Spin Like It's 1979

In last Saturday's sermon, the Insane Liar Ronald Weinland made reference to the 1979 receivership episode that the WCG was subjected to, apparently using it as an analogy to his as yet unmentioned (by him) IRS problems.

Let's compare the two situations. For those under the age of 40 or who don't have a COG background, the receivership crisis was summarized in print as it transpired by the original anti-CoG critic, John Trechek, in the Ambassador Report semi-periodical that he self-published. The Internet was not being available in those days. Unfortunately John died in 1999 well before his time or he'd undoubtedly be a potent anti-CoG force on the Internet.

In the 1979 case, the California Attorney General working with several dissident members filed civil suit against HWA, WCG, and other individuals and entities. A judge placed the WCG in the hands of a receiver charged with auditing the books. Initially HWA seemed to cooperate, placing C. Wayne Cole in charge. But then he changed his mind, firing and later disfellowshipping Cole, and ending his cooperation. Stan Rader led the charge for HWA, fighting the receivership in court, both state and federal. He also led a public relations campaign, enlisting the support of other churches and gave interviews. The one he gave with 60 Minutes did not turn out well for him, with Mike Wallace making mince meat of Rader.

During the legal maneuvering in California, HWA hid out in his home in Tucson, Arizona, safe from being served a subpoena. He instructed his followers to send the tithe checks payable directly to him, and after awhile set up a legal entity known as a Corporation Sole, which meant that he had the benefits of a Corporation with none of the hassles of having to deal with a board of directors.

Eventually HWA prevailed by political means, with state Sen. Petris sponsoring a bill that eventually became law which stripped the Attorney General of the power to investigate religious organizations. Soon after its enactment, Attorney General Deukmajien, dropped the suit.

The episode is covered in greater detail at the Ambassador Report page hosted by The Painful Truth website. Issues of interest are :
AR7, AR8, AR9, AR10, AR11, AR12, AR13, & AR14.

Weinland situation is different. He is under criminal investigation while the 1979 case was civil (although I imagine it could have turned criminal if the audit had not been impeded). HWA had an attorney, Stan Rader, already in his stable and able to fight this.

So far the COG-PKG is not a target of the IRS, but the IRS is seeking informations about church transactions. That could change if the IRS finds as I suspect they will that his finances are commingled with the church's.

And Weinland with his unhedged prophecies is not likely to gather political support, even more so since he'd have to influence the US Congress instead of just a state legislature.

I expect Weinland to continue to reference 1979 as he did in last Saturday's sermon. When the word about his IRS situation gets out to his membership as it inevitably will, he will amp up the rhetoric about stirred up demons. He will probably blame a critic for involving the IRS. Should this end up in a court trial, I expect the courtroom to be packed with his members. Perhaps they'll hold church services their to slow things down, as the WCG did in the WCG administration building in 1979.

Weinland, unlike HWA, is personally involved in the case. He does not have the option as HWA did of hiding out in an adjacent state a short flight away in his Gulfstream jet. The best he could do is to find a foreign country without an extradition treaty where he could settle. Ron should avoid Pakistan unless he can persuade Osama to share his cave, as the Pakistanis would like to take their own legal steps against Weinland.