An Open Letter to Bob Zink

"I must admit that the icon of Sideshow Bob is funny. I believe David Griffin came up with this one. Kudo's to David. This one will be hard to top." - Bob Zink

On alt.magick someone recently repubished a letter, allegedly written by Bob Zink to his former girlfriend amid allegations of domestic violence. In response Bob Zink wrote:

"This is again part of the propaganda expressed by David Griffin and several members who were dis-robed by the Chief Adept of the EOGD.  There is no abuse in our Order, it is not tolerated.  Never has there been any civil or criminal investigation of any kind.  This is made up guttersnipe propaganda." - Bob Zink

.. then on his Yahoo group, Bob wrote:

"... A ton of money was spent by David Griffin and Chic Cicero over who has the right to use and control the name Golden Dawn in the U.S. This legal battle lasted for years. It did include me and did not. Let me explain, I was using the Golden Dawn name and doing Golden Dawn magic, and had a Golden Dawn Order years before the trademark was filed by Griffin and Chic.Therefore, a trademark would not affect me from the advice of my attorney. 

In defense of Chic Cicero, he wanted the trademark only to prevent David Griffin who was a fallen member from his Order and dating one of his Chiefs at the time from controlling the entire Golden Dawn. In any event, the battle went all the way to the 9th district court of appeals. This court sided with Chic Cicero and in addition insured that I have the name of Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn." - Bob Zink

Care Frater PDR (Dear Bob) ...

"First off, I (David Griffin) have worked very hard recently to avoid personally attacking you or your Order and we have intentionally blocked posts to our Yahoo forum that attempt to do the same. When facts are presented, we do allow people to present their case but our policy SPECIFICALLY FORBIDS AD HOMINEM ATTACKS ON ANY PERSON (even you!). 

While it is understandable that you want to defend yourself from allegations of abuse made by former EOGD members, you also have a long history of blaming others for your troubles. This has been attested to over and over by former members of your order. Such behavior is neither honorable nor acceptable among spiritual guides of our beloved GD community. Unless you specifically want to start a flame war with me or the AO, I request that you not use my name or that of the AO in any way. 

The Alpha Omega is busy making Magicians. We have no interest in getting involved in your disputes with former members of EOGD.

Next, you are yet again misrepresenting the actual terms of the 2007 Trademark Settlement Agreement. To avoid confusion, I again clarify the relevant facts of the matter:

1. you do not OWN any Golden Dawn trademark; neither for the Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn, nor for its abbreviation as EOGD, nor in any other manner.

2. In fact, you were NOT in any way a party to that litigation or to the 2007 Trademark Settlement Agreement either. 

3. You are indeed on record as a LICENSEE of the other party of that Settlement Agreement, although the other party has declared before the court that your license is invalid.

4. Thus your statement that you own the trademark, Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn is erroneous and misleading.

5. The agreement is quite clear, however, that our order is the sole and exclusive owner of the trademark:

Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, 

outer order of the 

Rosicrucian Order of the Alpha et Omega

... sharing equal rights with the other Party to license the Golden Dawn trademark to third parties not only in the United States, but all over the world.

6. The actual Settlement Agreement is a matter of public record and can be viewed here.

7. When you write:

"In defense of Chic Cicero, he wanted the trademark only to prevent David Griffin who was a fallen member from his Order and dating one of his Chiefs at the time from controlling the entire Golden Dawn." - Bob Zink

This statement is libelous per se. In the interest of truth and to avoid confusion, I again present that actual facts of the matter:

I was indeed involved in the infamous "Pizza Schism" between Cris Monnastre who founded the H.O.G.D., and another party who CRIS MONNASTRE HAD INVITED INTO THE ORDER. The schism occured due to false rumors spread about Ms. Monnastre allegedly "resigning" (which never occured).  

Following Cris Monnastre rightfully EXPELLING the other party, Cris Monnastre regularly appointed me as as the lawful "Imperator Ordinis" of the "Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn", a post which I hold until today with great pride in addition to my other offices.

6. Your above statement is additionally in violation of the non-disparagement clause of the 2007 Settlement Agreement, to which you are bound as a licensee of the other party. 

7. According to United States Trademark and Patent law, your Licensor has an affirmative duty to ensure that all trademark licensees comply with each and every term of the 2007 Settlement agreement.

8. Due to you as Licensee disparaging the A.O. as an order and me personally, your Licensor is presently in breach of the 2007 Settlement Agreement.

In conclusion, I repeat what I wrote earlier to insure there is no misunderstanding:

The mission of the Alpha Omega is to make Magicians. We are fully occupied with this mission and have no interest in getting involved in your disputes with former members of your "Esoteric" Golden Dawn order. The fact that so many left you at once, however, does make a powerful statement in itself.

We will not allow any personal attacks on you or any other person any of our fora, websites or blogs. We will however, not allow ourselves to be made complicit in serious abuses, by not permitting factual reports of instances of alleged abuse.

I again request that you not use my name or that of the AO in any way, as required by the non-disparagement clause of the 2007 Trademark Settlement Agreement.

Regards,

Imperator David Griffin
HOGD AO 33 95