Sunday, July 13, 2008 | Reason : In the News | print version

Man Sues Church Over 'God Injury'

by Local 6 News

Thanks to Martin for the link.

http://www.local6.com/health/16850913/detail.html

Man Sues Church Over 'God Injury's
Man Prayed For 'Real Experience,' Not Medical Bill

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- A man said he was so consumed by the spirit of God that he fell and hit his head while at a Knoxville church.

Now he wants Lakewind Church to pay $2.5 million for medical bills, lost income, and pain and suffering he said he's endured from his injuries.

Matt Lincoln, 57, says he decided to sue the church after its insurance company denied his claim for medical bills.

Lincoln has had two surgeries since the June 2007 incident but said he still feels pain in his back and his legs.

The Sevier County man said he was asking God to have "a real experience" while praying at church.

He said he has fallen from the force of the spirit before but has always been caught by someone.

Lawyers for the church said other congregants saw him on the floor laughing after his fall. They said he failed to look out for his own safety.

Add to del.icio.us Posted: Sunday, July 13, 2008 | Permalink

Comments 1 - 50 of 54 |

Reload Comments | Back to Top | Page Numbers

1. Comment #209784 by action1976 on July 13, 2008 at 10:37 am

I don't know what is the appropriate response to this.

WHAT A DUMBASS

Anyway if he sues the church I couldn't really care less

Other Comments by action1976

2. Comment #209786 by alexmzk on July 13, 2008 at 10:42 am

The Sevier County man said he was asking God to have "a real experience" while praying at church.

God: "take that you ungrateful wretch".

Other Comments by alexmzk

3. Comment #209787 by DamnDirtyApe on July 13, 2008 at 10:47 am

... Irony overload! *implodes.

Other Comments by DamnDirtyApe

4. Comment #209791 by flobear on July 13, 2008 at 11:05 am

I was trying to think of something funny to say about this article but nothing really tops the event itself. It stands on its own.

Other Comments by flobear

5. Comment #209792 by Quetzalcoatl on July 13, 2008 at 11:08 am

He said he has fallen from the force of the spirit before but has always been caught by someone

If Jesus is always supposed to be with you, you'd think that he might have lent a hand.

Other Comments by Quetzalcoatl

6. Comment #209795 by Corylus on July 13, 2008 at 11:13 am

Mmm.

Where there is pain - there is a claim!

I'll leave the speculation about the result to the lawyers, but I suspect that this bit might stuff him....

I wonder whether "volenti non fit injuria" would apply?

Other Comments by Corylus

7. Comment #209799 by Dax on July 13, 2008 at 11:19 am

Matt Lincoln, 57, says he decided to sue the church after its insurance company denied his claim for medical bills.

I guess this insurance company does not cover "acts of God". Can I now also sue a church if God gives me cancer?

Other Comments by Dax

8. Comment #209810 by Mango on July 13, 2008 at 11:48 am

Presumably God has home-owner's insurance.

Other Comments by Mango

9. Comment #209815 by mordacious1 on July 13, 2008 at 11:52 am

I think you could have a case when the "minister" does that walk around and pushes people to the floor.

If this guy just would have gone up to the fromt of the church, he could have been "healed" right then and there. What jesus dishes out, he can fix, unless you're gay, then you're on your own.

Other Comments by mordacious1

10. Comment #209819 by mordacious1 on July 13, 2008 at 11:55 am

It has always interested me, if a hurricane is "an act of god" and the pope is god's representative on earth, then why can't one sue the pope?

Other Comments by mordacious1

11. Comment #209822 by Notcrowingbutyawning on July 13, 2008 at 11:57 am

Maybe god promised he'd make him a millionaire?

Other Comments by Notcrowingbutyawning

12. Comment #209824 by Border Collie on July 13, 2008 at 11:59 am

It does seem as if he did receive his 'real' experience ...

Other Comments by Border Collie

13. Comment #209829 by Stephen Maxwell on July 13, 2008 at 12:02 pm

"The Lord moves in mysterious ways, your honour!....

...Errr...the defence rests!"

Other Comments by Stephen Maxwell

14. Comment #209840 by Broicher on July 13, 2008 at 12:14 pm

Hmmm, maybe I should become a theist again. It seems to pay out somehow....

Other Comments by Broicher

15. Comment #209844 by oriole on July 13, 2008 at 12:20 pm

It would be funny if he won the case and then showed up on television brandishing his check and giving all the credit to Jesus, like those idiot Grammy-winning singers and Super-Bowl-winning football players.

Other Comments by oriole

16. Comment #209848 by catskill on July 13, 2008 at 12:23 pm

Comment #10 wins!

Other Comments by catskill

17. Comment #209868 by Lev-CapeTown on July 13, 2008 at 12:54 pm

Jesus: Hey dad this is so boring...!
God: Oh all right, you wanna see something funny,
watch this...

