| Revision as of 17:29, 21 January 2009 editAlexb102072 (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users10,285 editsNo edit summary← Previous edit |
Latest revision as of 10:29, 5 June 2017 edit undoTom.Reding (talk | contribs)Autopatrolled, Extended confirmed users, Page movers, Template editors3,808,168 editsm +{{Redirect category shell}} using AWB |
| (460 intermediate revisions by more than 100 users not shown) |
| Line 1: |
Line 1: |
|
|
#REDIRECT ] |
|
] |
|
|
The '''Creativity Movement''' was a term originally coined by ] as a descriptive phrase encompassing all adherents of the religion known as ''Creativity'', whether they held membership in the church or not. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
{{Redirect category shell|1= |
|
The current group calling itself '''The Creativity Movement''' (formerly '''(World) Church of the Creator''') is an often violent ]-based ] organization that advocates the ] religion, ''Creativity''.<ref>Hedda Rosner Kopf, "Understanding Anne Frank's The Diary of a Young Girl: A Student Casebook" (1997) Greenwood Publishing Group at p. 189.</ref> The movement's use of the term ''creator'' does not refer to a ], but rather to themselves (] and/or ]s).<ref>Expert: Hatreds rooted in poverty don't thrive here, the Telegram & Gazette (Worcester, MA), ], ]</ref> Despite the former use of the word ''Church'' in its name, the movement is ].<ref></ref> |
|
|
|
{{R from merge}} |
|
|
|
|
|
}} |
|
==History== |
|
|
The Creativity Movement was founded by ] in early 1973 under the name Church of the Creator. The group was later led by ] as its ] (high priest), until his incarceration in January 2003 for plotting with the movement's head of security, Anthony Evola (an ] informant), to murder a federal judge. |
|
|
|
|
|
In 1996, it became the New Church of the Creator which was quickly changed to the World Church of the Creator (WCOTC). Hale prefixed the name with ''World'' in 1996 in an effort to symbolize the organization's global mission of attaining a white world without ]s and non-whites. The group is not related to the TE-TA-MA "Truth" Foundation's ], which legally ]ed the name Church of the Creator and won a lawsuit in 2002, forcing the most recent name change. Since its start, the Creativity Movement's members have been charged and convicted in over 17 acts of racial violence, including murder.<ref name="CMHistory">{{cite news | url=http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?sid=219| title=Church of the Creator: A History | publisher=] |date= Summer 1999 | first= | last= | accessdate =2007-08-17}}</ref> |
|
|
|
|
|
In 1991, Harold Mansfield Jr., an ] and decorated veteran of the ], was killed in a parking lot in ] by George Loeb, a Church of the Creator reverend.<ref name="NYTimes1996">{{cite news | url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F60D12FF3B5D0C738EDDAC0894DE494D81 | title=Supremacist Told to Pay Black Family | publisher=] |date= 1996-05-20 | first= | last= | accessdate =2007-08-17}}</ref> George Loeb was convicted of first-degree ] on July 29, 1992, and received a life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years. His wife Barbara Loeb was sentenced to one year in jail on weapons possession charges. The organization has repeatedly argued that Loeb was acting in self-defense when he committed the act. |
|
|
|
|
|
Subsequently, the murder victim's family successfully sued the organization, winning an award of ]1 million in damages in March 1994.<ref name="NYTimes1996" /> Before the judgement was handed down, Klassen sold the organization's North Carolina compound, which housed its headquarters to Doctor ], head of the ], to avoid money being paid to Mansfield's heirs. The SPLC filed suit against Pierce for his role in the fraudulent scheme, and won an $85,000 judgment in 1995.<ref name="SPLC-Pierce">{{cite news | url=http://www.splcenter.org/legal/docket/files.jsp?cdrID=27 | title=Mansfield v. Pierce | publisher=] |date= 03/07/1994 | first= | last= | accessdate =2007-08-17}}</ref> The amount was upheld on appeal and the money was collected prior to Pierce's death in 2002.<ref name="SPLC-Pierce" /> Klassen then chose former ] Richard McCarty as his successor, who moved the organization to ]. Soon after appointing McCarty in the summer of 1993, Klassen committed ].<ref>{{cite news | url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F2061FF934590C748CDDAE0894D1494D81 | title=Hate Groups Seeking Broader Reach| publisher=] |date= 1999-07-07 | first= | last= | accessdate =2007-08-17}}</ref> Hale became leader of the group in 1996<ref>http://www.adl.org/learn/ext_us/WCOTC.asp?xpicked=3&item=cm</ref>. |
