nondenominational my ass, it's Baptist

in other news, why doesn't someone sue Tennessee churches for abuse of non-profit status? There's one near my grandmother's house that owns almost the entire commercial strip and takes in revenue -- tax-free, thanks to 'separation of church and state' -- from every business along that stretch of highway.

first to faint

Where is your God now?

I knew someone who went to one of these churches. The preacher told the congregation that if they were having trouble paying their bills on time, to bring the statements to the altar of the church, where he would stomp them. Through the spirit of the lord, he would stomp out the debt; the lord , after all, would make a way. Needless to say, next week, the woman was without electricity.

I'm so going to one these churches to have the "spirit" rid me of my law school loans.

So when he rests his case do you leave it in the hands of a judge, jury or a higher power.

assumption of risk?

Christianity is such a joke. Actually, the south is a joke. We should have never fought the civil war and let them go. Think about it. We wouldn't have Bush and we would have a 50% reduction in welfare and crime.

Ever notice that the less educated follow religion blindly, while those with advanced degrees do not?

I hope the church loses this case.

The church probably should lose this case. It's clear that they encourage members to fall upon being touched by the minister, and that people do so in reliance on the presence of these catchers. They guy fell backwards because that what he was supposed to do, but the church was negligent in failing to have someone there to catch the guy.

Next case.

Does anyone know Tennessee law on charitable immunity?

TTTennessee ..... awesome. Yet another state added to my list of states to avoid.

How big exactly is the "zone of danger" associated with the holy spirit?

11:38,

While I completely agree, the Bushes are from all over the country: W was born in Connecticut, HW was born in Massachussetts, his father, Sen. Prescott Bush, was born in Ohio, and _his_ father, Rev. Bush, was born in New Jersey.

Oh, and they all went to Yale. Hurrah legacy.

re: 11:38 - unfortunately, we might have still had Bush. They were a Yale family, who moved to Texas during current Pres's childhood.

12:11(2) --

pwnt.

love,
12:11(1)

I think the "we wouldn't have Bush" commenter meant that without the electoral votes of the Southern states, someone like Bush would never have been elected, not that Bush never would have been a citizen of the "Northern" United States.

This is actually pretty interesting. There is obviously no common law duty to catch people who fall over. This guy will have to show a special duty created out of their relationship. He'd probably then be forced to argue either (1) that he was actually "slain in the spirit", that the church knew that he would be and had agreed to catch him or (2) that he just faked it and fell over, but that the church made him fake it (probably not enough that they would expect it).

If he goes (2) and can't prove that they made him, or strongly encouraged him to fake it, then he's just a guy who asked a preacher to touch his forward, then fell over on purpose and was injured. If he goes with (1), he might have a hard time convincing 12 people on a jury that the he was actually "slain."

Yeah, if we hadn't retained the Union, then the only thing that would have been different in the 2000 election is that electoral votes from the Southern states wouldn't count. Otherwise, though, we'd have the same candidates, issues, and party alignments.

This would never happen to a Cravath associate.

These are the types of cases TTT grads get to look forward to. TTT grads make a living out of this stuff!

God does not love Mr. Lincoln or TTT grads.

To the "Christianity is a joke" commentator - if you really believe that Christianity is only for the dumb and dim witted then you truely are demonstarting the height of bigotry and ignorance. Throughout the centuries there have been hundreds of very prominent intelectuals who were also Christians. Your suggestion that educated people could not also have a deep and reasonable faith is as naive as it is asinine.

Since you seem to be so smart, do us all a favor and actually think before speaking next time.

God does not love 1:10.

Guys in my high school used to receive the spirit and fall over all the time. It was not big deal.

FRAT STUD

I agree with 1:10. 11:38's comment is ridiculous.

God does not love fake Frat Studs.

I'm sick of these mother f*cking fake FRAT STUDS on this mother f*cking legal blog!

-SLJ

He only said that it is the less educated that tend to follow the religion BLINDLY, not that all adherents are dumb or uneducated. I can almost guarantee that a college-educated, or for that matter high school educated Christian would not take their bills to be stomped and just "hope" their electricity did not get turned off.

Argument #2 would mean dirty hands - participation in a fraud.

God does not love TTT grads. Especially AU grads.

"He only said that it is the less educated that tend to follow the religion BLINDLY, not that all adherents are dumb or uneducated."

11:38 also began by saying, "Christianity is such a joke." This statement, combined with the enlightening commentary on the fruitlessness of the Civil War, and followed up by the comment about blind faith = dumb people, all make for a strong inference that his view is that if you are educated you cant reasonably be a Christian.

Its true 11:38 didnt come out and say it, but I think its a reasonable reading.

