PUBLIC RELATIONS!
DO 142
11/71
1. WE'VE HAD SOME PRETTY DANDY BAD EXAMPLES OF POOR PUBLIC RELATIONS resulting in some UNFAVOURABLE PUBLICITY IN SEVERAL AREAS, part of which was DUE TO THE ATTACKS OF OUR ENEMIES, but SOME OF IT WAS DUE TO OUR OWN MISTAKES, unacceptable procedures, bungling of answers, careless handling of mail, too careful handling of personnel, rash statements by our own teachers, disobedience to leadership, slothfulness in taking the initiative to create good public relations, unauthorised and dangerous demonstrations, neglect of your own sheep, downright discourteous handling of visitors & reporters, unwise treatment of the press & other leaders etc. So I believe it's high time we DISCUSS SOME OF THESE MISTAKES & TRY TO CORRECT THEM!
2. OVER-PROTECTIVENESS: THIS HAS PROBABLY BEEN ONE OF YOUR BIGGEST MISTAKES & RESULTED IN SOME OF YOUR WORST BLOWUPS WITH PARENTS! You have been entirely too over-protective with your disciples in their relationship with their loved ones or relatives & visitors & the handling of mail. This was never our policy in the beginning, as emphasised in our emergency call to send all disciples home for the holidays to prove it! (See No.144A.)
3. WE DO NOT CENSOR MAIL! THIS IS A MISNOMER! Don't ever let them trick you into saying that we censor mail, & don't ever censor the mail! We only INSPECT the mail: Incoming mail for any drugs & contraband materials. If you also want to simply check outgoing mail before it's sealed for any contraband material not to be sent OUT of the camp which belongs to the camp, that is up to you.
4. WE DO NOT OPEN DISCIPLES' MAIL!--It has always been our policy to SIMPLY WATCH THE DISCIPLE AS EACH OPENS HIS or her mail to make sure nothing contraband was enclosed! We have always let them open their own mail, but in our presence, as THEY ALSO PLEDGED TO CONTRIBUTE VOLUNTARILY ANY FUNDS which they receive through the mail. Of course, if any disciple chooses not to share any such income with us, he will automatically be considered as having broken his vows of membership & we will consider that he no longer wishes to be a member because of this.
5. IF YOU'LL BE FAITHFUL WITH A REGULAR LETTER WRITING SESSION & tell the disciples HOW to write & what to write FOR, it will not only be a great help to your public relations, mail forwarding problems, 10:36 problems etc., but it could also, if wisely handled, MEAN A GOOD DEAL OF SUPPORT to help pay the expenses of that disciple in your Home. There's NOTHING WRONG WITH HIS ASKING HIS FOLKS FOR A LITTLE HELP toward his room, board & training. That's the least they could do! It would cost them a lot more to send them to college or to a hospital! They might ASK THEIR FOLKS FOR THEIR FARE TO THE FIELD FOR A CHRISTMAS PRESENT or get them to promise it, if they come home for Christmas. This is the way Billy Graham & nearly every other missionary organisation raises the money for their teams going abroad! They ask the team member himself to either supply it himself or raise it in donations from his relatives & friends!--So why not us? Don't be so damned independent!
6. OVER-PROTECTIVENESS REGARDING VISITORS: Most relatives naturally resent the presence of you, a total stranger, in what they would like to be a nice little private visit with their child. If you had permitted greater leniency along this line, you would not have offended so many. Therefore, I highly recommend that if the relatives or VISITORS WANT A PRIVATE CONFERENCE WITH ONE OF OUR DISCIPLES, YOU PERMIT THEM to do so without harassment of a dozen people standing around yelling Scriptures at them! This only makes them more determined to remove their kid from these maniacs!
7. IF THE DISCIPLE CANNOT STAND STRONG ENOUGH TO RESIST THE PLEAS OF THESE VISITORS TO LEAVE & GO HOME WITH THEM, LET THEM GO! We don't need them, if they're that weak! I would recommend that to avoid any further violent confrontations, YOU MAY EVEN HAVE TO RISK SOME KIDNAPPINGS TO PERMIT THEM TO GO FREELY & alone, with the visitors; to go out to dinner or even spend the night with them in a motel to TRY TO PACIFY THEM & SATISFY THEM THAT THEY ARE ACTUALLY FREE TO LEAVE WHENEVER THEY WANT TO. If the disciple hasn't enough gumption either to persuade the visitors to bring him back or he'll miss classes etc., or even RUN AWAY & HITCHHIKE BACK on his own or even call for the help of a passerby or a policeman, if necessary, to rescue him from the over-protective clutches of the visitors, then he or she really hasn't got what it takes to be a Revolutionary!
