God Is Again Sued

God is in trouble in Santa Rosa, California.

It all began when folk singer Lou Gottlieb deeded his thirty-one-acre ranch, a controversial hippie haven, to God. The controversy came when taxes were due. The reluctant county recorder finally gave in when Gottlieb showed him a coin on which was engraved, “In God We Trust” and specified, “It’s this one.” As for taxes, said Gottlieb, “For God’s sake, I’ll pay them.” But, he added, it all would be “an interesting problem legally, as a test of the intensity of belief of the authorities around here.”

A week later, an Oakland secretary hit God with a civil summons for causing a lightning bolt to strike and destroy four homes. The $100,000 damage suit charges God with “careless and negligent” operation of the universe, including the weather. Her attorney said he would try to collect by attaching Gottlieb’s ranch (“property owned by God”) when—and if—the deity fails to show up in court.

It appears that one way or another God will have his day in court.