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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, May 9, 1980
83Million
Americans
versus
California's
Attorney General,,,
Who do you think is right?
A
remarkable press conference
was held \larch ,. 1980, in
\Vashington, D.C. Its purpose was
to draw attention to a brief filed
in the L'.S. Supreme Court. That
Friends ofi:he Court 1 :amici curiae) brief
was sponsored hy the Sational Council
of Churche.-:. of Chrlst in �he Lnited
:,;;,ate,-, the Synagogue ('ounci! of Ameri
ca, the Baptist .foint Committee on
Public Atfairs. the \iational Association
of Evangelicals, the Lutheran Church in
America. The Association of Evangelical
Lutheran Churches. The Board of
Church and .Society of the l'nited :\-leth·
odist Church and the Cenera! Assemblv
of the L'nited Presbyterian Church ;f
the l1nited States of America.
T
�:es a ;�::
1
1:ri . J� · (J:s�:i,�-�=;
l
�
l
�
S
rete;:,��
e
�hz�
,:,i,
m1llmn :\merican". That lS m,,re pt'ople than
have ever befor
e
been r
e
presented hy am, brief
pre..,ented tu the Supr
e
me Court o! •he l;ni•ed
: " 1tat.-s hv 3Jl _ \"nne :ither than the .lttc>rne\: geni.'r
al 1Jf the l'r�ited S:ate,a,, whu ;peaks !or all Amd
\\'hat ',
\ilS thetr
single 11nit1n1;
· · ador br,,ught these
Americans to
:his p<>int'l
R2ad
Thl� adn°rtisement has been pre
pan·d
paid !or hv the \\' , ,rld""ide r'hurch ,if
(;ud
som
e
of its supponers. But excet--)t for
this "Penrng and the nvted dosing at the end of
this <1.dv
e
rtisement. the words here are not the
f'hurch"s 1,.-(!rds. Th.ey are the word!> {Jf the rep
resentativ
e
s of d;o;;e jJ million Americans. And
what they are hghtinl! is an astonishing and
-.n,c<)nsci1mab\e-
e-V . on by tbe- altorne"I, ' ge-ne-tal uf
th
e
;;tate uf California to destrnv the \Vurldwide
Church of Cod simply becau�
e
it preaches the
Cuspe-1 of .Jesus Chnst in a manner not accept
ab.l� to the attom.-y general �\f Caiiforn.ia. Read
carefully and decide for vourself wheth
e
r Vl,u
agree ....:1th che att,1rney Keneral ur 83 million
Americans who believe that co�,;.t1t1.1ti,_,n.all\"
guaranteed religious freedom is under the most
seri.ius attack in the histlln ' of ch<' l ·.s
EXCERPTS:
TRANSCRIPT PROCEEDINGS
OF A PRESS CONFERENCE
HELD MARCH 7, 1980,
IN WASHIXGTON, D.C..
AT THE L'NITED METHODIST
BL'ILDING
""This conf..rence .s held to draw attention t1• a
�·�1ends of the Court h�1ef in the l. · _s_ Supr
e
me
(" c,urt. It i� �µonsn�ed b\ the '.\Jational Council ut"
(."h,
_ir,--hes and several other natwnal religiou'>
hodie� whc, are :he Friends pf th
e
(\iurt in this
hnef. We do nut often hold press conferences in
conn
e
ction '>1- ' ith legal briefs, but this one is un
usual m tha: it e-.:presses alarm ahuul a case that
arose m California but is going ,;urprising!y un
noticed in the r
e
st of the count - -v
·Over a y
e
ar ago. the state of California took
over a Church. the Worldwide-
Church of Gc>Cl.
hy placing 11 in recei. - ership. This l't·as done on a
complaint by a handful of dissid
e
nt members
that th
e
l
e
adership of the Church was using 1t.s
assets for their own personal aggrandizement.
'.t':P , ·,mcrtblition� madf' b1· a Church,
even
,·
--
� ,
_,wn rnemO
e
r'\ alune rather than by
:h
e
;:.-�eal p1ihhf n<-"ate a c-haritahit:" trust
v..hKh '.he :',1.:.11e has the right and nb\igation tu
,,�er,;ee. Thus the Cbirrh can ha , . -e no pr'.�·at
e
adve-r,;e- t,J the �tat
e
and doesn't e�·
e
n
need a!l ,Hturne\·
tn di:.-fend ct,_; int
e
rests
the , ·
!ran. of China Dr the So\ ' i
e
t
1.u, l'n:rn:R.
