Creativity (religion) - Early Years

Early Years

Creativity was officially formed in 1973 when Klassen self-published the book Nature's Eternal Religion. Initially, Klassen attempted to recruit Neo-Nazis into the church because, aside from disagreements over religion, there was no fundamental conflict between the church's doctrine and National Socialism. Klassen eventually established a rapport with National Alliance leader William Luther Pierce. Klassen met Pierce twice in 1975 and they maintained a relationship "on and off" for at least 18 more years. Klassen noted that although he "never did understand the logic of what he called his Cosmotheism religion... it has not been of any significance as far as our common goal of promoting White racial solidarity was concerned." In Trials, Tribulations, and Triumphs, Klassen describes Pierce as "a great man and an outstanding intellectual thinker, and as one of us." Although Pierce never became a Creator, he went on to create his own racial religion, Cosmotheism which is similar to Creativity although has more in common with Pantheism.

In 1982, Klassen established the headquarters of his church at Otto, North Carolina. Although the Klassen family expected resistance to their beliefs from the local people, Klassen states that "we were not quite prepared for the viciousness of the onslaught by the local paper..." The opposition grew to the point that in the Franklin Press on May 13, 1982, the headlines said "Pro-Hitler, anti-Christ Leader Headquarters Here".