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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, July 11, 1980
Page 16
"So I've always spent my money in that way. But I've done so because Mr.
Armstrong has wanted me to do it, even before I was a member. It was
what he knew this Work needed if I were to meet these bankers, if I were
to meet [executives of] insurance companies, if I were to meet media
people, if I were to meet kings and princesses and queens--it was
necessary for the Work.
"If I spend a small fortune on this suit, what do you think it's worth
the moment that I take it from the tailor? Does anybody have an idea of
what its worth as of that moment? Mr. Kessler's there. What would it
be worth, percentage wise? Guess. At the mos� [Mr. Jack Kessler re
sponds 20%]. The moment that I, the moment that the exchange takes
place, I've lost 80 percent, just like that. Immediately! Now you can
say it's vanity. But it really isn't. Who am I trying to impress?
"Everything that I do is tied up with the Work, just like everything Mr.
Armstrong does is tied up directly with the Work. He spends seven days
a week, 15 hours a day, concerned only about the Work. And I spent a
good part of my life there for 12 years with him, where we shared almost
every minute. Who are we trying to impress, one another? But there had
to be a reason, wasn't there? In his judgment it would be better for us
to be that way, dressing that way, appearing that way to these people
that we had to deal with on behalf of God's Work than to try to get away
with an Arab robe of some kind or a toga or a sackcloth. That was his
judgment. Now when I became a member, if it had been different, I would
have changed.
"Mr. Armstrong wrote a very nice piece about me one time which I never,
never even remotely anticipated. It's called the Plain Truth about me,
about Stanley Rader. And he mentioned that the reason people don't like
me, he said, was maybe because the same reason they didn't like him.
That he had a certain amount of criticism because he came into the Work,
into God's Work late in life, or later in life; had a certain veneer and
didn't bother giving that up, didn't think that was necessary in doing
God's Work. He thought just the opposite. It was important not to be
sanctimonious and self-righteous. And he said that's what he always
liked about me, that I didn't change.
"But the point is, I want to do what is right in God's eyes. And I want
to do what is right in Mr. Armstrong's eyes.
And I also want to be of
the greatest service that I can."
"Cult" Becomes a Buzz Word
Mr. Rader related how the Attorney General is going around button-hoi'
ing
assemblymen (who will be voting soon on the Petris bill) arguing "fraud"
and "cult'' because he doesn't know which will be more effective against
us and other churches he is attacking and intends to go after in the
future.
Of course we are not at all like a cult by any reasonable definition. One
of the finest lawyers in the nation, Professor Lawrence Tribe (who just
won an important case in the Supreme Court the other day) is working
diligently for us all the time. In a recent brief he made a point to
stress the legitimacy of the Worldwide Church of God he has become ac
quainted with. Here is part of that brief which Mr. Rader read to the
Bible study audience:
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