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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, April 18, 1980
Page 5
is no question but what your case will ultimately be resolved in your
favor." He, of course, is looking at it from a physical standpoint. He
feels that all the law and all the facts are
in
our favor, but as he him
self stated, "The question is, what damage can the State do to you before
the U.S. Supreme Court does get around to acting simply by virtue of the
way the system is structured?!?
It's interesting to note that on this Supreme Court �etition, there
has been filed a "friend-of-the-court" petition--two or three of them,
in fact. Behind these petitions are a group of 18 churches, reliqious
organizations and rights organizations that comprise over 80 million
people! Now that is the largest friend-of-the-court brief that has
ever been filed by any private individual other than the United States
Attorney General. That goes to show what we have said from the very
outset: that the position taken by the State of California is so
absolutely oppressive and erroneous that nearly the entire church
population in the United States has come forward to contest exactly
what the State of California is now attempting to advocate in order to
protect the wrongful way in which they have come in and attempted to
take over the Worldwide Church of God, Ambassador College and the
Ambassador International Cultural Foundation.
There's one thing that must be understood: all these matters in the
State case are like a huge picture puzzle. The individual pieces that
I've explained, in and of themselves, really don't mean too much. They
really don't. In order to understand,
you've
got to see the overall
picture and the overall picture here is that the Church, Mr. Armstrong
and Mr. Rader are facing more than just a legal opponent. It is more than
just the case, more than just the simple opponent. We are fighting
against the State of California--the State! One of the most powerful
states in this union. We are fighting against the Attorney General, one
of the most powerful political units in the State of California. We are
fighting against a cadre of judges in the Superior and the Appellate
Courts as well. We are also fighting against politically-powerful
private attorneys, all of whom were caught in the act of despicable
misconduct. Caught red-handed. It's all documented! As one outside
group said, it would be unbelievable if it were not substantiated in
the record. Hence, do you see what we're fighting against?
And so it behooves all of ·that group to join together in a political and
judicial alliance for their mutual defense. They are defending themselves
and they are defending an entire system. They are defending their own
political careers, their own reputations, and they have an intense de
fense because for them it is a matter of survival. For a Christian or
other religiously-minded person, he can look forward to a life hereafter.
To a political life, there is no life hereafter and hence the self
preservation drive, believe me, brings forth an intense defense. And
it's one that permeates the entire system.
You know, ordinarily, when the State comes in to oppress, you have the
judges as your line of defense. That is the balance. The judges come
in and protect, and every Supreme Court case that has come down regarding
other churches or other religious matters, believe me, has language and
facts in our favor. Every single one of them. But the only problem here
is the corrupt manner in which it involved judges; hence, the judges
cannot act as our protectors as they ordinarily would.