WEST PALM BEACH, Fla (AP) God .. and his agents in Lake Worth ... are being sued for $25,000 by an accident victim whose injuries were attributed by a jury to be an act of God.
The story goes on to say that George Albrecht paid $17.50 for a filing fee and gave the astonished court clerks copies of his claims to hand on to the defendants. These included 32 Lake Worth churches and synagogues lumped together by the plaintiff as "God and Company".
In Albrecht's original claim he said that he was hurt in 1964 when a sidewalk collapsed under him. The city of Lake Worth and a construction firm were the defendants in the first suit.
The pastors of the local churches reacted with shock and some with humor. One of them, The Rev. E.W. Zilch, pastor of Bethel Pentacostal Temple, said: "If he brings the principal defendant into court, I'll be glad to come and testify for Him."
The pastor of the Evangelical Covenant Church, The Rev. James Magnuson, remarked "I always thought that the expression 'act of God' in regard to accidents was a misnomer. If this keeps up, people will be suing the churches everytime a tree falls."
This AP story told about Mrs. Patricia Rush, 23, who suddenly screamed and stopped breathing, in the same way that her sister did four years previously. Both died instantly. The surgeon who performed the autopsy said that the cause may never be known.
During the Middle Ages demons used to delight in doing housework and other chores. Here they are seen cleaning house in the absence of its owner's.
When her father, Everett Stephens, of San Luis Obispo, California said "They'll never find out what caused it," the Santa Barbara autopsy surgeon, Dr. John P. Blanchard agreed: "In all probability the girl's father is right."
Her sister, Beverly Stephens, 17, had just come out of the swimming pool in 1963, looked around her with a horrified expression, screamed and died. Now the Stephenses are worried about their two other daughters, Barbara, 17 and Diana, 11. Mrs. Rush was the wife of Staff Sgt. Robert Rush who had just returned from Vietnam. She left two children, daughters Kimberly 6 and Kristin, 1.