Don't blame the staff of buddyscott.com for the following frank approach. It has come to a point that we demand people act right or we have to stop doing the vital ministries that we do. Rather than quitting, we've decided that would-be thieves should be warned; and if they cross the line, they should be disciplined.

R. A. "BUDDY" SCOTT HAS TURNED THE OTHER CHEEK SO MANY TIMES HIS NECK IS SORE! And now we have no patience remaining for people who take advantage of his goodwill. So we are no longer shy about taking legal action against any individual, group of individuals, or organizations who plagiarize or make copies of Mr. Scott's work by any means known to humankind without written permission. We now feel that the instruction in the New Testament to not take a Christian brother (or sister) to court is the responsibility of those who choose to steal or not to steal. If they choose to steal, they've done a non-Christian thing, and they've chosen to go to court. We won't be taking a Christian to court; we'll be taking a thief to court.

Parents and leaders who are seeking assistance from Buddy Scott to help children behave should behave as well. They should not behave parasitically or hypocritically. Why would they steal from the person God has raised up to help them? When parents and leaders purchase the materials they use, they contribute their fair share to R. A. "Buddy" Scott's extraordinary effort to help families.

Does this prayer make sense to you?

God does not bless those who steal, and He does not bless their stolen material. See how obvious that is by reading the seventh chapter of the book of Joshua in the Old Testament and the fifth chapter of the book of Acts in the New Testament.

Within the Ten Commandments, God clearly said, "Thou shalt not steal." For people who don't have sufficient integrity to keep that commandment on their own, Allon Publishing Company's attorney will help them via U.S. courts.

Parents, churches, schools, and other groups: Down deep you know it is dishonest to steal material with a photocopier, scanner, printer, fax machine, computer, or other means, so listen to your conscience. For example, buying one book and photocopying pages out of it for other people in your organization is clearly wrong.

Inasmuch as Allon Publishing has already met its obligation to turn the other cheek (several times), our staff monitors books, magazines, and Web sites, and follows up on reports of theft (report theft to 979-297-5700). Examples: We have encountered a youth home staff member who was using two complete photocopies of Relief and an official at a Web site who had, without authorization, revised a portion of the book to fit his group's needs and published it on the Web site he maintains. In both cases, action was taken, and the offenses were corrected.

At one of Mr. Scott's seminars, he walked up beside a woman at the book table as she told another woman, "Oh, don't buy that. I've already bought it. You can photocopy it." When she noticed the author was standing next to her and had heard what she had said, she turned several shades of red. Her embarrassment made it obvious that she knew she was suggesting the woman join her in stealing his material. Some church people lift one hand to God in praise, while with the other hand, they press start on the scanner, printer, photocopier, or duplicator. What's wrong with that picture? We are praying that this inconsistency will be resolved.

The following story would be amusing if it wasn't so pathetic. Another publishing company reported to us that it received a return of Christian music on cassette tape from a church. The church secretary, who returned the tape, forgot to remove the assistant pastor's sticky note. The note read, "Copy this tape and return it for a full refund." Is that a pathetic witness, or what? The minister would be mortified if he knew the secretary accidentally sent his note to the publishing company. That's because he knew he was doing wrong in Christ's name.

Here is something else that needs to be addressed: Churches are bearing false witness if or when they act as if they have actual bookstores in order to get discounts when they actually don't have authentic bookstores. A few folding tables with books on display is not a bookstore. A bookstore is...we all know what a bookstore is. Their lost blessings will outweigh any gain they receive from misrepresentation. If churches and Christian leaders aren't honest, what hope is there for darkened cultures?

Buddy Scott is a generous person. To keep this work alive, he has given $25,000 per year from his own income since 1989. He has given $250,000 to be here for you...and shouldn't you want to express your appreciation by treating him fairly? People with integrity do.

The books are priced reasonably, so why steal from someone who is already being generous? For example, the price of a single copy of Relief is only $12.95. Purchase ten copies, and the price drops to $10 each.

The content of buddyscott.com is copyrighted and CANNOT be copied and distributed by any means known to or learned by humankind. The contents of Relief for Hurting Parents, the Leader's Guide and Teacher's Resource Volume, Teens Fight Adult Corruption, and other materials published by Allon Publishing are all copyrighted and no part of them, except where permission is given in the Leader's Guide and Teacher's Resource Volume or permission is granted by special request, can be copied, reproduced, and distributed to others by any means. It is stealing to copy from books or to reproduce tapes. It is stealing to download any content from buddyscott.com and distribute it by any other means, except where permission is granted.

Any and all information sent to buddyscott.com by e-mail or any other means, except for officially copyrighted materials, becomes the property of Allon Publishing and can be used to help others without seeking permission from its originator. Permission is granted by the act of sending in materials. Originators are free to designate exceptions, and their requests will be honored.

Allon Publishing was organized to publish materials authored by R. A. "Buddy" Scott exclusively. Please do not submit manuscripts for publication. If manuscripts are submitted, they will not be returned. To understand why this warning is in place, imagine this: Allon Publishing receives 500 unsolicited manuscripts and each costs $5 in postage and $1 in staff time to return. Total cost of returning the manuscripts would be $3,000. Allon Publishing cannot bear that expense.