|
|
|
|
|
During the weekend of July 4, 1999, group member and fellow law student ] went on a ] because ] was denied a law license.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F70912FA3C5C0C708DDDA80894DA404482 | title=White Supremacists Rally in York, Pa. |
|
|
| publisher=] |date= 2002-01-13 | first= | last= | accessdate =2007-08-17}}</ref> Smith is viewed as a ] by Creators. |
|
|
|
|
|
In 2000, the ]-based TE-TA-MA Truth Foundation filed a lawsuit against the World Church of the Creator for using the name ], which the Oregon group had registered as a ].<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?sid=64 | title=What's in a Name? | publisher=] |date= Winter 2002 | first= | last= | accessdate =2007-08-17}}</ref> Early in 2002 U.S. District Court Judge ] ruled in favor of the World Church of the Creator. However, this decision was appealed by TE-TA-MA, and in November 2002, in a reversal of the previous ruling, a panel of three judges in the appeals court overturned the previous decision. District Judge Lefkow then enforced the appeals court injunction in favor of TE-TA-MA; barring the use of the name by Hale's organization.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?pid=60 | title=Creator Crack-Up | publisher=] |date= Winter 2002 | first= | last= | accessdate =2007-08-17}}</ref> In December 2002, the World Church of the Creator announced it was moving its headquarters to ], in what the ] claimed was an effort to avoid the court injunction barring use of the name.<ref> by The Anti-Defamation League, ], ]</ref> |
|
|
|
|
|
On January 9, 2003 Hale was arrested and charged with attempting to direct his security chief Anthony Evola to murder Judge Lefkow.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Midwest/01/08/white.supremacist/index.html | title=Race extremist jailed in plot to kill judge | publisher=] |date= 2003-01-09 | first= | last= | accessdate =2007-08-17}}</ref><ref> grand jury indictment, 2002.</ref> Hale was found guilty of four of the five counts (one count of solicitation of murder and three counts of obstruction of justice) on April 26, 2004 and in April 2005 was sentenced to 40 years in a Federal penitentiary.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=News&id=1510781 | title=White supremacist found guilty | publisher=ABC7Chicago.com |date= 2004-04-26 | first= | last= | accessdate =2007-08-17}}</ref> |
|
|
|
|
|
On July 22, 2002, two followers of the organization were found guilty in ] of plotting to blow up ]ish and ] landmarks around ], in what prosecutors said was a scheme to spark a "]."<ref>{{cite news | url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F40810F73F5B0C738FDDA10894DA404482 | title=Hate, American Style | publisher=] |date= 2002-08-30 | first= | last= | accessdate =2007-08-17}}</ref> A federal jury deliberated seven hours over two days before convicting ] (the 31-year-old ] son of ] activists) and his 22-year-old girlfriend, Erica Chase. |
|
|
|
|
|
In August 2004, Reverend Hardy Lloyd, friend and colleague of Reverend Hale, killed a former associate in ], who was attempting to murder him and his wife <ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.postgazette.com/pg/04221/357934.stm | title=About Hardy Lloyd | publisher=] |date= 2004-08-08 | first= | last= | accessdate =2007-08-17}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.postgazette.com/pg/04221/357934.stm | title=Squirrel Hill man claims self-defense in fatal shooting | publisher=] |date= 2006-11-02 | first= | last= | accessdate =2007-08-17}}</ref> The act was ruled a case of self-defense by a jury on November 3, 2006.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=738 | title=The Blotter | publisher=] |date= 2006-11-03 | first= | last= | accessdate =2007-08-17}}</ref> Lloyd founded and was elected as Pontifex Maximus for the Church of Creativity, which was based in ], ], in 2003. He disbanded the COC in September 2007, and created the "New Dawn", a multi-racial Fascist think-tank. Lloyd now spends his time promoting Fascism throughout the world. |