By the way, I agree with 1:10, 11:38 is an idiot.

11:38 -- You filthy commie bastard. Go back to AU where you belong with the rest of your 3rd class kind.

This is why there should be a defense of Natural Selection, or the Darwin Defense.

11:38 should just die or go work for Latham.

If a Pentecostal-congregant is dancing with snakes during a service and is bitten by a viper, does he have a case?

This post reminds me of why I admire Episcopalians—no guilt, hollering, rolling on the ground, talking in tongues, flopping on the ground, suicide bombings, or other unseemly attributes of fanaticism.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObhvOeNCKhs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfOBbhTMfLw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeoiamEvZMA

"Yeah, if we hadn't retained the Union, then the only thing that would have been different in the 2000 election is that electoral votes from the Southern states wouldn't count."

Also, primaries in the Southern states would not have counted in 2008. Though Hillary would have argued to have the delegates seated anyway, but only from states that went her way....

Amen 11:38.

Evangelicals are too stupid to live.

If a minister's one eyed trouser snake bites someone on the face, is the church liable for any romance occurring afterward?

2:42,

Zing!

Depeche Mode was right. God does have a sick sense of humor.

I am 11:38-

Maybe I was not clear. Christianity feeds on the uneducated and poor. What college or law educated person would goto a church and have their debts stamped out?

I apologize if I offended "normal" Christians. However, these idiots are taking over the justice dept thanks to Bush, dictating our foreign policy, and are a waste of space.

If you think I aam wrong, look up Bobby Jindall (sp?). He is from Louisiana and is a potential running mate for McCain. When he was at Brown he performed an exorcism on a girl and claimed it cured her of cancer. You don't think this is slightly retarded?

Further from 11:38-

I do have a problem with Christianity. It is being hijacked by those who do not follow its real message. My father-in-law is a minister and feels the same way. He has told me that b/w (1) televangelists; (2) the southern US; and (3) Bush, Christianity has become as perveted as the Muslim faith. There is no difference b/w the extremists in both faiths.

I dislike Christianity for what it has become, not what it is supposed to stand for. Maybe the problem is U.S. Christianity rather than Christianity as practiced throughout the world. Then again, religion is overrated. I pay my bills by working hard and spending responsibly. I own a hybrid car, commute on light rail to work, and donate time to the food bank to help struggling families eat. I do not think sitting in church with a bunch of whackos solves anything (except making the largest corporation in the history of the world richer).

Dear 11:38--

I love you.

~Guy who has been the angry atheist in other threads

"Throughout the centuries there have been hundreds of very prominent intelectuals who were also Christians."

I love how Christians have to go back 300 years to find any intellectually respectable adherents to their faith. Throughout the centuries prominent intellectuals have believed all kinds of erroneous things; their justifiable ignorance is hardly an excuse for your own superstitions.

I have to say, 4:04 is quite correct. The appeal to a historical headcount, no matter which group the heads belonged to, is not the correct source of discerning the true from the false.

signed,
a mere christian saved by grace through faith

I have to say, 4:04 is quite correct. The appeal to a historical headcount, no matter which group the heads belonged to, is not the correct source of discerning the true from the false.

signed,
a mere christian saved by grace through faith

3:49-

I am a guy, so . . . . .be careful or you will get ex-communicated, or something like that.

Can we start a thread about how religion is messing up our judicial system? I am sure there's a lot there.

"There is no difference b/w the extremists in both faiths."

Despite my being an atheist, this is eye-poppingly stupid. When's the last time we had a Christian blow themselves up in a market place, much less fly a jumbo jet into a skycraper?

Christian terrorists blow up stuff all the time in Ireland. And don't forget the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda. And I'm sure the Aryan Nation and the KKK would be blowing up skyscrapers if they could.

I love how Christians love to act like only the "others" are fanatics.

It is axiomatic that an injury caused by receiving the spirit in church is an act of god.

Historic, biblical Christianity is filled with intellectual, studious adherents. The preponderance of ad hominem arguments in the discussion threads was disappointing. We'd all be far better of by eschewing the use of "all, every, and none" and by being more careful in drawing overgeneralizations-after all, that is the essence of stereotypical bigotry, wherever we find ourselves on the spectrum.

Graced!

He's suing the wrong party. According to his own belief at the time, it was God's spirit that actually made him fall, and apparently God failed to provide a means to break the fall. The only alternative on which he could sustain an action is to argue that it was just the pastor shoving him that caused the fall as an intentional tort. A couple problems, though... First, does the court have jurisdiction over God? Second, how is he going to effect service of process upon the Almighty? And it's well known in law that there is a blanket exemption in the legal process for Acts of God.