Editing Creativity (religion) (section)

==History==
[[File:Bernard Klassen.jpg|thumb|[[Ben Klassen]], the founder of Creativity]]
Creativity was originally founded as the "Church of the Creator" by [[Ben Klassen]] in 1973, when he self-published ''Nature's Eternal Religion''. Adherents of Creativity refer to themselves as ''Creators'', a term derived from [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]]'s autobiographical manifesto ''[[Mein Kampf]]'', wherein his classification of "races" falls into three categories, with the "white race", deemed the "[[Master race]]", termed the "creators".<ref name=adl/> Klassen attempted to recruit neo-Nazis into the church because, apart from disagreements over Nazism's embrace of [[Positive Christianity]], its insistence on nationalism (rather than racialism), [[Anti-Slavism|anti-Slavic]] and other sentiments against non-Germanic European ethnic groups, Klassen highly revered Adolf Hitler as a "great pioneer" and [[Nazism]] as admirable in many contexts. He developed a rapport with [[National Alliance (United States)|National Alliance]] leader [[William Luther Pierce]];<ref>{{Citation|last=Michael|first=George|title=Theology of Hate: a History of the World Church of the Creator|page=62}}</ref> he met Pierce twice in 1975, and they maintained an "on and off" relationship for the next 18 years. According to Klassen, he "never did understand the logic of what [Pierce] called his [[Cosmotheism]] religion ... it has not been of any significance as far as our common goal of promoting White racial solidarity was concerned."{{citation needed|date=February 2017}} In ''Trials, Tribulations, and Triumphs'', Klassen called Pierce "a great man and an outstanding intellectual thinker, and ... one of us."<ref>{{Citation|last=Klassen|first=Ben|title=Trials, Tribulations, and Triumphs|page=219}}</ref>

In 1982, Klassen established a Creativity headquarters in [[Otto, North Carolina]]. Although his family expected resistance from local residents, Klassen wrote: "We were not quite prepared for the viciousness of the onslaught by the local paper." Opposition grew, and a May 13, 1982 ''Franklin Press'' headline read: "Pro-Hitler, anti-Christ Leader Headquarters Here".<ref>Trials, Tribulations, and Triumphs</ref>{{Rp|needed=yes|date=July 2013}}

[[File:BenKlassenHeadstone.jpg|thumb|Gravestone of Klassen in the Ben Klassen Memorial Park at the Creativity headquarters in [[Otto, North Carolina]]]]
In August 1993, Klassen died of suicide at the age of 75 on the grounds of the Creativity headquarters in Otto by taking an overdose of [[sleeping pill]]s.<ref name="Ferber">{{cite book|author1=JoAnn Rogers|author2=Jacquelyn S. Litt|editor1-last=Ferber|editor1-first=Abby|title=Home-grown Hate: Gender and Organized Racism|date=2003|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0415944144|page=93|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tMmNeM8qdaAC&q=%22Ben+Klassen%22+suicide&pg=PA93|chapter=Normalizing Racism: A Case Study of Motherhood in White Supremacy}}</ref><ref name="Altman 2001 36">{{cite book |last=Altman |first=Linda Jacobs |year=2001 |title=Hate and Racist Groups: A Hot Issue |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1hruAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Ben+Klassen%22+overdose |publisher=[[Enslow Publishers]] |page=36 |isbn=978-0766013711}}</ref><ref name="Ellison">{{cite web |url=http://www.smokymountainnews.com/news/item/3152-hate-by-any-name-is-still-hate |title=Hate by any name is still hate |last=Ellison |first=Quinton |date=February 2, 2011 |work=[[Smoky Mountain News]] |access-date=February 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20170331132949/http://www.smokymountainnews.com/news/item/3152-hate-by-any-name-is-still-hate |archive-date=March 31, 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> His motives were not explained by him at the time but writers studying neo-Nazi groups have suggested that Klassen's reason for his suicide involved the possible depression caused by the death of his wife, the legal and financial issues his church endured during the years 1992 and 1993 leading up to his death and the fact he was diagnosed with [[cancer]].<ref name="Love">{{cite book|last1=Love|first1=Nancy S.|title=Trendy Fascism: White Power Music and the Future of Democracy|date=2016|publisher=State University of New York|isbn=978-1438462035|page=101|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CMJDDAAAQBAJ&q=Ben+Klassen++church+suicide&pg=PA101|access-date=20 February 2022}}</ref><ref name="Morris">{{cite book|last1=Morris|first1=Travis|title=Dark Ideas: How Neo-Nazi and Violent Jihadi Ideologues Shaped Modern Terrorism|date=2016|publisher=Lexington Books|isbn=978-0739191040|page=15|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g-LXDQAAQBAJ&q=%22Ben+Klassen%22+overdose&pg=PA15}}</ref><ref name="Ferber"/><ref name="Altman 2001 36"/><ref name="Ellison"/> Unlike other religions such as [[Judaism]] or [[Christianity]], Klassen's Creativity religion does not believe that suicide is a sin and in circumstances such as that faced by its founder Klassen in the early 1990s, is considered a suitable way to die.<ref name="Ferber"/><ref name="Altman 2001 36"/><ref name="Ellison"/> Klassen was buried on his Creativity headquarters at Otto with his grave in an area that he had already previously designated as "Ben Klassen Memorial Park".<ref name= "Michael2">{{citation |last = Michael | first = George | title = Theology of Hate: A History of the World Church of the Creator | place = [[Gainesville, Florida|Gainesville]] | publisher = [[University of Florida]] | year = 2009}}.</ref>

In 1996, [[Matthew F. Hale]], along with other ministers of the original Church of the Creator, formed a successor group known as the "World Church of the Creator".<ref name="adl">{{cite web |title=Creativity Movement (Formerly World Church of the Creator) |url=https://www.adl.org/education/resources/profiles/creativity-movement |website=Anti-Defamation League |access-date=18 March 2017 |language=en}}</ref> Hale's right to use the name "Church of the Creator" in the United States was lost to the [[Church of the Creator]], an unaffiliated religious organization based in [[Ashland, Oregon]], in a [[trademark infringement]] case.<ref>{{cite news|date=May 3, 2000|title=Church Sues Hale's Group Over Trademark|work=Chicago Tribune|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2000/05/03/church-sues-hales-group-over-trademark/|access-date=March 19, 2012|quote=[4] The names "Creativity" and "Creator" are derived from the foreword of the first edition of ''Nature's Eternal Religion'' by Ben Klassen. It states, "We call our religion Creativity, and members thereof, Creators, because, we believe these words, in essence, best describe the characteristic soul of the White Race."A church based in Oregon filed a trademark-infringement lawsuit Tuesday in federal court in Chicago against the World Church of the Creator, led by white supremacist Matthew Hale of Downstate East Peoria.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Klassen|first=Ben|title=Nature's Eternal Religion|title-link=Nature's Eternal Religion|publisher=Ken Klassen|location=Lighthouse Point, FL|page=8|chapter=Foreword}}</ref>

In January 2003, Hale was arrested and charged with attempting to direct security chief Anthony Evola to murder judge [[Joan Lefkow#Matthew Hale|Joan Lefkow]];<ref name=halearrest/> he was convicted and sentenced to 40 years' imprisonment.<ref name=guilty/> Following the demise of the World Church of the Creator after Hale's arrest in 2003, there formed two distinct groups, known as "The Creativity Movement" and the "Creativity Alliance" or "Church of Creativity".<ref name=adl/> An Australian man, Colin Campbell, co-founded Creativity Alliance.<ref name=campbell/>