Other Comments by Lev-CapeTown

18. Comment #209870 by Spinoza on July 13, 2008 at 12:59 pm

No one has pointed out yet that this exact thing happened on The Simpsons?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pray_Anything

Other Comments by Spinoza

19. Comment #209907 by wajid on July 13, 2008 at 1:45 pm

hahahaha....excellent stuff....it'd be great to set legal precedence with this case...imagine the possibilities....

Other Comments by wajid

20. Comment #209916 by D'Arcy on July 13, 2008 at 1:59 pm

If God loses this case, who is going to enforce the judgment?

Other Comments by D'Arcy

21. Comment #209918 by Bonzai on July 13, 2008 at 2:01 pm

I think he should sue God instead of the church.

Other Comments by Bonzai

22. Comment #209925 by tgbarton on July 13, 2008 at 2:14 pm

Hmmmm...maybe we could get the guy to donate a portion of his settlement to the RDF if he wins the suit...

Other Comments by tgbarton

23. Comment #209937 by huzonfurst on July 13, 2008 at 3:03 pm

Sorry, but this has to be said:

Babrock, stop using 't' for 'the.' It's irritating and you come off like a clueless teenager trying - and failing - to be cool.

Other Comments by huzonfurst

24. Comment #209939 by Steve Zara on July 13, 2008 at 3:10 pm

Comment #209937 by huzonfurst

We have tried, so many of us, to get babrock to stop treating this site like something he is text messaging to. We have asked nicely, so many times, but to no avail. One might think that someone who can be bothered to type "unsuccessfully" can actually follow a "t" with "he". Apparently not.

I am afraid I skip his posts. I can't be bothered to deal with the irritation they cause me.

I consider persistent mis-spelling and ignoring of grammar, especially after it has been pointed out, to be a form of low-grade rudeness.

Other Comments by Steve Zara

25. Comment #209946 by SomeDanGuy on July 13, 2008 at 3:29 pm

Fleecers fleecing fleecers?
Awesome.

Other Comments by SomeDanGuy

26. Comment #209955 by Matt7895 on July 13, 2008 at 3:51 pm

If someone throws themselves onto the ground, how can they claim the owners of the place they do it in are negligent?

People shouldn't be allowed to make money out of their own stupidity.

Other Comments by Matt7895

27. Comment #209960 by phil rimmer on July 13, 2008 at 4:09 pm

babrock

Are you using a blackberry? If the site is timing out you must be taking a hell of a long time to write your short posts. U prbly nd 2 ct mre vwls 2 sve tm. srsly

Other Comments by phil rimmer

28. Comment #209965 by ukvillafan on July 13, 2008 at 4:23 pm

"People shouldn't be allowed to make money out of their own stupidity."

That would mean the majority of recent US presidents would have had to work for no pay!

Other Comments by ukvillafan

29. Comment #209968 by Tack on July 13, 2008 at 4:32 pm

I message frequently on a BlackBerry and it's trivial to configure it to autocomplete shorthand for you. In fact, I'm pretty sure it autocompletes the usual suspects (r, u, ur, etc.) by default.

Other Comments by Tack

30. Comment #209982 by Dhamma on July 13, 2008 at 5:08 pm

How are we ever going to convert these idiots? This is so weird I can't find words!

Other Comments by Dhamma

31. Comment #209984 by Laurie Fraser on July 13, 2008 at 5:17 pm

Steve, you old curmudgeon!

I consider persistent mis-spelling and ignoring of grammar, especially after it has been pointed out, to be a form of low-grade rudeness

Couldn't agree more. One thing I really do like about this forum is that the majority of posters write elegantly, with style and wit. It would have to be the most articulate "popular" forum on the internet.

Other Comments by Laurie Fraser

32. Comment #209998 by CruciFiction on July 13, 2008 at 6:03 pm

God sends the Holy Ghost to beat a man to a pulp!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=FBLv_dUyYZ8

Other Comments by CruciFiction

33. Comment #210003 by prolibertas on July 13, 2008 at 6:16 pm

Just imagine the slippery slope... every time something bad accidently happens to you, just blame it on a random act of God, and sue the church and anyone else who claims to speak for God! This could be the most effective way to rid the world of organised religion yet...

And yes, I don't understand babrock. I could understand a lazy person using text language for the whole post, but he's not using all text language- it's just that one word 'the' that seems to bother him. It's very strange.

Other Comments by prolibertas

34. Comment #210004 by Dhamma on July 13, 2008 at 6:19 pm

One thing I really do like about this forum is that the majority of posters write elegantly, with style and wit. It would have to be the most articulate "popular" forum on the internet.

Wouldn't consider myself one of those exactly, but I most definitely agree with your statement. I've been part of a vast amount of forums with similar bad experience. This one, however, is virtually saved from ignorant comments(apart from the occasional IDiots that spam us). Therefore, I absolutely love this forum!

