered cement floor," according to the Circuit Court complaint, which was first reported by Courthouse News Service. A copy of Lincoln's lawsuit can be found below. Since he already suffered from a "degenerative disc disease of his neck and back," Lincoln, a former church board member, contends the fall exacerbated the pre-existing condition and has caused him "severe and permanent" injuries. As a result of the fall, Lincoln, a recording engineer, claims that he is no longer able to care for his disabled daughter. Lincoln alleges that Lakewind and its pastors were "negligent in not supervising the catchers to be sure that they stood behind the person being prayed for...should they have a dizzying, fainting, or falling in the spirit as had occurred on many occasions before." Lincoln's lawyer, J.D. Lee, told TSG that the church's insurer, Zurich of North America, rejected an insurance claim, asserting that Lincoln should have realized that no catchers were situated behind him.
Nobody I know was brainwashed into being an atheist.
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Oooh... I can't wait for this one to unravel.
I wish they had a third side besides defense and prosecution. I'd love to come in there and find the church guilty for selling snake oil, and the defendant guilty for faking.
Atheism isn't a lot like religion at all. Unless by "religion" you mean "not religion". --Ciarin
http://hambydammit.wordpress.com/
Books about atheism
I remember a few years back I was at a youth service,and the leader was walking around slaying people in the spirit. He didn't have anybody doing any catching,and you could hear people hitting the ground.
He just said: "Don't worry guys,god isn't stupid.He won't let you get hurt.'
Might explain why they're as weird as they are.
Psalm 14:1 "the fool hath said in his heart there is a God"-From a 1763 misprinted edition of the bible
Argument from Sadism: Theist presents argument in a wall of text with no punctuation and wrong spelling. Atheist cannot read and is forced to concede.
More evidence that religion is hazzardous to your health. Maybe there should be warning labels. Where is the Minister of health when you need one?
"Very funny Scotty; now beam down our clothes."
VEGETARIAN: Ancient Hindu word for "lousy hunter"
If man was formed from dirt, why is there still dirt?
Maybe the Holy Spirit was mad at him?
In all seriousness I hope the guy is ok.
But that should WAKE PEOPLE UP!
The reason god didn't catch you, wasn't because he was being selective, the reason he didn't catch you, is the same reason Micky Mouse could not catch you.
Now, I hope the bump on your head knocks some sense into you that fictional beings do not trump reality.
"We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers."Obama
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As difficult as this is to believe there are still places where snake handling is considered normal.
“It is true that in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. It is equally true that in the land of the blind, the two-eyed man is an enemy of the state, the people, and domestic tranquility… and necessarily so. Someone has to rearrange the furniture.”
...What?
He fell down of his own volition, right? Or did the minister shove him?
Presumably he doesn't intend to actually try and insist that the Holy Spirit is culpable for his fall? I hear Jesus was a pretty slick legal team at his disposal.
- Leon Trotsky, Last Will & Testament
February 27, 1940
Ha ha! This was inevitable.
I was thinking something similar. If the man is actually bringing this to court, there's going to have to be evidence that the Holy Ghost was actually put in him or on him or wherever it goes... that or a lack of evidence that he fell of his own volition or that the pastor pushed him. I'd find it distressing if the man actually won the court case because it would mean that he fell (in the eyes of the court), not of his own volition nor because the pastor pushed him, but because of the Holy Ghost. I would consider that one of the worst things to have ever occurred on Earth.
BigUniverse wrote,
"Well the things that happen less often are more likely to be the result of the supper natural. A thing like loosing my keys in the morning is not likely supper natural, but finding a thousand dollars or meeting a celebrity might be."
If I were the man's lawyer, I would say that there was a reasonable expectation that for whatever reason someone fell backwards, there would be someone to catch him. Suppose there IS a holy spirit, and he does push people to the floor from time to time. Even if that was true, the catchers wouldn't know which ones were the holy spirit pushing, and which ones were falling over on their own.
Bottom line is he's probably going to win the suit
Atheism isn't a lot like religion at all. Unless by "religion" you mean "not religion". --Ciarin
http://hambydammit.wordpress.com/
Books about atheism