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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, October 24, 1979
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3
FEDERAL APPEALS COURT COMES TO OUR AID!
On Monday morning, October 22, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
stepped in at the last moment and stayed Mr. Rader's scheduled deposition
at the California Attorney General's Office. Several hundred members
were already gathered outside the Attorney General's office in Los Angeles
to show support for God's Church when Mr. Rader appeared and announced
that two federal judges had just issued an order preventing the Attorney
General from questioning him.
This was the first time the Church had gained access to this level of the
federal court system. Apparently we have found a judiciary sensitive to
religious rights and with the foresight to see where the state's unprec
edented actions were leading. (It is interesting to note the concern of
this court since the signature of only one judge on this order was neces
sary to stay the deposition.) In addition to the ban on Mr. Rader's
deposition, this federal court set November 19 as the date when motions
will be heard as to why all discovery proceedings (pretrial information
gathering activities) should be barred until our appeals have been con
sidered in the state and federal appellate courts.
Mr. Rauer reminded the brethren that "God
has heard our prayers on this occasion!"
support and then asked Mr. Helge to say a
thing Mr. Helge felt moved to say at that
"pray twice as fervently in giving thanks
is on His throne" and that "He
He thanked everyone for their
few words. The only additional
point
was
to ask
everyone
to
to God for answering our prayers
On the following day at an employee/student meeting, Mr. Helge commented
further about the dramatic turn of events. He said: "When the At_torney
General learned of the federal order denying them the depositionLthey have
so determinedly soughtJ their faces dropped! But more than disappointed,
they're scared. Why?- Because as we have been saying from the time this
case was filed--they are wrong. They have committed the wrongs. They
didn't follow the law. They had false information from the dissidents who
were out to destroy this church. They were duped and they bought it lock,
stock and barrel. And now they are standing there like a pack of fools.
"And now the door is cracked. The light began to shine through. And if
there is one thing they are afraid of, it is to have their acts exposed...
I'll tell you what scripture applies: 'They love darkness.' They don't
want light. They don't want truth. That is why the Attorney General is
so afraid now. Because his conduct is coming to light now.
But Why Resist a Deposition?
"'But wait a minute, Helge,' one of my friends said, 'How come you're not
willing to testify?' 'Because I didn't bring a charge against anybody. If
I charged you with stealing, if I charged you with wrongdoing, I should
be willing to come forward. I would have a duty to come forward and tell
what my story is, what my charge is. That's different.'
"The people who brought the charges should come forth, it says in Leviticm
5, and tell their story--instead of running off to other states to avoid
having to answer questions under penalty of perjury! Perjury charges may
be brought against some of these people--that is pending.