Our Holy Founder
Please Note: The following was taken from several websites and re-edited by Rev. Lloyd. For Klassen's own autobiography read TRIALS, TRIBULATIONS and TRIUMPHS.
Early life and education
Bernhardt Klassen was born on February 20, 1918, in Rudnerweide (now Rozivka in Chernihivka Raion in Zaporizhzhia Oblast), Ukraine, to Bernhard and Susanna Klassen, a Ukrainian Mennonite couple. He experienced the Russian famine of 1921–1922. In 1924, his family fled Soviet tyranny and they lived one year in Mexico after which they moved to Herschel, Saskatchewan, Canada. From 1935 to 1937 he attended University of Saskatchewan. There, he developed intense interest in history and after learning about the multitude of religions concluded that they were all contrived. He left the college in 1937 because he wanted to take a position as a schoolteacher at the Saskatoon Normal School in Saskatchewan, though he soon found that he was not cut out for this career, as he was frequently at odds with his pupils. He read a German version of Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf and he started to increasingly identify with the new German Reich. He planned to study engineering at the University of Heidelberg, but the start of World War II in September 1939 lead to his plans being cancelled as Canada eventually joined the war and fought against Germany. Thus, he returned to the University of Saskatchewan where he studied engineering and was later transferred to the University of Manitoba from which he eventually received a degree in engineering. While in college, Klassen enlisted in the Canadian Officers Training Corps, but still maintained dreams of moving to Germany to "help build the New Order" and even entertained the notion of joining the air force so that he could somehow drop into Germany and join the Axis cause. With the defeat of the Third Reich in the spring of 1945, Klassen lost interest in politics and devoted his energies to establishing a career in engineering in the United States.
Career in engineering and the invention of a wall-mounted electric can opener
Klassen went on to establish a real estate company in Los Angeles. During his business years, he entered in partnership with Merlene Peek and the two founded Silver Springs Land Company which founded Silver Springs in Nevada. He retired in 1952 after selling his share of the company for $150.000.
On March 26, 1956, he filed an application with the U.S. Patent Office to patent a wall-mounted electric can opener which he marketed as Canolectric. He once again entered in life of business and partnered with the marketing firm Robbins & Myers to create Klassen Enterprises, Inc. By the late 1950s, he and his family relocated to Florida. In the face of competition from larger manufacturers that could provide similar products more cheaply, Klassen and his partners dissolved the company in 1962. No longer having responsibilities of a businessman, put his energies into political work.
Career in politics
Klassen started his political career as a member of John Birch Society. Running as a Republican on an anti-busing and anti-government platform, he was elected and served as a State Representative of Broward County in Florida from November 1966 to March 1967. In 1967, he campaigned for election to the Florida Senate, but was defeated. That same year, he was vice chairman of an organization in Florida which supported George Wallace's presidential bid.
In 1968, Klassen served as the Florida state chairman of the American Independent Party and he supported George Wallace during presidential election. His anti-jew stance unsettled the party leadership and they eventually requested his resignation and Klassen obliged. Klassen also became disillusioned with the John Birch Society believing it to be too tolerant of Jews and in August 1969 he formally resigned from it by sending a letter to the chairman. He and his colleague, Austin Davis, believed it to be necessary to move away from conservative politics toward more radical approach.
Klassen considered joining Matt Koehl’s National Sociality White People’s Party, but came to believe its members were unqualified and that their openly Hitlerian approach was counter-productive because it led people to support jewish fundraisers. In 1970, Klassen and Davis founded the Nationalist White Party. After thoroughly reading the Bible to "see what all the fuss was about" Klassen came to the conclusion that Jesus' messages were full of suicidal ideas. By 1971, he started expressing his apprehension towards Christianity which inevitably led to the Nationalist White Party's collapse. Klassen believed jews invented Christianity to soften the white race and that Christianity laid groundwork for communism. To counter it, he believed it was necessary to create an alternative religion for White people. This led to him founding Creativity.
Creativity
While residing in Florida, Klassen founded his new religion, Creativity, by publishing Nature's Eternal Religion in 1973. In the book, he outlined his anti-jew stance and provided harsh criticism of Christianity. Klassen pointed out that jews and Whites have been involved in a struggle extending back several millennia, that Biblical stories are almost certainly impossible, that Christianity is a self-imposed handicap because it encourages Whites to think of jews as ‘‘god’s chosen people’’ and that Christianity's message to love your enemies amounts to suicidal advice.
Though Klassen did not hide his admiration for Adolf Hitler, he pointed out that Creativity is not a rehash of Nazism because it is concerned with the entire White race instead of the German nation, it rejects divisive tendencies of nationalism in favour of racial identity and that Creativity is a religious movement instead of just a political movement.
TIMELINE :
1 AC (1973 CE): Bernhardt “Ben” Klassen, a former Florida state legislator and state chairman of George Wallace’s 1968 presidential campaign, announces the formation of a religion he calls Creativity and a church called the Church of the Creator, in Lighthouse Point, Florida. Ben Klassen becomes the first Pontifex Maximus or High Priest of Creativity. The tenets of P.M. Klassen’s race-based religion, called “Creativity,” are detailed in his book Nature’s Eternal Religion. Among its 16 Commandments: “It is our sacred goal to populate the lands of this earth with White people exclusively.”
