Carl Olsen
Post Office Box 4091
Des Moines, IA 50333

June 29, 1996

Dear Brian,

Thanks for the letter.  I hope you don't mind if I send copies to some of the brothers and post it on my COPTIC page on the World Wide Web (Internet).  I almost hesitate to publish it because of some of the very personal things you said, but I think you can explain them or retract them, as the case may be, so that it is only a manifestation of your thoughts at the time you wrote them.  The first issue you brought up that concerns me is your statement about hating "Judas."  I wonder if you think that Christ hated Judas.  My understanding has always been that Christ loved Judas just as much as the other disciples.  As a matter of fact, shortly after I stopped smoking ganja, I started calling myself "the informer," because I wanted people to know that I was no longer keeping any secrets.  If you have a secret, don't tell it to me.  Somewhere in the Bible it talks about there being no secret that will not be revealed.  I think there's another line about that which was spoken in secret will be shouted from the rooftops, or something like that.  When I stopped smoking ganja, I also keyed on the scripture where Christ tells his disciples that he will no longer partake of the sacrament until he partakes of it new with them in the kingdom of God.  We were always taught that you make heaven or hell out of your life here on earth, not somewhere up in the sky.  So that means that we have to make marijuana legal, or at least have the power to tell the world that we use it without being persecuted for it (that would be my idea of heaven on earth).  I think we can assume that Christ had the power to turn Judas into dog meat.  It was only Christ's obedience to his father that caused him to allow Judas to play the role that he did, to serve as a warning to the rest of us not to play Judas' role.

Thanks for letting me know what you've heard about Tom Reilly.  It's unreal how many years that man has been out on appeal bail.  I always figured that it was a government plot to keep him quiet (looks like it worked).  After all, he was the spokesman and he made them very uncomfortable by going on 60 Minutes and giving all those media interviews.  Anyway, it just goes to show you that the high will be brought low and the low will be brought high, and everything will even out in the end.

     I was also interested in hearing about Brother Dogie, although the last time I talked to him (a year or two ago) he said he didn't want to be involved with the property at St. Thomas.  This is an unusual turn of events, although I guess I'm not surprised.  My reason for not wanting to have any connection to the property in St. Thomas is because I quit selling and smoking ganja.  As far as I'm concerned, that property in St. Thomas is just a dead weight.  It's the last remnant of a life that I left behind - a life that I've been trying to kill.  I have pity for poor Brother Dogie wanting to tie that dead weight around his own neck, but I guess that's just the way it all has to work out.  As for Jane, I'm sure she's just as happy as I am that she has nothing to do with it.

Thanks for Mike Hatfield's number.  I haven't gotten hold of him yet, but I'll keep trying.  Keep in touch and let me know what you think about my comments.

Sincerely,

Carl E. Olsen