Against the Gates of Hell

Part V

Excerpts from Stan Raders book-
“Against the gates of hell: The threat to religious freedom in America”

The following is the promised Appendix D from Stanley Rader’s book, Against the Gates of Hell.

Appendix D

THE FOLLOWING is the complete text of the letter sent by Herbert Armstrong to Stanley Rader, from which the second half of the tape played by Mike Wallace was taken. In the letter, Mr. Armstrong reaffirms his total support of Mr. Rader.

“Dear Stan: I regret exceedingly having triggered the violent emotional outburst (that is putting it mildly) over the telephone last evening. Our personal relations together through the years have been too pleasant, stimulating and rewarding, and based on mutual esteem, loyalty and trust, to let anything come between us. I’11 certainly do my best to prevent any such outburst in the future.

I had been considerably distraught by things brought to my attention, or I should not have spoken so emphatically to Virginia. As I said on the phone, I am deeply sorry. Things have been brought to my attention that seriously threaten the very life of God’s Church and Work. I feel I must now candidly bring it to you. If ever I needed your help, Stan, it is now. You have been a faithful help to me in the Work that no one else could have contributed. Ted has been playing overtime on the rift between himself and you. I told you last spring that I felt I could come more effectively to your defense after I got the Church turned around and had built back my own credibility. I did accomplish that and sincerely, Stan, I’m sure that feelings that may have been aroused against your integrity, honor and loyalty have not disappeared, and I will continue to defend your good name as do you mine. But from a number of coordinators and field ministers as well as from Pasadena, I have learned that definitely the following situation does now exist, which could prove fatal to the Work unless cleared before the ministers’ conference.

I have the following report from the Office of Pastoral Administration: ‘Quite frankly, Mr. Armstrong, a very large number of members and ministers see only two choices for the future.’ The words themselves, you see, were not emphatic enough. ‘These two choices are Ted and Stan. Though many, most, actually, don’t want to leave you and follow Ted, they see the only alternative as following Stan, and they’d rather see Ted lead the Church than Stan.

‘To reinforce this attitude in the minds of our people, Stan is doing everything he can to present himself as next in line under you to run the Work in a purely physical way. It is common knowledge that Stan did not allow very much time to pass after Ted’s departure from his office before he, Stan, moved in. That office is part of the executive suite. It is seen as a symbol — the place for the man next to you in authority. Stan uses the underground Eara1e, and he uses your private elevator. It is a very common belief that very few, if any, people can get to you [this is the irony of error] to talk to you privately without going through Stan.

Mr. Armstrong, I could go on and on, but why? My point is that Stan and his prominent position in the Work is causing many people to stumble. This causes offense. God’s Word says that we who are converted and have a godly love for our fellowman will suffer even wrongly, unjustly [last words underscored, which I agree]. The apostle Peter said: “What reward is it when you suffer for things deserved?” But one is humble, is like a little child. He is willing and ready to suffer wrong rather than give unnecessary cause for offense and stumbling to others.’ “Stan, I know you have done these things to help and serve the Work and to help me.

I love you as a son, as you well know. I have accepted such things as moving into Ted’s former office as trying to most efficiently serve the Work. “But actually, the letter quoted above is mild compared to things I’ve heard from other sources. Certainly none of it is any reflection on your integrity. [Mr. Armstrong’s emphasis.] I don’t hear any more reflections against your good character. But I do hear that people believe you are pushing your way in to take over. “But no matter how false, God says we should avoid even the appearance of wrong and avoid causing little ones to stumble.

Even though I do not feel as if I were over 45 years of age, people do look at that 86-plus figure. And most people do feel that anyone past 60 is old, and past 70 is sure to die any moment. “I know and you know that I will go on living as long as God needs and wants me to live. But the little ones out there seem unable to see that.

I know, Stan, that this is the general attitude in view of the ministry, and brethren, generally, around the country. I have been assured of it from coordinators and ministers from widely scattered areas. And, although I think we have cleared any false charges against your personal integrity, they do look on you as an attorney, familiar with finance and business, and not as a shepherd over God’s flock. “So what I propose is this, that we go back to the status as it was prior to Ted’s departure, that you resign (see pic1, pic2) from administrative responsibilities in the Church and the college, but continue as vice president, executive vice president for the foundation, as my personal assistant and adviser, as our auditor, CPA and legal counsel, and of course, perhaps most important of all, continue with me in the great commission overseas.

