Scripture Passage:  “And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.  And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.”  Revelations 12: 10-11

 

     “Mr. Prosecutor before you begin your arguments against the accused, I want to remind you that I recognize you as an adversary of the defendant and a false accuser of the brethren.  I will listen to your arguments but warn you that half-truths and manipulation of the facts will not be permitted in this court room.  You may begin.”

 

     “Thank you Your Honor.  It is the intent of the prosecution to prove without a shadow of a doubt that the defendant is guilty of all charges against him.  Furthermore let the court records state my objections to your allowing your Son to represent the defendant.  Your rulings in the past have tended to side with Him and I have been treated as an outcast.  I accuse you of extreme prejudice in your verdicts and filial partiality where Your Son and The Family is concerned.  This may be my last day in court, but I will have my say.”

     “Concerning the first charge of misappropriation of funds there is no doubt.  The defendant was given a good job with benefits and earned far more than was necessary to properly care for himself and his family.  The standard set forth in “The Book,” was to invest 10% in the family business as well as careful management of the remaining 90% to maximize potential.  Records show that the defendant, as well as the majority of The Family, spend excessively on themselves and live deep in debt because of it.  Your 10% standard has been totally forgotten, or at least manipulated, to embezzle the business funds into their own accounts.  Your Honor knows this to be true and the business records bear witness to the facts.  I demand justice be administered and the defendant be required to pay back all misappropriated funds plus interest.”

     “The second charge is absenteeism and desertion.  Because of this, the defendant has been negligent in his duties.  The business requires, at most, an average attendance of 6 hours per week.  Compared to the 162 hours that are left, this seems to me a minimal amount of time he should serve to show his appreciation for all the benefits provided by the company.  I have checked roll at all of their meetings and now present that information in to evidence.  You will see he did not fulfill the jobs he agreed to do, lied about where he was, and replaced his responsibilities with secular activities and selfish desires.  Anyone guilty of such acts would be automatically fired from any other business, so I demand he be let go from the family business, his benefits terminated, and his name removed from the roll.  The facts are in black and white and the evidence overwhelming.”

     The final charge is the most serious of all.  Treason is punishable by death.   It seems when new recruits start out, they are energetic and fiercely loyal.  As time elapses, they become disenchanted with the business, disheartened with their work force and disgusted with Leadership.  The result has been a total disregard for the integrity of the company and a clandestine coup for a militant take-over.  The defendant has been trying to set himself up as the leader of the company for a long time and Your Personal Assistant will testify to this fact.  All correspondence from the corporate office has been ignored and Your Personal Assistant has been locked out of daily operations.  The defendant may say he loves you, but his actions speak truth much more clearly than his words.  I ask Your Honor to examine the communications records as proof.  He used to be in constant communication with corporate in the beginning, but as time has passed, he has ignored your calls, and surrounded himself with leadership that tells him what he wants to hear. He has also made friendships with CEO’s from competing corporations.  Because of his treasonous actions, the family business has deteriorated and bears little resemblance to its former self.   As final proof, I present into evidence the fact that “The Book” has been replaced with “The Manual of Popular Opinion” as the standard operating guide for business.  In lieu of this mountain of evidence presented against the defendant, I move that you find him guilty of all charges.  The penalty set forth in “The Book” is death and eternal punishment and anything less would not be justice.  I rest my case.

 

Next Week – The Defense