Testimonial letter from Joan Hotchkis

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This letter is one of a remarkable series of over 2650 letters amassed in 1983 to support Osho's attempt to get permanent resident status in the US at the time of the Oregon ranch. The image is reproduced here with the kind permission of The Oregon Historical Society. Information about their collection of these letters and other supporting material -- the "Jeffrey Noles Rajneesh Collection", named for Osho's immigration lawyer Jeffrey Noles, who compiled them in 1983 and donated them to the OHS -- can be found at this page. The wiki is grateful to the OHS for making access available for these documents. For more information and links to all the letters, see Testimonial letters.

This letter is from Joan Hotchkis. It is "Exhibit A-1265" in the Noles collection.

The text version below has been created by optical character recognition (OCR), from the images supplied by OHS. It has not been checked for errors but this process usually results in over 99% correct transcription. Most apparent "errors" are correct transcriptions of typos already in the original. The image on the right in the text box links to a pdf file of the original letter, it has one page.

Joan Hotchkis
201 OCEAN AVENUE • 509P • SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA 90402
July 21, 1983

To Whom It May Concern:

I’m a resident of California, born in this state, and have been an actress and writer for twenty-eight years. I’m a registered Democrat, a regular voter in every election and I care deeply about the freedoms our country has fought so hard to create. One of these freedoms is the right to worship in any way you choose, so long as that way is not harmful to others.

I’ve never met Bhagwan or followed his teachings, but several of my friends have done so. I know him to be a commited, responsible and very gifted spiritual leader who should be allowed to teach and spread his influence unharrassed. The move to deport him is shocking, an outrage that I protest. Please rescind all intentions to suppress religious freedom. Sincerely,
[signed]


(Please note: We assume that the above letter is still copyrighted, but we regard its historical interest to constitute a Fair Use exception for publication in this wiki.)