It might even look better for the Church to pay you an annual retainer for legal counsel, financial adviser, etc., subject to additional billing where warranted, and the foundation to pay you also a salary or fee, as you think best. I do want you and need you to continue as my personal assistant and adviser, especially in projects such as our overseas work and marketing of my books. “Stan, I believe this will remove the last remaining serious threat to the Work of the great commission. I know that if we do what Christ leaves for us to do, and as I know He has led me in the above, the living Christ will preserve His Church and Work, will bless you and me and all in the Church and lead us to gloriously finish the great commission.

“With deepest love in Jesus’ name.”

From Ambassador Report (AR7) we are introduced to the class action suit against the WCG.

Dear Friends:
As most of you have undoubtedly heard, the Worldwide Church of God (WCG) is in the midst of its greatest crisis ever. Because of the complexity of the situation, we decided to delay our November-December issue until now. We have been following the momentous events of the last few weeks very closely. Here is what has transpired:

The Lawsuit

Since Garner Ted Armstrong’s expulsion from the WCG, many members of the church have become increasingly concerned over the rapid liquidation of church and college properties at a time when the WCG has claimed record-high income. Many deeply committed members of the church have been heartbroken to see college properties and church festival sites put up for sale while millions of tithe dollars are diverted to the costly world tours of Herbert Armstrong, the secular Everest House Publishing Company, Quest magazine, and other Ambassador International Cultural Foundation projects.

In late 1978 a handful of concerned WCG members obtained legal counsel about the matter and were put in contact with Hillel Chodos, a distinguished Beverly Hills attorney noted for his expertise in litigating major corporate fraud cases. A legal brief was prepared and presented to the attorney general of California. (Coincidentally, Ambassador Report, completely unaware that any of this was occurring, also contacted the attorney general’s office expressing concern over the same matters.)

The attorney general, working in close cooperation with Mr. Chodos, took immediate action. A civil suit was prepared listing the following plaintiffs: Earl and Shirley Timmons of Altadena, California, John and Paula Tuit of New Jersey, Ronald Quinlan of Staten Island, New York, and David Morgan of Pasadena, California. Also listed as a plaintiff are the People of California because monies contributed to nonprofit corporations are, by statute, deemed monies held in public trust and therefore subject to monitoring by the attorney general on behalf of the people.

Listed as defendants are: the Worldwide Church of God Inc., Ambassador College Inc., the Ambassador International Cultural Foundation Inc., Herbert W. Armstrong, Stanley Rader, Ralph Helge, Henry Cornwall, Robert Kuhn, Ray Wright, Osamu Gotoh, plus five firms with ties to certain of these individuals: Worldwide Advertising Inc., Wilshire Travel Inc., Gateway Publishing Inc., Environmental Plastics Inc., of Dallas, Texas, and the accounting firm of Rader, Cornwall, and Kessler.

Among the charges of the suit are the following: (1) that Herbert Armstrong and Stanley Rader have siphoned off (“pilfered”) millions of dollars of church funds annually for their personal use, (2) that there has been a failure to provide an adequate accounting of the church’s financial position as required by state laws governing charitable institutions, (3) that there has been a refusal to hold regular meetings of the corporations or to allow voting on matters affecting the governance of the organizations, (4) that there has been improper co-mingling of funds among the church, college, and foundation, (5) that there has been a liquidation of church-owned properties “on a massive scale,” including about 50 parcels in Southern California, (6) that written records of financial dealings have been removed from the church’s Pasadena office, shredded, and destroyed.

The suit does not ask for any monetary damages for the plaintiffs but calls for an accounting of all funds and financial transactions, especially of Herbert Armstrong and Stanley Rader. The suit also calls for the replacement of the trustees of the nonprofit corporations.

Excerpts from the book “The Truth Shall Make You Free” by John Tuit.