in tht;;. hriei ditter among them
sei1·
es ih t<)
appropr:ate. or the most appr"
priate wa:,- t,, worship ,ir e:<pre% the ecde�iasti ·
,·al .�trudures of '.ne a.�snc1atmns: ,",om
e
are hier
archlcal and �L>m
e
are cPng:reg:atwnal. Their
leia:a J .,tt·""tttue� aJs,. ciiJ-fer: Snme are mt·orpo·
rated. s(>me ar
e
incurpornted under r
e
!igwus cor
r"ralit1n law-;, some are cnrpnrations sole,
and
�,nne. like the Worldwide Church of God. are
ilrganized under gt>neral (orp,,ratinn statutes
· .. \\'hat • Jnites thrm in ;he SLtbmis;;ion c1f thi�
brief. i� a i·onvirtwn that ,,.,hen the terhnicallti
e
s
,,f ,;tatutes designed :u regulate c,rdinary corpo
rate acti , . ities are used and abused as instru
rnellta!ities to destr,w a religwus association
'>l-h1d1 may be in gover�rnental dl"'favor at ei p!lr·
ucular nme. the re,uit 1s a thr
e
at to :he secunt\·
of all religions A rel1gi,m fav(1red today ma\· be
disfavored tomorrow and no r
e
lig10n is secure
unle�s all rel1!1'.1on� are secure Religious freedom
is the pretl()us heritage of all. Becau;;e they feel
that the artton� of the attorne� g:eneral of Cali
fomia threaten that her1t11ge ar.d their own se
curity. the"e as,;c,c1ations join in the brief which
>\e h,1,·,r ">lb-mittfd '.,> ih>? l'm:ed :-;:atf', �u
(Heme ('11urt
· Hastcallv. in :h.�
litigation. the
_ e:c-nernl t>l
declared that
and re;ig1,,t1� "rganiz , u1,,n;; arr puhht
trusts Jc'C(,Ul1tilble t,; :hp :-itate. Hr
31] t"!-:urrh ,,r :--.vnaica,gue propen,· h
hf treated a� , -
1uh;1c pr,,perc1·
�a:her than
,wn
e
d �\ '.b.P C\i.urch :,r th� S,1·nai::ogue
1', m
e
:nher� il.nrl ;� :h
e
re!11re suhiert tL1
sic>n. re,:ulatlOn .:rnd ,"c,ntn,I c,f ·:h
e
�late. Just
'ke p-Jhlic �rho"i� . .,r puhlic' park:<. He ha�es this
da1m .,... ;:J-. an 1n!_eren1 pllwer ,,rig1natJn� in :t'.,r
( ·
:>mmun ia.... ,,f Eni;land !:ing !1efute rhe F,rst
Am
e
ndrnerot hecam<-" part s>/' csur (",,n�titutiun
H<:' ciauns lhat this 9ower b.as he.en re\n{�,t�e<i
hv the C,-.Jiforn1a legi"-Jatur
e
and authoriz
e
s him
tu sup,;>r\ ' 1,;e, manage and Ct>ntrul a S . \ ' nagogue or
Church '>!l the theon that it is a ward of the
State c1nd that i:;:. atfatr"- and npernt1,ins ar
e
scih
ject to unlimited and c:,mtin>:ing control by the
State. actin� ihrnugh ll-" attnrney ;:eneral
·The Jctiuns "t the attorn
e
v _;!
e
neral violate
t!i
e
Fir�t Amendment·� ban :,n !Jws respecting
an estabitshment oi religion, bet'au;;e it c,mstt
intpermis.�ih\e state partlc1patmn m relt
atfa1r;:;. because at,; purp",;e 3nd primarv
ar
e
!o restrict reh,:ion and hecause
re-suits m E'-.:ce�;:;i�·e �·J�ernment
ment ... -ith r
e
ligion The action ,i] the attorney
gene�a; alsu violat
e
s the F1r;:;t Amendment's
guaranue ,1f the free e:-::r�cis
e
,ii reli�ion becaus
e
the :-;l,H<' ,,f Callfornia ha5 >10! e�tab!i;:;hed th
e
e--.:,stem· e nl
' an in,.erei>1. .�utti
.,ienth· uJmpe\hng
tll Justify infring
e
ment upon the coni::regants"
righb
:o
determine ho'>I- .and by whurn their
atfairs �hall h
e
g\1\ erried cind their vn[untary
, 0 on,r1but l<>n,a, f'Xpended '"
Th
e
repeated positior. of :he attorn
e
y general
"i: Cal\\1.,!"l
' -�a ' - "' tl:\a\ l:\e l:\ac- · 1,J\ 2, bs"\ute ng'r.t \D
kno'>I- e,·
ervthmg within the possession of the
Church. and on the basis of 11,·hatever is discov
ered. to decid
e
what, if anything to do. His post
t\1,n: Thal r,n the hal'>iS "t what he discu..-er.; he
ha;;. a ri1<ht to permanently remove the C'hurch"s
otticers. to hanish them from ever holding any
p,1,a.itiun uf tn..t.,;t. public ur pti\·ate. in the:,,tat
e
t)f
Californ1a: to restructure the Church from a
h:erarrhical to a cong - rel!:ational form and tu se
e
k
other reliei as 1s mnsistenl with the :-i.tate's cun
,·eption uf how the Church should be run
A FISAL STATEMEST BY
THE WORLDWIDE CHL'RCH OF GOD
\\ · e do not ask you to a�ree with us m the area Df
the,ilc11;Y- We do nut ,;eek members.. \Ve do n<.Jt
sulicit' funds from the public WI! believe DUT
Church :s Crn::l's Church and that it will stand
forever, despite its
e
nemies and the attorney
g:
e
neral ,Jf the 5tate of Califorma
But guard yuurself. Be sure of this: If the
illtorney �
e
n
e
ra! can in�·
ade uur Church he can
lnvade , , mu;:,_ Do ;-uu 10tant him to have that
p,,wet"'
!f vou want more information. write tc; us: The
\\'(,tldw�d� (l:\\uth o"\ GOO. B\)� \1\, '?a':oadena,
C'alif 9112.l. lH cal! our toll.free number
l80D1 42:l-4444. [n California rall collect
1·21:r1 :i-:'7-;">22.5
if vou ha\·e sDmetb.m� you would like to ,;ay to
the attornev g
e
neral of the ;:,tate uf California
wnte to him
The Hon. George Deukmejian
California Attorney Gen
e
ral
5.1.5 Capitol \fall
Sacramertto, Calif__ 9:i814
Page 7