8 AC (1981 CE): Klassen publishes his second book, The White Man’s Bible, which he markets as “A program for the Survival, Expansion, and Advancement of the White Race.”
9 AC (1982 CE): In March, Klassen moves Church headquarters from Florida to 23 acres of land he purchased in Otto, N.C., building a personal residence, a three-story church, a small warehouse and the “School For Gifted Boys.”
Later in the year, the Church of the Creator is granted an exemption from state taxes based on its status as a church.
10 AC (1983 CE): Klassen begins publishing a monthly newsletter, Racial Loyalty, in June.
13 AC (1986 CE): Creativity has its first known brush with the duality of criminal law in June, when in defense of church property, security chief Reverend Carl Messick, backed up by Reverend Joe Esposito, fires nineteen shots at the car of a Georgia licensed vehicle containing two people trespassing and threatening violence on church grounds. Although nobody is injured, Reverend Messick is kidnapped and sentenced to seven years in a JOG prison.
16 AC (1989 CE): A racist attack by Macon County officials concludes that the church’s North Carolina property does not qualify for religious tax exemptions, though similar religions do.
In May of the same year, two Milwaukee Church members are kidnapped while defending themselves against brawling anti-racist thugs.
17 AC (1990 CE): On September 15, eighteen year old Reverend Brian Kozel – White Beret (Church Security), is murdered by Mexican bigots while distributing Church material in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This tumultuous event is forever commemorated in the Creator Calendar as Martyrs’ Day, otherwise known as Kozel Day.
18 AC (1991 CE): In May, Reverend George Loeb shoots and kills in self defense a black-supremacist that had attempted to smash Reverend Loeb’s head with a house brick he had deliberately picked up for the purpose. Reverend Loeb, whom Klassen had earlier honored as “Creator of the Month,” is erroneously convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment with a non-parole period of twenty-five years. His wife Barbara Loeb is sentenced to one year in a JOG prison on weapons possession charges, which are a clear violation of the US Constitution.
Also in November, another racist attack by Macon County, N.C., officials revoke the church’s tax-exempt status. Violating both state and federal anti-discrimination laws.
19 AC (1992 CE): Klassen’s wife, Henrietta, Dies of cancer in January.
20 AC (1993 CE): On August 7, seventy-five year old Ben Klassen, in great pain and dying from cancer, takes his own life. He is buried in a special plot on the Church property in North Carolina.
Early life and education
Bernhardt Klassen was born on February 20, 1918, in Rudnerweide (now Rozivka in Chernihivka Raion in Zaporizhzhia Oblast), Ukraine, to Bernhard and Susanna Klassen, a Ukrainian Mennonite couple. He experienced the Russian famine of 1921–1922. In 1924, his family fled Soviet tyranny and they lived one year in Mexico after which they moved to Herschel, Saskatchewan, Canada. From 1935 to 1937 he attended University of Saskatchewan. There, he developed intense interest in history and after learning about the multitude of religions concluded that they were all contrived. He left the college in 1937 because he wanted to take a position as a schoolteacher at the Saskatoon Normal School in Saskatchewan, though he soon found that he was not cut out for this career, as he was frequently at odds with his pupils. He read a German version of Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf and he started to increasingly identify with the new German Reich. He planned to study engineering at the University of Heidelberg, but the start of World War II in September 1939 lead to his plans being cancelled as Canada eventually joined the war and fought against Germany. Thus, he returned to the University of Saskatchewan where he studied engineering and was later transferred to the University of Manitoba from which he eventually received a degree in engineering. While in college, Klassen enlisted in the Canadian Officers Training Corps, but still maintained dreams of moving to Germany to "help build the New Order" and even entertained the notion of joining the air force so that he could somehow drop into Germany and join the Axis cause. With the defeat of the Third Reich in the spring of 1945, Klassen lost interest in politics and devoted his energies to establishing a career in engineering in the United States.
Career in engineering and the invention of a wall-mounted electric can opener
Klassen went on to establish a real estate company in Los Angeles. During his business years, he entered in partnership with Merlene Peek and the two founded Silver Springs Land Company which founded Silver Springs in Nevada. He retired in 1952 after selling his share of the company for $150.000.
On March 26, 1956, he filed an application with the U.S. Patent Office to patent a wall-mounted electric can opener which he marketed as Canolectric. He once again entered in life of business and partnered with the marketing firm Robbins & Myers to create Klassen Enterprises, Inc. By the late 1950s, he and his family relocated to Florida. In the face of competition from larger manufacturers that could provide similar products more cheaply, Klassen and his partners dissolved the company in 1962. No longer having responsibilities of a businessman, put his energies into political work.