Chapter 11

*Herrmann then asked Kuhn, “What does Rader have on Herbert Armstrong, that he can seem to control him in that way?”  “I’m not sure, “responded Kuhn sadly, “but there are rumors of sexual compromise, in addition to the vast expenditures of money.  I also believe that Rader has a lot of powerful connections, I don’t know how they fit in to Mr. Armstrong’s international travels, but there may be something there.  As an example, Rader was very well acquainted with H. R Halderman.  During the Nixon administration, Rader’s oldest daughter worked in the White House and is now an attorney with the prosecutor’s office for either the city of the county of Los Angeles.  During the Nixon years there were some IRS audits of the college books and Ted’s return was audited. I understand that they were also going to do Rader’s return, but through some contacts in Washington he had that stopped.”

Herrmann then asked, “Would Rader, if he were an enemy of Garner Ted actually bail him out of  a large gambling debt?”

Wright replied, “Yes, he probably would.  That’s the way Rader operates.  Then it would give him something that he could hold over Garner Ted’s head to use whenever he saw fit.  Rader maintains meticulous files and a detailed diary of his every activity. HE would to that very type of thing if he thought it could provide him the tool he needed to control Ted at a later date. But there were other expenditures on Ted’s behalf. He frequently got large cash advances, which seemed rather strange considering that everyone had a credit card.  And then of course there were his flying lessons.  All of his flying lessons were paid for out of Church funds, including those which he required to obtain his jet pilot’s license.  All of those payments were made out of the general expense fund.  When you get right down to it, the Falcon jet was more of a toy than a business tool because it was used mostly for his personal use.  The same applied to the Cessna Citation which was used by Ron Dart and some other top ministers.”

Again, Herrmann brought up the same question that he had asked Kuhn, and a question that constantly prayed upon all of our minds.  He asked, “This is incredible. I really find it all hard to believe. I just don’t see how this man Rader can stay so tightly locked in to the point of coming out on top of Herbert Armstrong’s own son. He must have something on Herbert Armstrong that no one knows about.  Do you have any idea what it might be?”

Wright stumbled and stammered a bit and acted as though he wished that the question had never been asked..  He then said, ‘Well, of course Armstrong has spent more than his share of money, too. Rader was the guy who knows where every penny has gone.  He has threatened Mr. Armstrong many times that if he were ever let go he would tell the world everything (he) knows.  He has also  threatened many times to sue the Church and sue Herbert Armstrong.  His knowledge seems to go far beyond money.  A lot of the hold that he has over Herbert Armstrong seems to be centered around Armstrong’s own weaknesses. He has a drinking problem and (pg 165) that just leads to all other types of problems.  I think the whole key to the thin is Dr. Floyd Lochner. He’s a Ph.D. who used to teach at the college, but most of the time he accompanied Mr. Armstrong as one of his aides and also as his masseur. Lochner claims to have made several tape recordings of Herbert Armstrong revealing very intimate things to him.  He has acknowledged that he knows that he is not an apostle, but that  it is through the use of such a title that he can control the Church.  And then I understand that there were many sexual sins, but I don’t know the details about it.  I would say that the validity of all this is confirmed by the fact that Dr. Lochner is on a salary from the college of about $25,000 a year.  He has absolutely no duties and no responsibilities. It is strictly a  no-show job.”

*Jeff Herrmann was one of John Tuits attorneys
Text supplied by Banned by HWA

From the INFO LIST:

STANLEY R. RADER (August 13, 1930 – July 2, 2002), was an attorney, accountant, author and, later in life, one of the Evangelists of the Worldwide Church of God , then a Sabbatarian organization, which was founded by Herbert W. Armstrong.

BEFORE MEETING ARMSTRONG

Stanley Rader was born and raised in White Plains , New York . He later moved to, where he met his future wife, Natalie “Niki” Gartenberg. He graduated from UCLA in 1951 and became a Certified Public Accountant in 1954.

FIRST ASSOCIATIONS WITH ARMSTRONG

In 1956 Rader met Armstrong, leader of what was then called the Radio Church of God , at its headquarters offices in Pasadena , California. Under contract with the Radio Church of God, Rader worked on improving its accounting system, thereby creating a highly favorable impression with Armstrong, who then urged him to attend law school at Armstrong’s expense. In 1963 Rader graduated from University of Southern California Law School .

