—By Maria Maria #242 DFO 2957 11/94

1. Dear Family, God bless you! Following is a question that we received from one of you regarding the press release about Dad's Graduation, and excerpts from my personal answer, as well as the explanation I prepared for all of you as a result of this question.

(Excerpts from Mama's personal reply:)

2. Thank you for your question about the last paragraph of the press release. It made me realise that if you had such a question, there may be many other Family Members who will have the same one, and therefore I would want to give the entire Family an explanation. So the Lord certainly inspired your question!

3. It's hard for us to write things that at times make it difficult for our folks on the field‚ and we know that it takes a lot of faith and conviction and fight for them to stand up time after time for things that they wish didn't even have to be brought up. I believe you probably expressed the opinion of many of our people. However, I want you to know that I prayed and considered all the pros and cons at length, discussed them seriously, and most of all, prayed very desperately for the Lord's Will in this matter. I not only prayed desperately to the Lord, but I really cried out to Dad to please help me and show me what he wanted in this press release. In some ways, I too would have liked to have left it without the last paragraph, hoping that anyone who would read it would only have positive feelings about Dad‚ because I hated to think that even in his death they would criticise and condemn him.

4. So in some ways I'm sorry that we had to do this, but I very much believe the Lord—and Dad—wanted it this way. Again, thank you for asking.—And thanks so much for your sweet love and faith in the Lord and the Family and your yieldedness. God bless you as you continue your labours of love for Him.

Love,

Mama

5. Question: "If I were passing this press release on to my friends in the media, I would be very happy with it‚ except that I would hope to omit the last paragraph.

6. "I feel that for us to bring up the sex issue is not necessary in this press release and will detract from the main message and purpose of this announcement. Some places and people have short memories, and the Family is doing so much in their communities that they can see and be thankful for, that I don't see the necessity of bringing up the points about sex and FFing in the last paragraph. If we include this statement defending these doctrines, there is the possibility that some of those words will grab the headlines and the main points will be missed. What we don't say, they may not so easily dig out and quote. If they want to bring up this aspect, we can't stop them. But why should we help them when they will just try to twist it and use it against us? Why give them this fuel in our press release? Couldn't this go unsaid? We don't FF anymore, so why explain it if we don't have to?"

7. Answer: There are several reasons why we decided to include this paragraph, which I'll list here‚ starting with the most important:

8. I prayed desperately about what Dad would want this press release to say‚ how he would want it written. After all, it is his death and life we are describing. I felt strongly that he would not want it to sound just like he was any other pastor of any other missionary organisation, but that he would want this announcement to the public of his Homegoing to reflect the characteristics that have made this Family so different from other Christian organisations. I felt that he would be greatly disappointed if what we told the World at his death did not include a description of a very major portion of his life's work and ministry.

9. How incomplete it would be to only say that Dad's great accomplishment was to establish a soul-winning organisation without saying how he established it. In his ministry to the World, what Dad was against was almost as important as what he was for. He was the Prophet of Doom, as well as the tender of wounds. He was a castigator of evil, as well as a dispenser of the Good News. He was the unconventional radical who followed God no matter what the cost. His mission was to preach the Law of Love, and practice it, too.

10. Dad always knew we had to be different, even if that difference came at a cost. He also realised that one of the unintentional results of being different was that people would pay attention to us. Throughout the Letters, he repeatedly said, "Thank God for our sexy doctrines and sexy people! The World would have never noticed us otherwise. It's gotten us out on the World stage where people will listen to us." Not only was it Dad's calling to preach it out of conviction because he believed it, but the Lord used it to make us known. And even when the media twisted the truth or published sensational accounts about us, Dad always said, "Nevertheless, the Gospel is preached!"

11. This last paragraph on sex and FFing describes a major part of Dad's mission. It was something that he stood for. It was what made us the Family we are today. It was why we didn't sink into oblivion with other Christians, many of whom do little or nothing for the Lord, and certainly don't make any news doing it. It's something that he stood for and that we still stand for.

