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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, August 29, 1980
Page 7
"We have done enough so far nationally to brinq the matter as a constitu
tional issue to the attention now of everybody. We will continue to
sporadically have our ads go out in that sense, and we are qetting a lot
of national coverage--radio and television--which accounts for my travels.
"We have four things," continued Mr. Rader, "that have been going for us.
We have this Petris bill which has been very important and has caught a
lot of people's attention. We have the ad campaign which has turned just
everybody on in our favor. We have my book which is catching the eyes
of radio, television and press commentators. And we have the major
religious denominations which have all come into the battle"=='not to save
us, or to help us but to help themselves, and they are creating quite a
stir.
"So those four things," explained Mr. Rader, "have kind of coalesced and
brought the matter to the attention of the national level. But September,
October and the first part of November will be months when everyone's
attention will be focused on the national elections. So we will probably
begin to phase out some of our advertising during the next 90 days, pick
ing it up again when things quiet down."
Ads Powerfully Proclaim the Gospel
Enlarging on how the ads are helping to do the Work, Mr. Rader referred
to an encounter with a gentleman while waiting for an elevator recently.
The man, employed by a major national company, recognized him and greeted
him by name, then spoke in complimentary terms about what the Church was
doing. "I don't know whether he saw our Wall Street Journal ads or saw
them in the [Los Angeles] Times," said Mr. Rader, "but the point is, we're
getting that message across now! People now know we are out there. They
are reading what we are saying, and he said, 'Keep up the good work. '"
Elaborating further, Mr. Rader said, "I believe it's the ad campaign more
than anything else. That space is very big space. The first time Mr.
Armstrong's ads broke in New York I happened to be there, and they picked
up the ad, and right away three or four television stations called Los
Angeles and wanted someone to make an appearance. By happenstance, I
was in New York, and I was able to go right over and appear that evening
live, and then the other stations wanted to have me come on, but I
couldn't be in two places at one time. They still used the ads [on
their programs], and they just ad-libbed from there.
"Every time [Mr. Armstrong] writes an ad, he writes it with great
authority. When he talks about the Great Commission, he doesn't explain
that this is what he thinks about it. When he talks about God's truth,
he doesn't apologize and say in parentheses (this is what I believe, but
you don't have to agree with me).
He says it with tremendous power and
tremendous authority and people recognize that and he is, in essence,
telling everybody that they are wrong!
"... So that's not a bashful violet writing those ads," chuckled Mr.
Rader. "Therefore, every time one of them comes out, we are step�ing
on some new toes, or we are stepping on some old toes again and we are
stepping on them hard. So there is always going to be a bedrock when