OREGON ZEALOT AHEAD OF HIS TIME: LON MABON AND THE OCA

An Oregon zealot once roamed the landscape.

As zealots go, he had a good run.

It would have been a great run if he’d had more money.

Luckily, he wasn’t as well funded as more recent zealots.

The Oregon Citizen’s Alliance, OCA, was a gift from a man named Lon Mabon.

He rallied and railed and saw himself as THE ANSWER.

For any problem, he had an answer. Unfortunately for him, it was the same answer to most questions.

His work resonates in the mouths of current dipsticks:

Mabon’s activism focused on ballot measures to criminalize abortions and amend the state’s constitution to ban same-sex marriage.

In 1993, Mabon vowed to continue working to pass legislation similar to Measure 9. He told The Seattle Times, “If you look at the last three or four decades in this country, maybe even longer, you have seen that those who believe in OCA’s statement of principles, for example, have been losing the moral ground on a lot of issues, from pornography to abortion and gay rights and the importance of family. What we have said is that we’re going to take a different posture, that we’re going to be more aggressive and bold, along the lines of our Founding Fathers.

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Why do jerk weed people tie themselves to the Founding Fathers?

I’ll tell you why: Because they see themselves as Founding Fathers, and they attract a like-minded group willing to suspend their disbelief.

I’m a Founding Father, you’re a Founding Father, we’re all Founding Fathers. Or zealots?

Which is fine, except the Founding Fathers are set and don’t need help from hicks in the sticks riling up their people.

Mabon and the OCA designed another Measure 9 in 2000. This measure would have prohibited public schools from encouraging, promoting, sanctioning or instructing on homosexual or bisexual behaviors.

Supporters ranged from religious groups and individuals who believe homosexuality to be wrong to those who did not consider themselves to be anti-gay, but agreed that the measure rightly keeps pro-gay teachings out of schools. Some had no problem with the discussion of homosexuality in schools, as long as it was not portrayed in a positive way.

The Law And Order Oregon Zealot

In his heyday with the OCA, Lon Mabon worked to change laws.

Except he couldn’t change the law as it applied to him.

His legal problems landed him in the calaboose:

Mabon was jailed in February 2002 for refusing to pay a $30,000 judgment against him. The amount was determined by a jury in a lawsuit filed against Mabon and the OCA in 1992, and Mabon was jailed for refusing to pay the amount and for refusing to recognize the authority of the judge presiding over the debt hearing.

Our man took it to the limit, and beyond.

But, instead of stalling and dodging legal ramifications, he manned up and took the long walk.

He heard the sound others have described as deafening: the sound of the prison door shutting and you’re on the wrong side.

My prison source said he learned one thing before going in: there’s going to be challenges and you have to fight. But it’s not a war of words.

When someone disrespects you, they do it with an audience watching.

I waited in line to make a phone call. When it came to my turn I made my call. Another prisoner walked up and cut my call short.

But I was ready. I’d been waiting for it. I flew into him, took him down, and pounded his face until a guard showed up and clubbed me unconscious.

For that I got a headache and the respect of the cons in Cell Block D.

Did Lon Mabon hear Elvis singing in the joint?

Number 47 said to number three
“You’re the cutest jailbird I ever did see
I sure would be delighted with your company
Come on and do the Jailhouse Rock with me”

Dance Partner For An Oregon Zealot?

Imagine the run Lon Mabon could have had in the era of social media.

He would have reached millions and millions of people, more people than anyone had ever reached.

His reach would have filled stadiums for rallies and hatefests with his special message.

Then, like every ‘winning in my mind’ character, he found another gear.

Last year, in the midst of his political nosedive, Mabon founded New Covenant Ministries International, a nonprofit religious organization, and decreed himself “First Presiding Patriarch (Overseer).”

New Covenant isn’t just any type of church. It’s a “corporation sole”–an unusual entity made up of only one person, who is the corporation. Legally, Lon is the church, and the church is Lon. When he speaks, the church speaks. When he shops at Safeway, the church shops at Safeway.

Are you wondering what happens when the First Presiding Patriarch goes into the slammer?

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Check the top pic and the heading pic of this section.

Same guy, same Oregon zealot, but the bottom shot looks painful. Since it’s a mug shot, there’s bound to be some pain, some turmoil, some disappointment.

One is spunky and sassy and ready to take on the world on their terms; the bottom pic is the answer the world returned for the effort.

Free Lon looks ready to fight, prisoner Lon looks washed. And he still owed money.

Unfortunately, the Mabons no longer seem to have assets. According to Stauffer, the Mabons have transferred everything they own, including the house they live in, to other people and entities. 

Stauffer’s attorney, Brent Foster, says New Covenant is simply the Mabons’ latest attempt to avoid paying their debt.

“We’re kind of shocked to see the same kind of fraudulent transfers going on again,” Foster told WW. “It seems to reflect this notion that [the Mabons] are above or beyond the law.”

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Imagine if this were a case of Top Secret documents being transferred, along with nuclear weapons information.

Or if a candidate was funded by dark money, the stuff with no accountability.

The two most common vehicles for dark money in politics are politically active nonprofits and corporate entities such as limited liability companies. Certain politically active nonprofits — notably those formed under sections 501(c)(4) and 501(c)(6) of the tax code — are generally not required to publicly disclose their donors. Meanwhile, when limited liability companies are formed in certain states, such as Delaware and Wyoming, they are essentially black boxes; the company’s name is basically the only thing known about them. These LLCs can be used to make political expenditures themselves or to donate to super PACs.

Consider a future ruled by a minor league despot trying to break into the big time by following his idol’s directions and cash flow.

There is no way Lon Mabon would get so pumped up he’d try to overthrow an election by storming around looking for a reason when there wasn’t anything else to blame it on, except the vote count.

Just because Lon went to prison while questioning the judge’s authority doesn’t mean he’d label all stories about him f-ing around and finding out Fake News.

No way, right? The old Oregon zealot had boundaries.

To be sure, think blue on the ballot for these midterms.

Avoid the modern Oregon zealots working the sketchy edges of plausibility.