|
|
|
|
|
== Current: breakup and factionalism == |
|
|
|
|
|
Since Hale's conviction, there have been ongoing schisms within the organization, amounting to what was at one time eight independent groups. The Church of the RaHoWa (the religious arm of the White Crusaders of the RaHoWa—itself a break-away group from the Creativity Movement; the word RaHoWa is a contraction of "Racial Holy War" and a battle cry for church members) was one such group.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2006/s1559149.htm | title=SA Attorney-General wants racist website closed down | publisher=] | date= 2006-01-31 | first= | last= | accessdate=2007-08-17}}</ref> After police raids on the homes of several of the leading members, the group broke up and the bulk of the adherents of The Church and the White Crusaders of the RaHoWa then left to either join other groups or form newer and smaller independent groups of their own. |
|
|
|
|
|
As of 2008 Creators have divided into two ] opposed factions. The first has adopted the name '''The Creativity Movment''' (also known as "Skinheads of the Racial Holy War"), and follows the rigid organizational structure set up by Hale. It includes local, state and national leaders under the leadership of its own ]. This group has adopted the uncompromising stance that for one to be a Creator, one must be a member of that group. Adherence to Creativity by those outside the group is not permissible.<ref> The Creativity Movement Forum</ref> Group membership consists of several former members of Hale's Church with some new recruits. It has an outlook that is more in line with the stereotypical skinhead gangs as portrayed in Hollywood films such as '']'' and '']''. The group still owes thousands of dollars in fines and court costs incurred as a result of its trademark dispute with ]. |
|
|
|
|
|
The second of the two ] opposed factions is known as the "Creativity Alliance". It follows the loose organizational structure first proposed by ], but it does not supply its own ]. Instead it looks to Hale as the last legitimate high priest of Creativity (] - ]). This group does not consider itself an organization. It maintains that it is a group of individuals and numerous smaller groups that have banded together in an alliance to promote Creativity. The group also has a policy of non-participation in the ] social construct. It espouses the belief that for Creativity to survive as a religion, it must become accepted by mainstream society as a viable religion. In short, as opposed to The Creativity Movement, the Creativity Alliance promotes the adherence of Creativity outside the confines of the group.<ref> About the Creativity Alliance</ref> The group as such has no formal membership or leaders. It consists of its founder and other adherents of Creativity - various individuals and groups, who sometimes refer to themselves as "independent Creators." The predominant makeup of the alliance is of former members of both Klassen's and Hale's churches along with new adherents. The group does not owe money in fines or court costs. As a legal precaution its web pages and published books stress the fact that it makes no attempt to assume or supersede the US registered trademark now owned by ].<ref> Legal disclaimer used by the Creativity Alliance</ref> |
|
|
|
|
|
Due to The Creativity Movement's rigid stance that adherence to Creativity is restricted to members of its own group, neither of the two factions appears willing to reconcile. |
|
|
|
|
|
==See also== |
|
|
*] |
|
|
|
|
|
==References== |
|
|
{{reflist|3}} |
|
|
|
|
|
==External links== |
|
|
* |
|
|
* TCD |
|
|
* CA |
|
|
* WCOTC (Queensland, Australia) |
|
|
* CSA |
|
|
* WC |
|
|
* CF |
|
|
* USA |
|
|
* by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance |
|
|
|
|
|
{{White supremist organizations}} |
|
|
|
|
|
] |
|
|
] |
|
|
] |
|
|
] |
|
|
] |
|
|
] |
|
|
|
|
|
] |
|
|
] |
|
|
] |
|
|
] |
|
|
] |
|
|
] |
|