8. FRANKLY, I BELIEVE IF THE KID REALLY WANTS TO GET BACK, HE'LL GET BACK SOMEHOW, unless they lock him up in a mental institution! But we've even had the Lord deliver these! But remember, YOU MUST NOT INTERFERE WITH AN OFFICER WHO COMES WITH A MENTAL WARRANT--or you're in legal trouble! You can ask to see the warrant, make sure who it's for & while you're stalling, someone else can INFORM THE DISCIPLE INVOLVED, WHO THEN HAS A PERFECT RIGHT TO RUN out the back door if he wants to! A mental warrant is not a warrant for arrest for a crime --so if he's supposed to be so crazy, who would blame him for running! This procedure has been very successful on a number of occasions! The tricky one is where they get the disciple away from you first on a supposed visit & produce the warrant & the officer later when they have him alone! He can still try to run if he wants to--& certainly no officer's going to shoot him for that!--The parent wouldn't let him!
9. MY LAST ADVICE ON VISITORS IS TO TRY NOT TO KEEP THEM WAITING TOO LONG & thus aggravate them & the whole situation. Only resort to such measures in the most extreme emergencies! Let's hope & pray you don't have to! Keep up those good relations with relatives & visitors to try to prevent it! I'm sure your over-protectiveness along this line has often been to blame for a lot of your troubles & such bad publicity!
10. ONE MORE ITEM ON THIS SUBJECT: SOMETIMES THE TROUBLE HAS RESULTED FROM A DISCIPLE FAILING to heed the warnings or obey the instructions of leadership in certain situations! Remind your disciples that OBEDIENCE & COOPERATION UNTO THE LORD'S LEADERS MAY SAVE HIS LIFE & LIBERTY for the Lord's Service! EVERY GOOD SOLDIER MUST TRY HIS BEST NOT TO BE A CASUALTY!
11. PRESS RELATIONSHIPS: IN THE FIRST PLACE, WHEN A REPORTER CONTACTS YOU FOR AN INTERVIEW, REMEMBER THAT HE'S A VERY BUSY MAN OR WOMAN, so don't make them mad & start the whole thing off on the wrong foot by ANTAGONISING THEM BY KEEPING THEM WAITING or treating them discourteously! If he or she represents a medium which has treated you very unfairly or unfavourably, tell them so frankly, that unless they treat you right this time, you'll never talk to them again or give them another story--but that you'll GIVE ALL YOUR NEWS IN THE FUTURE TO THE NEWS MEDIUM THAT TREATS YOU AT LEAST FAIRLY, including their competitors! This can help them take a different attitude, because it's to their disadvantage to be completely cut off from you as a source of news, especially if you threaten to give your stories from now on to the other papers or TV stations who have treated you a little better!
12. NEVER BE ASHAMED OF THE TRUTH, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT REFLECTS ON YOUR ENEMIES! ALSO, FOR GOD'S SAKE, SPEAK WITH CONVICTION! This really carries through, especially on TV! It shows you really believe you're right, no matter what they say! Certainly don't stumble, stammer & stall around like you don't know the answer or you're ashamed to give it! Answer immediately & with conviction! If you can't say anything else, JUST SAY, "THAT'S RIDICULOUS! OF COURSE NOT! We wouldn't think of doing such a thing!"
13. WHATEVER YOU DO ON TV, LOOK THAT CAMERA STRAIGHT IN THE EYE, which means that Systemite sitting in his living room, & tell him off with positive conviction! Don't stall around & beat around the bush & lower your eyes like you're ashamed of something, but look him straight in the eye with counter-challenging conviction & tell him off!--Throw the challenge back in their teeth! Don't take the attack lying down, acting like you're trying to crawl off in a corner & hide! TAKE THE INITIATIVE AND ATTACK THEM! And do it with forceful, forthright, obvious conviction & sincerity, looking them straight in the eye, with an "How-dare-you-even-insinuate-such-a-thing" attitude!
14. DON'T LET YOURSELF GET PUT ON THE DEFENSIVE! Ask them a few questions! Take the offensive! GO TO THE ATTACK! SHOVE YOUR MIKE IN THEIR FACE & ASK THEM TO ANSWER A FEW, such as, "Why do you always only want to publish the bad things about us & don't even try to see the good things? Why don't you come out & stay with us a while & see for yourself? Why don't you TALK TO SOME OF THE KIDS RIGHT HERE, THAT LIVE HERE, instead of the cowardly weaklings & traitors that left us because they didn't have the guts to take it & live like a soldier of Jesus Christ! WHY DON'T YOU DO SOME HONEST REPORTING FOR A CHANGE & GET BOTH SIDES of the story, instead of only telling one side all the time!"