Other Comments by Dhamma

35. Comment #210007 by prettygoodformonkeys on July 13, 2008 at 6:26 pm

rimmer

post #29 vry nce.

On the topic, this is a civil suit, and has nothing to do with the content of this site. A religious person did a stupid thing, big deal; he's suing the property owner, not god.

He should probably win, in my opinion. Maybe not the 2.5M, but they encourage people to lose their normal way of seeing the world and enter some rapturous (delusional) state - some are going to fall over & hurt themselves.

Then again, it would be funny if they had to start signing release forms before praying....

Other Comments by prettygoodformonkeys

36. Comment #210030 by dragonfirematrix on July 13, 2008 at 7:21 pm

This is great! Quoted below:

"The Sevier County man said he was asking God to have "a real experience" while praying at church."

I guess the best his god could do was to hurt him. He should also sue the church and his god for fraud, which brings me to a question I have long had.

How do priests, preachers, ministers, churches (for example) get around the laws against false advertising and fraud anyway? How many billions of dollars are stolen from believers using false promises?

Other Comments by dragonfirematrix

37. Comment #210068 by King of NH on July 13, 2008 at 9:26 pm

I consider persistent mis-spelling and ignoring of grammar, especially after it has been pointed out, to be a form of low-grade rudeness.

As a soon to be grammarian, purposefully poor grammar is irritating to me, also. If someone expects what they say to be respected, then they must also respect what they themselves are saying. That is, place the effort on making something eloquent, clear, and tff.

Other Comments by King of NH

38. Comment #210087 by Roy_H on July 13, 2008 at 10:47 pm

What "Spirits" had he been consuming before he went to church? whisky? brandy?
Or did he simply fall asleep due to the boring sermon.

Other Comments by Roy_H

39. Comment #210089 by Soul Harvester on July 13, 2008 at 11:01 pm

When idiots collide...

Other Comments by Soul Harvester

40. Comment #210104 by action bastard on July 13, 2008 at 11:48 pm

This poor guy doesn't understand what the church is all about. The church is there to take their parishioners money, not give it back. They don't care if some idiot injures himself and they're certainly not going to pay his medical bills. I'm sure they will pray for him though because "doing nothing" is what they do best.

Other Comments by action bastard

41. Comment #210112 by TIKI AL on July 14, 2008 at 12:43 am

A conman sueing a group of conmen? Kinky!

Since the floor(hell's ceiling) did the damage, wouldn't the devil be responsible?

Other Comments by TIKI AL

42. Comment #210115 by hungarianelephant on July 14, 2008 at 12:59 am

Would it be safe to assume that Mr Lincoln, 57, does not have a retirement fund? I think we should be told.

Other Comments by hungarianelephant

43. Comment #210128 by mixmastergaz on July 14, 2008 at 1:24 am

In the words of Toby Ziegler we need to refer this to the deptartment of metaphor and irony.

Other Comments by mixmastergaz

44. Comment #210129 by alfonso on July 14, 2008 at 1:26 am

This might have been said before...

fucktards!!!

Other Comments by alfonso

45. Comment #210136 by padster1976 on July 14, 2008 at 1:43 am

The irony of exactly what they are saying is clearly beyond them.

But when I read this...

"Now he wants Lakewind Church to pay $2.5 million for medical bills, lost income, and pain and suffering he said he's endured from his injuries."

HOW MUCH!!??!?!?

What did he do when he fell? Somersaults off a diving board?

I've fallen and hit my head before. I then got up and manged to walk away. NOT INJURED!

My, his god loves me more than him, and I don't even believe that his god can exist!

Other Comments by padster1976

46. Comment #210139 by bugaboo on July 14, 2008 at 2:05 am

I sometimes think of the millions of kids whose parents/teachers were Catholics being told that no harm would come to them if, for example, they were to fall from a great height since their guardian angel would be there to protect them. To my knowledge no kids put this hypothesis to the test. Kids are quite smart really. As for some adults....

Other Comments by bugaboo

47. Comment #210151 by irate_atheist on July 14, 2008 at 3:03 am

"A blow - to the head - like that, is worth two in the bush." - Basil Fawlty

Other Comments by irate_atheist

48. Comment #210202 by Fire1974 on July 14, 2008 at 4:35 am

This brings to mind something I've always wanted to bring up in conversation with faith-heads: Insurance.

Is not insurance for the faithful just a signed and paid for contract declaring "no confidence" in the "Lords plan" for their lives? How can they justify having it? Cognitive dissonance?

Other Comments by Fire1974

49. Comment #210281 by Mitchell Gilks on July 14, 2008 at 7:53 am

It's hard to laugh at a mans misfortune...but...hahahahaha.

Looks like the spirit didn't just move him, it kicked his ass.

Other Comments by Mitchell Gilks

50. Comment #210341 by minhuna on July 14, 2008 at 9:33 am

Laurie Fraser, are you serious about this forum? You look like a chav by the way!! oh you are one?!!!

Other Comments by minhuna