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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, August 29, 1980
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that prayer will help us more than any single thing we could do at this
time ....We hope that the governor will be able to make an intelligent
decision in this matter and not be misled by wild allegations by people
who are close to him.... "
Commenting on the success of the Petris bill right after its latest
affirmation by the Senate, Mr. Rader said, "I still believe, regardless
of what [ultimately] happens with the bill, that it will give pause to
the courts, and maybe [even] give some pause to the attorney general,
who will recognize under any set of circumstances, that the legislature
of this state did not believe that he was doing the right thing [in
moving as he did against the Worldwide Church of God] .... "
The significance of this bill's success so far cannot be overstated and
must be especially noted because it has surmounted intense lobbying by
representatives of the attorney qeneral' s powerful office. "It is
already a great moral victory for us," stressed M.r. Rader, "and a great
moral and political defeat for Deukmejian, the would-be, self-appointed
religious arbiter of this state."
When asked if it would help for members to write the governor's office,
Mr. Rader replied in the affirmative and added, "They are alwa�!S impressed
by that, and I would not hesitate to write him or use night letters or
whatever other form you might want to use, urging him to sign Petris bill
SB 1493 into law."
Those Amazing Ads!
It appears we have not even begun to see the extent to which God is going
to use Mr. Herbert Armstrong's ads in furthering the Church's commission.
Speaking of Mr. Armstrong's ads, Mr. Rader marveled, "They have really
been the most amazing effort, I believe, that this Work has ever under
taken. They have been noted by people from all walks of life. They
have been noted by the media. They have turned the media on, so to
speak. They have opened a lot of doors for us. Never have they seen
such an advertising effort....
"On several occasions," continued Mr. Rader, "I have been asked over the
air, live, 'Well, who is writing these ads? Obviously, you must have some
high-powered advertising agency. Some advertising genius who is turning
this stuff out.' And I laugh, and I say, 'Well, you're rioht about the
latter, you are wrong about the former.
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"I said, 'Mr. Armstrong is and has been an advertising genius. He is
maybe the world's greatest copy writer and, of course, he is writing
about the world's most important message. The combination,' I said, 'is
absolutely fantastic.' And they had trouble believing it. They had
trouble believing that an 88-year-old man, for example, can turn out
this product. But we all--those of us who are intimate with the situation
--know that he writes every word of it."
Grabbing National Attention
One question posed to Mr. Rader involved whether we have considered
national TV advertising. Mr. Rader said he doubted whether it would be
worth the expense. He noted that we have spent most of our ad money in
this state where the battleground lies at the moment. Then he explained: