Promises Pt. 01

"Mister Henderson, I am ready for your opening submissions."

"May it please the court," Henderson looked at the jury panel. "Members of the jury, in front of you are paper and pens, what I would like you to do is to write your impressions of my, our, chances of success. Keep it with you and if you find yourself changing your mind, write down what it was that caused you to doubt your initial assessment." The members of the jury wrote on the pad in front of them, several wrote something along the lines of 'a snowballs chance in Hell' while other comments pointed to an open mind. The foreman wrote; 'I believe that you can succeed.'

Henderson turned to look directly at Pastor Mayotte, "Pastor Mayotte and the Shining Light Christian Church have seen the need to engage the services of a Queen's Counsel, at great expense, to conduct their defence. I am flattered that they should do so. The difference between us is that counsel for the defence does not necessarily have to believe in the innocence of his client in order to represent him, because he's being paid to do a job. The plaintiff has entrusted me to represent him, and I am doing it without fee, because I believe in his cause, I believe that we can win."

Turning again to the jury he paused for several seconds and when he spoke it was in a quiet, measured voice. "Pastor Mayotte and the Shining Light Christian Church are guilty of deception on three counts." The statement took several seconds to penetrate into the minds of those in the court. Enlightenment brought gasps from the audience. The attention of the jurors was focused on Henderson. "Firstly, Pastor Mayotte and the Shining Light Christian Church are guilty of scriptural deception, in that they take Scripture out of context to justify an agenda, and that agenda is to make money, a lot of money. Secondly, Pastor Mayotte and the Shining Light Christian church are guilty of spiritual deception, in that their insistence on strict literal interpretation of Scripture has led them to lose sight of the intended spirit of Scripture. This deception is harder, but not impossible to prove, and prove it we will. And finally, Pastor Mayotte and the Shining Light Christian Church are guilty of secular deception, in that they have used Scripture for their own venal ends, by issuing, on many, many, occasions, an oral prospectus promising a pecuniary reward for diligent tithing with a seven-fold increase in finances."

He paused to allow the message to sink in. "We, the plaintiffs in this matter, have to prove the Shining Light Christian Church guilty of the use of secular deception. That is the only matter that concerns this court. Having said that, we feel that in order to demonstrate this to you, the members of the jury and the world at large, we will have to prove the Shining Light Christian Church is also guilty of spiritual and scriptural deception. The three charges are inexorably linked together, and each is dependent on the other. We cannot prove that this is a secular deception unless we can prove that the promises made by the church were not 'God promises' as they will claim. If this were to be the case then this court would not be the appropriate jurisdiction for this trial. This is a huge undertaking given the popularity of the church in question, but this is an undertaking that we are willing to pursue, it is an undertaking that we must pursue."

"We are not contentious litigants, we are not doing this for the fun of it, we are not doing it just to stir up trouble, we are doing this because we are serious, we believe that we have to win this case, we know that we can win this case and we will win this case."

"Pastor Mayotte and the Shining Light Christian Church will claim that the promises that they have made in regards to the increase in finances as a result of diligent tithing, were made by God, and they will inevitably cite passages of Scripture to support that claim. We, the plaintiff, using nothing more than this book," he held up a Bible. "This Christian Bible, will prove that this is not so, that this is a false claim." The pause between each phrase was deliberate, allowing each phrase to sink in.

"Pastor Mayotte and the Shining Light Christian Church will claim that its teachings and worship practices are scriptural and therefore true, and that they are in strict obedience to the Bible. We, the plaintiff will prove that by taking a phrase, a word even, out of context and using it to justify its own agenda, it is in fact deceiving its congregation and acting contrary to the Bible. To do this we will use no other source than this book, this Christian Bible."

"Pastor Mayotte and the Shining Light Christian Church will claim that this book," again he held up the Bible, "this Christian Bible, is to be obeyed in its entirety. Using this book, this very same Christian Bible, we will prove that this is a false claim. Not only is it a false claim but this book, in the Old Testament, also tells us that the laws that the church had bound the people to obey, were not God's laws, but those of man, and the Apostle Paul tells us that the reason Jesus came to this world was to release mankind from that burden of obedience to these man made laws." Puzzled expressions passed between Mayotte and Johansson and between the members of the Shining Light Christian Church in the gallery.

"Pastor Mayotte and the Shining Light Christian Church will claim that this book, the Christian Bible, is the inerrant word of God and without error. We, the plaintiff, using nothing more than this book, this Christian Bible, will prove that this cannot be true, that this Bible contains many errors in fact, errors that have been revealed by mankind's improving knowledge, such as the Creation Narrative."

"We will also prove that there are many inconsistencies in this Bible, inconsistencies in chronology in the Gospel narratives among others."

"We, using nothing more than this Christian Bible, will also prove that this Bible contains many examples where a passage is contradicted by another passage."

"Pastor Mayotte and the Shining Light Christian Church will claim that this book, this Christian Bible, tells them that the only way that you or I can get to heaven is if we were to become a Christian, and in the case of this church, a Pentecostal Christian. We, using nothing more than this Christian Bible, will prove that this is untrue, that obedience to the rules and conditions as applied by this church are no guarantee of salvation at all. One passage in this Bible poses the question; 'Am I that close to God that I can tell him what to do?' My answer is an emphatic 'No!' But this church believes that it acts for God when it tells us that unless we are to follow its rules, not God's rules, its rules, it will tell God not to allow us into heaven." An angry buzz emerged from the gallery.

"Pastor Mayotte and the Shining Light Christian Church will claim that this book, this Christian Bible, tells them that Jesus is God. We, using nothing more than the Christian Bible, will prove that Jesus himself denies that claim, denies his kinship with God." The Gallery erupted with angry outbursts from the faithful, much to the amusement of the press corps and bringing Foley's gavel into action. Order was eventually restored.

"Pastor Mayotte and the Shining Light Christian Church will claim that this book, this Christian Bible, tells them that Christians have a special relationship with God that is not open to anyone else. We, using nothing more than this Christian Bible, will prove that Christians are not the only people to have a special relationship with God, in fact our relationship is personal and unconditional, not institutional and conditional, and it is open to all mankind, not just a few." Another wave of anger rose from the faithful, more smiles from the press corps, and more frantic use of the gavel from Judge Foley. Order was once more restored.

Henderson continued. "While all of this is interesting and part of the reason that we are here, it is this charge of secular deception that brings us here today. This is a civil matter to be heard in a civil court. We will prove that the Pastors of the Shining Light Christian Church, by established this culture of strict, and unswerving obedience to its teachings, have used that culture to deceive their congregation into giving money on the promise of financial reward. It is between my client and Pastor Mayotte and the Shining Light Christian Church, not my client and God. This court has jurisdiction in this matter, not God or the church of God. And despite what counsel for the defence will try to convince us, the proof of our claim, the proof that this church must abide by secular law, and has failed to do so, is in this very book, this Christian Bible." He held up the Bible again, then, for emphasis, he banged it down on the table.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, my client is suing the Shining Light Christian Church for the sum of forty two million, eight hundred and twenty four thousand two hundred and thirty six dollars, this being the amount that we have calculated he should have received if the promises made by the defendant and his church had been honoured. My client and his wife have been conscientious members, and still are members, at least as far as we know they still are, of the Shining Light Christian Church."

Mayotte made a quick note and passed it to Janine, in which he asked her to remove Frank and Joan McIvor from the membership database.

"He has accepted with great faith the teachings of that church and its Pastors, because he was told on numerous occasions that he was never to question these teachings. One teaching in particular was that if he were to tithe diligently his finances would increase seven-fold."

"The burden of proof of this lies with us and we will shoulder that burden with all the strength at our disposal, we will prove our case. Integral to our case is that this is but one of the many teachings of this church that is in error, and that these teachings combined, have revealed that this church is not, as it claims to be, a church obedient to the teachings of Jesus Christ from whom it derives its Christian status. To do less than this will give this church the opportunity to tell us that the teaching on tithes is but one of many teachings and that, while they may be in error they are still in obedience to all Scripture."

"Our case is based on the fact that nowhere in the Scriptures does God make any promise of a financial reward for tithing, so it must be a promise made by the church. It is also based on the fact that, as the Apostle Paul tells us, we as Christians are not held in obedience to Old Testament Jewish Law, and the obligation to tithe is Jewish Law, according to him, and we, as Christians, start with a clean slate, and nowhere in the New Testament does it state that Christians are obliged to tithe. If there is no scriptural evidence to justify such a claim, the church is in error when it claims that it was made by God."

"This is the teaching that has led to this action before the court. The Pentecostal church, in particular the Assemblies of God, the Australian branch has by the way, changed its name to the Australian Christian Churches, to which the Shining Light Christian Church is loosely affiliated, prides itself on its belief in the inerrancy of the Christian Bible and its total adherence to it, among other things."

"Not only does the Shining Light Christian Church not adhere to the Christian Bible, it does everything that Jesus of Nazareth criticized in Matthew Chapter 23." Confident smiles disappeared from the faces of the church members in the gallery.

The jury foreman had two columns on his page, one headed 'for' and the other 'against'. His tick appeared in the 'for' column.

With the Bible still held aloft again, Henderson continued. "We will, using this book and this book alone, prove that the theology of this church is not," he paused for effect, "not, as claimed by the Shining Light Christian Church and other similar churches, the study of God as the name would suggest, but the study of how it can use God for its own venal purposes."

"We will, using this book," again he held up the Bible, "prove that the ideology of the Shining Light Christian Church, and other similar churches, is not as claimed, the altruist ideology of its claimed spiritual leader, Jesus of Nazareth, but that it is in fact one of egoism, of self serving, of self above all others. It is not inclusive as were the teachings of Jesus, but exclusive, and in complete contradiction to those teachings. In fact we will, using this book and this book alone, prove that Christianity does not have, as this church claims, an exclusive relationship with God, and exclusive access to heaven."

A shocked gasp rose from the public gallery, Mayotte looked at Johansson, a smile on his face, his confidence buoyed, how could this be proven? The jury's comments ranged from a question mark to 'good luck'.

"Using this book we will prove that, rather than using the monies donated for the purpose of doing the work of God, this, the Shining Light Christian Church, has deceptively converted those monies into its own coffers, for its own use, and that little of those monies are being used for its stated purpose. You may recall that some years ago there was a huge hue and cry because several charities were using professional fund raisers and that only a small percentage of those monies donated ever reached their intended destination, the charity concerned. This is exactly the same situation, this church is the professional fund raiser, and, after they have taken their cut, administration fees, salaries and running costs, there is little left to carry out, as they claim, the work of God."

"Importantly, we will, again using this book, prove that the Shining Light Christian Church, with its disobedience of the Company Laws of this land, is in fact disobeying the Laws of the God to whom it claims complete, and total obedience. It, this church, will claim that God's Law has precedence over man's law, but this is not the case. According to this book, this Christian Bible, obedience to God's Law includes obedience to the laws of the land." Johansson looked at Mayotte who merely shrugged his shoulders, he could think of no such Scripture.

"In fact we will challenge the right of the Shining Light Christian Church and other similar churches, to shelter under the banner of a 'Christian Church or Christian Charity' for tax purposes. This church has not only committed a deception on its followers on a mammoth scale, but it has also, in the conduct of this, nothing more than a commercial enterprise, deceived the government of this country of millions of dollars in taxation revenue, and denied its Local Council of revenue from rates and taxes, leaving the shortfall to be made up by we the taxpayers."

"So I guess you could say that this church is deceiving us twice, the first time with its 'Prosperity Doctrine' and secondly, when we have to pay more tax to make up the shortfall in taxation revenue as a result of its deceiving the government."

Shouts of indignation filled the room bringing the gavel into action once again. "If the gallery is not quiet and remain quiet it will be cleared!" Quietness descended once more. It wasn't a calm quiet, on the contrary, it was full of menace, ready to explode into violence at the next sign of provocation.

Michael smiled at the Judge and continued. "We will also show that the Pentecostal movement rose, not out of some religious zeal as it takes pain to promote, but out of a jumping on the bandwagon of the quantum shift in marketing techniques that emerged in the 1950's in the US, and which espoused the theory that, for a company to sell its product, it has to promote it as giving the customer something worthwhile to do in their spare time, something that would make them feel good about themselves."

"This was combined with the Post War economic boom which saw the population with an increased disposable income. After the hardships of the Great Depression and World War 2 the people found that, not only could they earn their money without the same sort of hard grind of previous times, but that there was more of it to go around, so they began looking for ways to spend that money in pleasurable pursuits."

"The church of the day realized that, by changing their worship practices, they could increase the visceral pleasures of going to church for their own benefit. Change it from the spectator sport of traditional liturgy to one of audience participation, so they brought in the 'gospel choir' with its bright outfits and up-beat music, and introduced such esoteric practices as the scripturally dubious 'tongues' and convinced their followers that this was indeed the way church should be done. But this is nothing more than a little 'c' christian themed entertainment, part of the show called church, and identical in every way to the very practices of the church that, in his time, Jesus criticized so very strongly."

"Along with this was introduced the 'Prosperity Doctrine', which was designed entirely to ease from their followers their new found wealth by dangling the carrot of a substantial financial growth that required no effort on the part of the giver. This doctrine has led to several cases where Evangelists have been caught out by their excesses, one such case was the PTL or Praise the Lord ministry."

"Unfortunately for them times have changed and not everyone has the huge amounts of money to support this practice, but still the carrot has been dangled, the promises have become more outrageous, attracting a demographic desperate for money. People who you will see investing their last dollar on the poker machines, on bingo tickets, on lottery tickets, gambling on horse racing and in church, all hoping for the miraculous outpouring of wealth that will probably never come."

"This church, Pastor Mayotte's church, has not taken into account the harm that its doctrine is causing these people, they have told them time and again that it will happen, and when it doesn't happen that it is all their fault because they haven't given enough, or that they have lost faith, never that it was highly unlikely to ever happen in the first place. The chances of such an outpouring of wealth is roughly equivalent to winning the lotto pool with just one line of numbers, millions to one. The people are never told by the church that it wasn't a God promise but a church promise, and by so doing the church is misleading its followers, and has left itself open to litigation such as this."

"Your Honour, we will prove that this church, far from being one that is diligent in its obedience to the 'inerrant Word of God' and a paragon of virtuous Christianity, is a egoistic, self obsessed, avaricious and deceitful commercial corporation that hides behind the façade of the very religion that it abuses."

"We look on this as a test case, and if we are successful, when we are successful, it will encourage others to follow us. We have not singled this church out because of its wealth, for there are other churches with equal or greater wealth. We have singled this church out for two reasons. The first is that it has distorted the Bible in order to make a large amount of money. It has committed a deception when it tells us that the promises that it makes are not theirs but God's promises. Secondly because it does not use that money it gets for the stated purpose, for the reason that the tithe was introduced, to provide for the needy people of this world. It has committed a deception on those who give it money. Not to put too fine a point on it, the whole raison d'etre of this church is founded on deception."

"Your Honour, members of the jury, the reason that we have brought this action in this secular court, is that it is a secular matter. If a commercial entity issued a prospectus along the lines of the oral prospectus issued by the Shining Light Christian Church, the regulatory authorities would have charged it with fraud, but, because this particular commercial organization hides behind the façade of a Christian church, it has not come under scrutiny, possibly because the people most hurt by it are not from the 'Top End of Town' and can least afford to lodge a formal complaint. Jesus himself commented that those people least affected by giving, those to whom a tithe is but a drop in the ocean, and dare I say it, those to whom tax minimization is a way of life, should give more so that those to whom even a cent is a hardship, do not have to give, a stance reiterated by Paul. This is our case and the reason that we are here, thank you." As Henderson sat down there was a rumble of voices from the gallery, some indignant, some angry, and some curious.