For once, Nebraska news that doesn't make me cringe

[steuard]

While I was in college, I made the unhappy discovery that almost every time Nebraska made the national news I found myself ashamed to admit I'd grown up there. The time that Lincoln's Catholic bishop issued a blanket excommunication to anyone who looked at a Planned Parenthood clinic sticks in my mind, but it was an all too common pattern.

So it was a very pleasant change to see this recent story: State Senator Ernie Chambers is suing God. I don't entirely understand the context (he's making some sort of statement about recent frivolous lawsuits), but the summary in the article above is hilarious (at least to an agnostic type like me). Some choice bits from the article:

The lawsuit admits God goes by all sorts of alias, names, titles and designations and it also recognizes the fact that the defendant is omnipresent.

In the lawsuit, Chambers said he's tried to contact God numerous times.

"Plaintiff, despite reasonable efforts to effectuate personal service upon defendant ('Come out, come out, wherever you are,') has been unable to do so,'" Chambers said.

So what is the lawsuit about?

The lawsuit accuses God "of making and continuing to make terroristic threats of grave harm to innumerable persons, including constituents of Plaintiff who Plaintiff has the duty to represent." It says God has caused "fearsome floods, egregious earthquakes, horrendous hurricanes, terrifying tornadoes, pestilential plagues, ferocious famines, devastating droughts, genocidal wars, birth defects and the like."

It's all pretty funny. (Thanks to Pharyngula for pointing this out.)

Comments

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

I liked the part where he's seeking an injunction against God. What does that *mean*? Can you imagine what the scope of it would be?

[ericakeithley.livejournal.com]

Just out of curiosity, why do the actions of a Catholic bishop make you ashamed of having lived in Nebraska? Obviously you don't agree with his actions, but I don't see that that fact should make you ashamed. I'm from Oklahoma, and I don't agree with Oral Robert's ideas and actions, but it doesn't make me ashamed of being an Oklahoman.

[steuard.livejournal.com]

That's a fair question. And to be honest, "ashamed" was too strong a term: something like "mildly embarrassed" would be more accurate, or maybe "miffed at the media". It wasn't really that specific event or any other taken on its own that bothered me. Rather, it was the feeling that practically every piece of news from Nebraska that made it into the national media seemed to be entirely at odds with my own views (and those of so many people I knew growing up).

If other people hearing about your home town sometimes hear about a crazy conservative, sometimes hear about a wacky liberal, and sometimes hear about a proud new achievement in science or a promising solution to a pressing social problem, it all averages out. But when you discover that the broad perception of your home is based entirely on the crazy conservatives (with some "ignorant rural hick" stories and the occasional grisly murder thrown in for variety), it can start to seem a bit uncomfortable.

I think I'd be almost as uncomfortable if every single story were about wacky liberals, mind you. (Almost.) It's the "no positive publicity" thing (and the one-sided portrayal of the state's opinions) that got to me. So even though this particular story about suing God is also kinda wacky (though clearly the lawsuit isn't meant seriously), it at least adds some level of balance. And it's funny, which is another positive change.