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| Abbreviation | TCM |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1996 |
| Type | White supremacist atheistic organization |
| Headquarters | Illinois |
| Location |
|
| Membership | Unverified |
| Pontifex Maximus | James Logsdon |
| Website | www |
The Creativity Movement, formerly known as the World Church Of The Creator, is an atheistic white supremacist organization that promotes Creativity. It was formed in 1996 by Matthew F. Hale as a revival of Ben Klassen's Church of the Creator. In a trademark litigation lawsuit decided on July 25, 2002, the World Church of the Creator lost a case to the TE-TA-MA Truth Foundation in which it was decided that the World Church "has every right to a distinctive name; it does not have a constitutional right to use some other denomination's incontestable trademark." The organization was renamed Creativity Movement and is now used solely to refer to the Creativity Movement as a group rather than the church as a whole. The Creativity Movement is currently led by James Logsdon of Zion, Illinois.
History
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After the death of Ben Klassen in 1993, Creativity lost numerous members, rendering it effectively extinct. In 1996, Matthew F. Hale revitalized the church under the name New Church of the Creator. Soon after its establishment in 1996, the New Church of the Creator was renamed the World Church of the Creator. Hale prefixed the name with World in an effort to symbolize the organization's global mission of attaining a "Whiter and Brighter World." The group was not a direct descendent of Klassen's Church of the Creator. This meant that prior use was not a defense when the World Church of the Creator lost a lawsuit in 2002 brought on by an unrelated Christian organization which had previously trademarked the name "Church of the Creator". This forced yet another name change and the name The Creativity Movement was eventually chosen by Matt Hale and a section of Creators who referred to themselves as "Skinheads of the Rahowa." Creators who are with the Creativity Alliance which is not part of The Creativity Movement prefer to use the name Church of Creativity, while the term "The Church" is applied to all adherents of Creativity.
Legal issues
 | It has been suggested that this article be merged into Creativity (religion). (Discuss) Proposed since March 2011. |
George Loeb
In 1991, George Loeb, a minister of the Church of the Creator, shot Harold Mansfield, Jr., an African American in Florida. George Loeb was convicted of first-degree murder 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, Mansfield's family successfully sued the organization, winning an award of $1 million in damages in March 1994. Prior to the lawsuit, Klassen placed the organization's North Carolina property, which housed its headquarters, on the real estate market, but eventually agreed to sell it to William Pierce, head of the National Alliance. The SPLC filed suit against Pierce for his role in what it claims was a fraudulent scheme, and won an $85,000 judgment in 1995. The amount was upheld on appeal and the money was collected prior to Pierce's death in 2002.
Benjamin Nathaniel Smith
During the weekend of July 4, 1999, former group member and fellow law student Benjamin Nathaniel Smith went on a shooting spree after Matthew F. Hale was denied a law license.
TE-TA-MA Truth Foundation lawsuit
In 2000, the Oregon-based TE-TA-MA Truth Foundation filed a lawsuit against the World Church of the Creator for using the name Church of the Creator, which the Oregon group had recently registered as a trademark. Early in 2002 U.S. District Court Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow 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. In December 2002, the World Church of the Creator announced it was moving its headquarters to Riverton, Wyoming, in what the Anti-Defamation League claimed was an effort to avoid the court injunction barring use of the name.
Matthew F. Hale
On January 9, 2003 Hale was arrested and charged with attempting to direct his security chief Anthony Evola to murder Judge Lefkow. 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.
Patrick O'Sullivan
In August 2002, Patrick John O'Sullivan, of Victoria, Australia, was convicted to 18 months imprisonment for viciously beating and stabbing a man. According to evidence given in the court, he was chanting "white power" with a group of people at a house-warming in May 1999. Another guest started to talk to O'Sullivan about his white supremacist views. They started to debate whether O'Sullivan can be considered a Nazi because he did not have German blood. According to the Herald Sun newspaper: "The jury found he then either butted or punched the victim in the head before stabbing him in the abdomen. The victim received a 5cm-deep (2") wound."
Hardy Lloyd
In August 2004, former Creator Hardy Lloyd killed his girlfriend, whom he had met on an internet dating service in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The act was ruled a case of self-defense by a jury on November 3, 2006. Based in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Lloyd founded his own Church of Creativity in 2003, and declared himself Pontifex Maximus.
Present day
Due to the loss of the trademark suit by TE-TA-MA Truth Foundation, the Creativity Movement currently owes $650,747 in court costs, attorney's fees and fines.