12. Without the controversy‚ we are not news. If the media has any reason to publish this press release‚ it is because we are controversial. So, if we give them our prepared wording, there is a chance they will not do their own. But without something controversial, there is not really much reason for them to publish news about a small Christian missionary organisation. That's not considered news. The news is that the leader of the small Christian organisation is also the controversial "sex prophet" who claimed his radical teachings came from the Bible; who not only practised them within his organisation but who also promoted sex as a means of evangelism.

13. The mystique‚ the reputation‚ still lives on and intrigues and attracts, regardless of the fact that we no longer FF. We can never be only a missionary organisation doing relief work and "consider the poor" ministries. We are believers in sex, prophets of the End, portrayers of Heaven, separatists from the World, destroyers of darkness and fighters for the Truth! And in all these‚ beloved‚ we are preachers of the Gospel and lovers and winners of souls. And it is because of all of these other things that we are the successful missionary organisation we are today.

14. The press has to have some reason for printing what they print, some reason why they consider an item to be newsworthy. I know that many times we would rather not bring up controversy, because it elicits such a violent response from our enemies. But because it is part of our Message, we are responsible to preach it. And if we don't say something about our more controversial side, in many cases the press will be sure to give the other side with all the negative info and stories they have accumulated. And you can be sure that they have quite a file! If they didn't already have one, the recent British media storm has filled many of their files to overflowing and given them some of the juiciest material yet, and it's fresh on their minds, not back in some dusty old file somewhere.—And what newspaper could resist something which they would consider so wonderfully juicy, scandalous, horrific and indescribably "evil," with a lengthy list of so-called "atrocities" covering practically every outrageous act imaginable!

15. I am not naive enough to think that a little paragraph in our press release can counteract all this or can keep them from writing their sensational stories and smears against us, if they want to—except by a miracle of the Lord. But I believe in doing all in our power to fill the vacuum with our positive interpretation of our doctrines, instead of leaving the field exclusively to the negative side. What we officially say in our press release is important, and I can see that if we present it in a newsworthy enough manner—which means juicy enough manner—they might at least be willing to quote it‚ since we have done the work of writing it. Remember, journalists are busy people, with deadlines.

16. When the head of the Mormon Church died a few months ago, it made news worldwide. However‚ the reason his death was considered noteworthy and news was because he was the head of a religious group with millions of members worldwide. With a small group like ours, the only reason that the news of Dad's Homegoing would be noteworthy is because he was very controversial, not that he was the head of a small soul-winning organisation.

17. Moreover, I feel that we would be doing Dad a great disservice if we don't include what made him the unique leader that he was. I believe we would be disappointing him if we were to leave out the reasons that God was able to use him in such a great way, and why the Lord calls him a Prophet of Doom and warning, and why the World calls him a Prophet of Sex, and no one calls him a mere pastor.

18. We put a lot of prayer into that last paragraph, and that paragraph is what points out what makes the Family radically different from all other organisations in the World. Besides, in virtually every country where we have hit the headlines and have had a lot of publicity, we've certainly had much more said about our sex doctrines than is said in this paragraph.

19. In light of all of the above, in any instances or countries where the CROs still feel that for some reason it is inadvisable to use the last paragraph‚ we have told them that they must operate according to their own faith, and can drop it if they feel it's necessary to do so. But, as I say, there has been a lot more than this one tiny sentence written by the media on the subject of sex and the Family. If that paragraph on sex is left off, it will probably seem like a glaring omission for anyone who knows us and what we are best known for.

20. So whether we use this press release or not, or whether we promote it or not‚ I'm sure the Lord will have His way and the Message will get out one way or another. We can't control what the press prints, but we can control what we give them. So we'll just have to pray that the Lord will guide them to print what He knows is needed; whether positive or negative, commonplace or controversial!

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family