Article June 23, 1997 Issue

Governor Won't Sign an 'Acts of God' Bill

The New York Times

The Arkansas Legislature scrambled today to rewrite a bill intended to protect storm victims after Governor Mike Huckabee, a Baptist minister, objected to language describing such natural phenomena as tornadoes and floods as "acts of God."

Mr. Huckabee said that signing the legislation "would be violating my own conscience" inasmuch as it described "a destructive and deadly force as being 'an act of God.'"

Governor Huckabee explained his objections in a letter to the bill's authors, saying: "I feel that I have indeed witnessed many 'acts of God,' but I see His actions in the miraculous sparing of life, the sacrifice and selfless spirit in which so many responded to the pain of others."

Excerpted from The New York Times (March 21, 1997).

Reprinted with permission.

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