15. HONESTY IS USUALLY THE BEST POLICY IN DEALING WITH THE PRESS, as they already know too much about us & they may just be trying to trap you to see if your stories jive. So unless it's a matter which is none of their business, just try to be forthright & open with them & TELL THEM THE BEST YOU KNOW HOW, WITHOUT TELLING THEM ANY MORE THAN YOU HAVE TO. And remember, you don't have to tell them everything you know! You don't even have to give them your System name or home town or anything else, if you don't want to! They're not a prosecuting attorney or judge & you're not in court on the witness stand giving a sworn testimony! So you don't have to tell them anything if you don't want to!
16. A LOT OF TIMES YOUR BEST ANSWER IS "I DON'T KNOW!"--especially if you're not sure what the right answer is or you don't know what answer you should give them! Just say, "I don't know!" or "Sorry, I don't know how to answer you on that one!" Reporters usually make pretty good detectives & they'll try to worm every little thing out of you if they can, especially if they are sceptical, critical or antagonistic, in which case you can give them a noncommittal reply or even a humorous answer. A little comedy sometimes takes the pressure off & a good laugh relieves the tension, even at an interview! But you may be led to TAKE IT EASY ON A REPORTER WHO IS MORE SYMPATHETIC & FAVOURABLE & not quite so nosey!
17. IF THEY ASK YOU SOME QUESTIONS YOU DON'T WANT TO ANSWER, YOU CAN JUST FLATLY REFUSE to answer them if you want to & tell them that's really none of their business! But if you don't want to make them mad, A SOFT ANSWER TURNETH AWAY WRATH & you can just STALL, EVADE OR LEAD them off on another track or say, "Now you wouldn't really expect me to answer that, would you?" Or just say, "I'm sorry, I can't answer that." Or simply, "Sorry, I just don't know what to say to that one." Or just plainly & flatly, "I don't know" etc. Remember, YOU DON'T HAVE TO KNOW!--AND SOME THINGS YOU SHOULDN'T KNOW or be expected to know, especially if they're PERSONAL THINGS ABOUT SOMEBODY ELSE, which are not even any of YOUR business, much less the reporters!
18. SO JUST TRY TO BE POLITE & TELL THEM YOU'RE SORRY BUT YOU DON'T KNOW OR YOU CAN'T ANSWER THAT Or haven't got the answer to that one etc. However, TRY TO ANSWER AS MANY HARMLESS QUESTIONS AS YOU CAN IN ORDER TO KEEP HIM HAPPY & give him a good story! After all, that's his job, he does it for a living & he's got to cover you, so if you don't give him something to write & tell him as much truth as you can & be as friendly & open with him as you can, he may cook up something much worse on his own--so try not to make him mad or be too evasive! Just be frank!--Yes or No.
19. TRY TO WIN HIM AS A FRIEND IF YOU CAN, but DON'T PUSH HIM SO HARD FOR CONVERSION that you make him feel like you're prying into HIS personal affairs & make HIM resentful or you may get him so up-tight that he may go home & write something against you in self-defense! Try to be honest, MAKE YOUR STORIES AGREE WITH EACH OTHER, show him around as much as you can, let him interview your people as much as possible, sit in on some sessions etc. Be sure you present some of your disciples with the most interesting & impressive testimonies, such as those with dramatic deliverances from drugs, which is a subject of big interest nowadays to the System public who haven't found the solution, but you have--& you can tell them that it's Jesus! ALWAYS GET THE MESSAGE IN THAT IT'S JESUS & THE LOVE HE'S GIVEN YOU FOR OTHERS that delivered you from drugs, made such a change in your life & made you want to live so sacrificially so you could help save others from the same & that's why you live like you do.
20. REMEMBER, THEY'LL ALWAYS WANT TO HARP ON THE PARENTS' CHARGES, leadership, sex, money, politics, religion, doctrines etc., so either HAVE YOUR ANSWERS READY OR ASK THE LORD to fill your mouth with the right answers! What may be the right answer for one may be another man's poison! So seek earnestly to BE LED OF THE SPIRIT, WISE AS A SERPENT, HARMLESS AS A DOVE! Try to get them so involved with the kids & their testimonies & what you're actually doing & accomplishing--the good & positive side of your work that's to your credit, like drug & radical & criminal deliverances--that they'll forget or won't have time to ask you negative questions!
