In a demonstration of the right-wing Christian pressure group Maxim's attempt to insinuate its messages into the New Zealand media, Paul Litterick of the New Zealand Association of Rationalists and Humanists has used the Maxim Institute's email "wizard" to send seventy six publications a letter regarding the use of the email wizard. The Maxim wizard was used just over a week ago to send the appalling death threat against gay MP Tim Barnett to many publications, several of which actually published it. Litterick's letter states: "This letter was sent to you using the Maxim Institute's letter writing wizard: http://www.maxim.org.nz/letter/ Your publication is one of many that can be accessed from this page. We wouldn't normally use this sort of tool, particularly one provided by the Maxim Institute. However, we are sending this letter to demonstrate how Maxim manipulates the letter writing process. Newspapers and magazines provide space for readers to express their opinions. This is an essential and long-established aspect of free speech, giving readers the opportunity to comment on issues in the news. Maxim has exploited this opportunity by providing its supporters with the means to send letters to many publications at once." The mass email-out of letters is a common tactic of the anti-gay fundamentalist right in the USA and is one of the American tools freely borrowed by the Maxim Institute in its attempts to influence the political process in New Zealand. Maxim letter wizard: http://www.maxim.org.nz/letter/ New Zealand Association of Rationalists and Humanists: www.nzarh.org.nz/ Jay Bennie - 26th April 2004