The Radio Church of God had been previously incorporated on March 3, 1946, when it was re-established in Pasadena. Prior to this event it had been an unincorporated voluntary association based in Eugene, and named after its radio broadcast. On January 5, 1968, Armstrong, as president , together with the secretary of the corporation, amended its Articles of Incorporation to reflect the change of name to the Worldwide Church of God. (By then its radio broadcast had also been renamed The World Tomorrow ). By this time Armstrong was considered to be more of a modern-day apostle by his followers, rather than merely “pastor general,” his title in the church. After coming to terms regarding salary and compensation, in 1969 Rader decided to devote his full-time to the service of Armstrong.

JOINING WCG

Rader, who still considered himself Jewish, was baptized into WCG by Armstrong in 1975 using a hotel bathtub in the Mandarin Hotel in Hong Kong . This move allowed Rader to reposition himself as a high-ranking church evangelist in an attempt to quell misgivings by many in the ministerial hierarchy, who felt that Rader’s undue influence on Armstrong was troubling.

60 MINUTES INTERVIEW

In a 60 Minutes interview with Mike Wallace, Rader defended himself, remarking to Wallace, “I don’t take stupid pills.” Wallace read to Rader a portion of a letter Armstrong was drafting, asking Rader to resign from any church positions that would make him Armstrong’s successor. Wallace then played a tape of Armstrong reading the letter. Rader started to sweat, before finally declaring: “Now I say you’ve acquired this by illegal means. I intend to have my attorneys today not only sue you if you use this. … Mike, look, I think you’d better scrap everything because you’re on my list. Okay? You’re never going to live it down, Mike, I guarantee it. … you’re contemptible. … I’d like you to get out of here, immediately!” Rader then stormed out of the room, and accused the press of distorting the facts.

POPULARIZING ARMSTRONG

Whereas the plan of was to ease his aging father into retirement, the plan of Rader and his aide Robert Kuhn was to transform Herbert W. Armstrong from an elderly evangelist into a more secular leader, casting him as a vital “Ambassador for World Peace without portfolio “. Rader’s plan required the creation of a totally new and secular cover entity from which to operate, distanced from Armstrong’s Worldwide fundamentalist sect, which might prove unpalatable to prominent world leaders as Armstrong played out his role as quasi-ambassador. In 1975, therefore, he incorporated the Ambassador International Cultural Foundation (AICF) which was actually funded from the tithe money of members of the Worldwide Church of God. In 1979, Rader was ordained as one of the Evangelists of the Worldwide Church of God .

As a consequence, the AICF transformed , on the Ambassador College campus, from a church auditorium, in which Saturday Sabbath church services were conducted, into a ” of the West”, and launched a concert series featuring the top names in classical music , jazz , and the performing arts. PBS and other television networks made use of this glamorous new venue. The AICF also created a new, glossy, secular, coffee-table, commercial magazine called Quest , with a circulation of several hundred thousand copies. Additionally, the AICF bought the book publisher Everest House , and funded the motion picture Paper Moon starring Tatum O\’Neal .

Armstrong, in the company of Rader, began introducing himself to any world leader who held political power and was willing to meet with the aging, grandfatherly figure for a photo opportunity for The Plain Truth , during which the leader would receive expensive gifts, such as Stueben crystal. Armstrong sold his new AICF portfolio approach to the church membership as being a new phase in preaching the church’s gospel .