21. ALWAYS GIVE YOUR OWN PERSONAL TESTIMONY. They can hardly deny that without calling you a liar, & they're not likely to do that if you present it with earnest sincerity, love & the power of the Spirit--real conviction! Bring up others who have good testimonies for the interview.
22. EMPHASISE THE MIRACLES THAT GOD HAS DONE IN YOUR LIVES: Deliverance from drugs, crime, destructiveness, violent revolution, violent rebellion against society & your parents, mental confusion, ill health, purposelessness, uselessness etc. The System likes this!
23. BE SURE TO EMPHASIS THE MIRACLES GOD IS DOING FOR US NOW: The scores of healthy, happy babies born by natural childbirth, the miraculously easy deliveries, the strong healthy mothers, immediate recuperation without drugs or operations & without the loss of one mother or child!--Also how we depend on the Lord for our health & healing & safe-keeping & how miraculously He protects us or heals us from serious illnesses, accidents etc., although there are thousands of us scattered throughout the World!
24. EMPHASISE HOW THE LORD SO MIRACULOUSLY PROVIDES ALL OUR NEEDS FOR THOUSANDS LIVING BY FAITH with none of us working for money or a living-just for the Lord!--The carloads of food that have been donated; transportation of all kinds, buses, trucks etc; thousands of dollars worth of housing, utilities, furniture, clothing, musical instruments, personal needs etc.! Just don't be too specific about the names of donors or exact large amounts of money or some may even be stupid enough to think you're getting too much & getting rich, which God knows we're not! Sceptics are always trying to accuse you of being in it for the money! A good answer for that one is, "Ha! If there was any money in it, you'd be in it too!" They should be able to look around & see with their own eyes by the way we live that we're obviously not making money!
25. BRAG ABOUT HOW HARD YOU ALL WORK AT VARIOUS JOBS & TRADES & are even learning new trades, such as radio, printing, electronics, farming, dress-making, cooking, typing, office management, mechanics, carpentry, maintenance, plumbing, wiring, childcare, teaching, business management, writing, marital relations, public relations, etc. Remember that the World worships work & they love to see you busy!--And productive & helping yourselves & learning something useful, according to their way of thinking!
26. DON'T FORGET TO TELL THEM HOW MUCH YOU'RE HELPING OTHER YOUNG PEOPLE get out of drugs, crime, violence, destructiveness, mental confusion etc., besides giving them something useful to do.
27. WITH RELIGIOUS REPORTERS, EMPHASISE HOW MANY YOU'RE WINNING TO CHRIST, how much Bible studying, witnessing, visitation & soul winning you do & how many of these decisions for Christ are joining churches & not us--that only the few & most dedicated join our own ranks--those who really want to work hard, help others & serve the Lord full time, living truly sacrificially & by faith, as Jesus & His disciples did! Rub that in to the Christians! You won't have to knock their church! They know very well THEY'RE not doing it! Your very example puts them to shame more than a sermon!
28. TRY NOT TO BE NEGATIVE OR HARSHLY KNOCKING THE SYSTEM, ITS CHURCHES ETC.--even public education! You can turn them off & against you that way! It's OK to talk like this to each other, but not to outsiders! They just don't understand how you could possibly have anything against their beloved churches, System or education etc. The same thing goes for letter writing to your relatives, by the way! Your positive sample, compared with what you are NOT doing, is enough to rub it in without blasting them away with a bitter denunciation of all their most beloved institutions! Your success with young people where they've failed is enough to expose'm!
29. DON'T BLAST OUTSIDERS! DON'T BLOW THEM AWAY! DON'T DENOUNCE THEM & THEIR SOCIETY to their faces! Don't curse them! Don't use what they call "bad language" & four letter words within their hearing!--Unless you want them to go away so mad they'll be trying to figure out how they can kill you to shut you up or at least get the city officials to drive you out of town, convinced that you're a deadly & dangerous enemy, or inspiring them to organise a militant vigilante posse against you! For God's sake, use your head! Look harmless!
30. AND DO LOOK HARMLESS--IN THE WAY YOU'RE DRESSED, CLEAN, CLEAN-SHAVEN, HAIRCUT, SHOED etc.--at least you greeters & public relations men, provisioners & any who have to frequently meet the public! We've got to have some long hairs & weirdy beardies in order to witness to the same & reach the kids!--But PLEASE not the ones who have to face the Systemites daily!
31. FURNISH EVERY INTERVIEWER WITH GOOD LIT.--Brochures, articles, photos, even videos for TV!
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family