Career in politics
Klassen started his political career as a member of John Birch Society. Running as a Republican on an anti-busing and anti-government platform, he was elected and served as a State Representative of Broward County in Florida from November 1966 to March 1967. In 1967, he campaigned for election to the Florida Senate, but was defeated. That same year, he was vice chairman of an organization in Florida which supported George Wallace's presidential bid.
In 1968, Klassen served as the Florida state chairman of the American Independent Party and he supported George Wallace during presidential election. His anti-jew stance unsettled the party leadership and they eventually requested his resignation and Klassen obliged. Klassen also became disillusioned with the John Birch Society believing it to be too tolerant of Jews and in August 1969 he formally resigned from it by sending a letter to the chairman. He and his colleague, Austin Davis, believed it to be necessary to move away from conservative politics toward more radical approach.
Klassen considered joining Matt Koehl’s National Sociality White People’s Party, but came to believe its members were unqualified and that their openly Hitlerian approach was counter-productive because it led people to support jewish fundraisers. In 1970, Klassen and Davis founded the Nationalist White Party. After thoroughly reading the Bible to "see what all the fuss was about" Klassen came to the conclusion that Jesus' messages were full of suicidal ideas. By 1971, he started expressing his apprehension towards Christianity which inevitably led to the Nationalist White Party's collapse. Klassen believed jews invented Christianity to soften the white race and that Christianity laid groundwork for communism. To counter it, he believed it was necessary to create an alternative religion for White people. This led to him founding Creativity.
Creativity
While residing in Florida, Klassen founded his new religion, Creativity, by publishing Nature's Eternal Religion in 1973. In the book, he outlined his anti-jew stance and provided harsh criticism of Christianity. Klassen pointed out that jews and Whites have been involved in a struggle extending back several millennia, that Biblical stories are almost certainly impossible, that Christianity is a self-imposed handicap because it encourages Whites to think of jews as ‘‘god’s chosen people’’ and that Christianity's message to love your enemies amounts to suicidal advice.
Though Klassen did not hide his admiration for Adolf Hitler, he pointed out that Creativity is not a rehash of Nazism because it is concerned with the entire White race instead of the German nation, it rejects divisive tendencies of nationalism in favour of racial identity and that Creativity is a religious movement instead of just a political movement.
TIMELINE :
1 AC (1973 CE): Bernhardt “Ben” Klassen, a former Florida state legislator and state chairman of George Wallace’s 1968 presidential campaign, announces the formation of a religion he calls Creativity and a church called the Church of the Creator, in Lighthouse Point, Florida. Ben Klassen becomes the first Pontifex Maximus or High Priest of Creativity. The tenets of P.M. Klassen’s race-based religion, called “Creativity,” are detailed in his book Nature’s Eternal Religion. Among its 16 Commandments: “It is our sacred goal to populate the lands of this earth with White people exclusively.”
8 AC (1981 CE): Klassen publishes his second book, The White Man’s Bible, which he markets as “A program for the Survival, Expansion, and Advancement of the White Race.”
9 AC (1982 CE): In March, Klassen moves Church headquarters from Florida to 23 acres of land he purchased in Otto, N.C., building a personal residence, a three-story church, a small warehouse and the “School For Gifted Boys.”
Later in the year, the Church of the Creator is granted an exemption from state taxes based on its status as a church.
10 AC (1983 CE): Klassen begins publishing a monthly newsletter, Racial Loyalty, in June.
13 AC (1986 CE): Creativity has its first known brush with the duality of criminal law in June, when in defense of church property, security chief Reverend Carl Messick, backed up by Reverend Joe Esposito, fires nineteen shots at the car of a Georgia licensed vehicle containing two people trespassing and threatening violence on church grounds. Although nobody is injured, Reverend Messick is kidnapped and sentenced to seven years in a JOG prison.
16 AC (1989 CE): A racist attack by Macon County officials concludes that the church’s North Carolina property does not qualify for religious tax exemptions, though similar religions do.
In May of the same year, two Milwaukee Church members are kidnapped while defending themselves against brawling anti-racist thugs.
17 AC (1990 CE): On September 15, eighteen year old Reverend Brian Kozel – White Beret (Church Security), is murdered by Mexican bigots while distributing Church material in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This tumultuous event is forever commemorated in the Creator Calendar as Martyrs’ Day, otherwise known as Kozel Day.
18 AC (1991 CE): In May, Reverend George Loeb shoots and kills in self defense a black-supremacist that had attempted to smash Reverend Loeb’s head with a house brick he had deliberately picked up for the purpose. Reverend Loeb, whom Klassen had earlier honored as “Creator of the Month,” is erroneously convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment with a non-parole period of twenty-five years. His wife Barbara Loeb is sentenced to one year in a JOG prison on weapons possession charges, which are a clear violation of the US Constitution.
Also in November, another racist attack by Macon County, N.C., officials revoke the church’s tax-exempt status. Violating both state and federal anti-discrimination laws.
19 AC (1992 CE): Klassen’s wife, Henrietta, Dies of cancer in January.
20 AC (1993 CE): On August 7, seventy-five year old Ben Klassen, in great pain and dying from cancer, takes his own life. He is buried in a special plot on the Church property in North Carolina.