BUSINESS RELATIONSHIPS

Rader used his own professional legal accounting practice, and also incorporated new companies in order to conduct profitable business enterprises on behalf of the Worldwide Church of God. The companies largely owned and controlled by Rader included:

* Cartwright, Dixon. “Stanley Rader, WCG evangelist and treasurer and confidant of Herbert W. Armstrong, dies”. News of the Churches of God . The Journal. Retrieved 15 September 2012. * ^ “Rader Ordained – AR10 November 19, 1979”. Ambassador Report . The Painful Truth. Retrieved 15 September 2012. * ^ “Stanley Rader on “Sixty Minutes” with Mike Wallace”. Ambassador Report . The Painful Truth. Retrieved 15 September 2012. * ^ “The Lawsuit – AR7 January 21, 1979”. Ambassador Report . The Painful Truth. Retrieved 15 September 2012. * ^ “Petris Bill Passes”, Ambassador Report , Issue 13, September, 1980

From: THE DISCERNMENT MINISTRIES

“THE CONSPIRACY WAS STRONG”

THE WORLDWIDE CHURCH OF GOD

Due to his involvement with the Discernment Ministries, which purport to be Christian and to expose the New World Order, Sir Anthony F. Buzzard seemed to warrant further investigation. A logical place to begin was the Worldwide Church of God in which Sir Anthony formerly held membership and employment for some time. The Worldwide Church of God was founded by Herbert W. Armstrong in 1934 as “The World Tomorrow” radio program with a magazine called The Plain Truth. The WCG was led by Herbert Armstrong and his son, Garner Ted Armstrong, prior to its transformation into an Evangelical denomination after highly publicized exposure of criminal and immoral activities.

Sir Anthony had informed me that he separated from the WCG when the denomination embraced orthodox doctrine and thereafter affiliated with the Church of God General Council, which maintained the Unitarian beliefs of the former WCG. A listing of the Worldwide Church of God – Organizational Splits states that Anthony Buzzard formed Restoration Fellowship in 1972, the year he left his teaching post at WCG Ambassador College. A publication of the Church of God, The Journal , still promotes the Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association and the Worldwide Church of God. [This COG website also interconnects a large network of Unitarian — Nazarene, Sabbatarian, Hebrew Roots, Seventh Day Adventist and Jewish — web sites.]

Anthony Buzzard wrote in The Journal : “I was in the WCG from 1960 to 1972 and taught music and biblical languages in Pasadena [Ambassador College at the WCG Headquarters] and Bricket Wood [College in England].” According to a 1978 BBC broadcast, Sir Anthony Buzzard was “a man who knew Herbert Armstrong well.” In a publication titled the Ambassador Report, Sir Anthony explained Armstrong’s “main ambition to meet top people around the world,” such as the Queen of England, whom he considered to be the descendant of King David:

“He felt that if he could do that he would have preached the gospel to the nations through getting at their leaders and after that has been done it was his firm belief that the end of the world would come. I’m sure that to meet Her Majesty the Queen would be his ultimate ambition. He’s always had a great love of England, and he would look upon the Queen as being a direct descendant of King David because he believes, or believed certainly when I knew him, that England and America are the descendants of the lost tribes of Israel, and therefore to meet the direct descendant of David would be the highest privilege he could think of.” (Ambassador Report, 8/21/78)

An expose of the Worldwide Church of God, The Truth Shall Make You Free by John Tuit, describes a religious empire which extorted not one, but three, tithes (30% of income) from its members to support extravagant lifestyles for Herbert W. and Garner Ted Armstrong and a law firm of Jewish attorneys who controlled the WCG for twenty years. The most prominent of these was Stanley Rader, who with Herbert Armstrong “had gained access to the heads of state in at least a dozen world capitals.” Former WCG member, John Tuit, who initiated the litigation and investigation of the denomination, wrote in 1981 of the power elites with whom Armstrong and Rader had connections, including members and even the founder of the Bilderberg Group:

“It is more than passing significance that Armstrong’s original contacts were made through high-ranking members of the Japanese government. Perhaps the mysterious Osamu Gotoh’s part in this will never be totally known. The Japanese, who have such a significant part in the Trilateral Commission, are also the very ones who have introduced Armstrong to many world leaders…

“Through the Ambassador International Cultural Foundation, Rader has established an institute for political research in Tokyo as well as a Society for Near Eastern Studies in Tokyo. There is a close relationship with King Leopold III of Belgium, who is one of the members of Prince Bernhard’s Bilderberg Group. And there has also been very close contact with Prince Bernhard. Doctor Singh of the World Court also figures prominently in the Armstrong-Rader contacts.” (The Truth Shall Make You Free, p. 289)