Breakup and factionalism
| This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Since Hale's conviction, there have been ongoing schisms within the organization, amounting to what was at one time eight independent groups.
As of 2007 Creators have seemingly settled into two ideologically opposed factions. The first initially formed within Hale's World Church of the Creator as the Skinheads of the Rahowa, but later adopted the name "The Creativity Movement" in 2003 after Hale's arrest and took it upon themselves to assume the leadership role within what remained of Hale's church. As a consequence, it continues to follow the organizational structure set up by Hale and claims to be the continuation of the World Church of the Creator, be it with a different name. Group membership today consists of two former members of Hale's Church as well as new recruits.
The second of the two ideologically opposed factions is known as the "Creativity Alliance". It follows the loose organizational structure first proposed by Ben Klassen, and maintains that it is a group of individuals and numerous smaller groups (all of whom label themselves as local variants of the Church of Creativity) that have organized themselves in an alliance to promote Creativity. The group also claims to have a policy of non-participation in the White Power movement. The Creativity Alliance espouses the belief that for Creativity to survive as a religion, it must become accepted by mainstream society as a viable religion. The group consists of a Highest Priest or Pontifex Maximus as leader, a Guardians of the Faith Committee, Church Members and other adherents of Creativity consisting of Church Primary Groups and Official Supporters or individuals, who sometimes refer to themselves as "independent Creators." The predominant make-up of The Alliance is of former members of both Klassen's and Hale's churches along with new adherents. 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 the TE-TA-MA Truth Foundation.
See also
References
- ^ "The new white nationalism in America: its challenge to integration". Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 2011–03–27.
For instance, Ben Klassen, founder of the atheistic World Church of the Creator and the author of The White Man's Bible, discusses Christianity extensively in his writings and denounces religion that has brought untold horror into the world and divided the white race.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) Cite error: The named reference "Atheistic" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page). - "The World's Religions: Continuities and Transformations". Taylor & Francis. Retrieved 2011–03–27.
A competing atheistic or panthestic white racist movement also appeared, which included the Church of the Creator/ Creativity (Gardell 2003: 129–134).
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - Te-Ta-Ma Truth Foundation v. World Church, 297 F. 3d 662 - Court of Appeals, 7th Circuit 2002
- http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-files/groups/the-creativity-movement-0
- ^ Smothers, Ronald (1996-05-20). "Supremacist Told to Pay Black Family". New York Times. Retrieved 2007-08-17.
- Website: George David Loeb
- ^ "Mansfield v. Pierce". Southern Poverty Law Center. 03/07/1994. Retrieved 2007-08-17.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - "White Supremacists Rally in York, Pa". New York Times. 2002-01-13. Retrieved 2007-08-17.
- "What's in a Name?". Southern Poverty Law Center. Winter 2002. Retrieved 2007-08-17.
- "Creator Crack-Up". Southern Poverty Law Center. Winter 2002. Retrieved 2007-08-17.
- "White Supremacist Group Fined $1,000 a Day" by The Anti-Defamation League, May 1, 2003
- "Race extremist jailed in plot to kill judge". CNN. 2003-01-09. Retrieved 2007-08-17.
- United States v. Matt Hale grand jury indictment, 2002.
- "White supremacist found guilty". ABC7Chicago.com. 2004-04-26. Retrieved 2007-08-17.
- Racist gets 18 months prison for stabbing skinhead
- Nazi asks for lighter sentence - tattoos could provoke
- "About Hardy Lloyd". Post-Gazette. 2004-08-08. Retrieved 2007-08-17.
- "Squirrel Hill man claims self-defense in fatal shooting". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. 2006-11-02. Retrieved 2007-08-17.
- WTAE-TV Channel 4 News, PA Self-Defense Claimed In Squirrel Hill Girlfriend-Shooting
- Pittsburgh Tribune Family of slain woman says goodbye
- SPLC Former racist leader charged in woman's murder
- SPLC Acquitted of Murder, a Killer Boasts of His Deed
- ADL White Supremacist Arrested in Pittsburgh Shooting
- SPLC Acquitted of Murder, Neo-Nazi Killer Taunts Victim’s Family
- "The Blotter". Southern Poverty Law Center. 2006-11-03. Retrieved 2007-08-17.
- Trademark Litigation - Church of the Creator
- About the Creativity Alliance
- The Creativity Alliance makes no attempt to assume or supersede trademark Legal disclaimer used by the Creativity Alliance
External links
- Creativity Movement TCM Website
- Information about World Church of the Creator by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
- "Matt Hale Archive"