At 12:50 PM 10/10/97 -0500, urantia wrote:
>Dear Friends:
>
>As you may know, the Foundation Trustees and Fellowship representatives met
>on October 3rd to address organizational differences and to explore various
>opportunities for future cooperation. We have prepared this joint
>statement as a way to share the spirit of good will that resulted from our
>full day of open discussion.
>
>All eleven persons in attendance felt this meeting was a success. On
>behalf of our respective organizations, we agreed to put the questions
>arising from the June 10th appeals decision behind us and to focus on the
>future;I don't understand what this means. You agreed to put the questions arising from the June 10th appeals decision behind you? Does that mean you just swept those questions under the rug? That you closed your eyes to them? What questions do you mean exactly? Could you be specific? Do you mean questions like, "Did the Appellate Court really give the Foundation a copyright on the book, or just on their version of the book, their layout, etc.?" In other words, what is the status of the copyright on the TEXT? Didn't the Appellate suggest that the facts of the Revelation (which would seem to be the text) were not copyrightable? You people (Foundation people, former trustees, etc.) are on record as having said over and over through the years that the papers are exactly as they were received, so how then can the court award a copyright to you on your editing, etc., when you didn't do any editing? Are these the sort of questions that you all "agreed to put... behind us"? But what of those of us who would like to have those questions answered?, who would rather see them answered than "put behind us" unanswered? How are we served by this so-called "agreement"?
>...we agreed to pursue better communication, more understanding, and
>direct cooperation on mutual projects. There was a willingness to discuss
>ways to solve trademark concerns through cooperation. All eleven
>representatives were hopeful that our cooperative efforts may meet with
>success in the future.Do you mean the "trademark" concerns that the Foundation created when it registered, trademarked, licensed and de licensed things that were not the Foundation's to register, trademark, license or de license? God's things, in other words? Did you all talk any about the idea that the Foundation has lied when it said the word "Urantian" was a "coined" word deriving from the name of Urantia Foundation? Janet Farrington Graham, did you talk about that? Did you talk about the lie on the original copyright document wherein the author of the Revelation is stated as being the Urantia Foundation? Janet, did you talk about that? Or that that "misinformation" has now spread all around the world on computers and microfiches? Was the Foundation asked to undo that lie, posthaste? How exactly are you going to solve the "trademark concerns" through cooperation? Does that mean the Foundation is going to solve them by reinstating what it has wrongfully taken from others, or does that mean that the Fellowship is going to be the one to "cooperate" like it did this time apparently giving away the store? How much will it cost the Fellowship to "cooperate" with the Foundation on the "trademark concerns"? I heard it cost them $10,000 to cooperate with the Foundation on the litigation deal, to buy the Foundation off. Is that figure right? "If you give us $10 grand we won't bring a lawsuit against you, even though what you did was probably perfectly legal as the copyright had been declared invalid." But the Fellowship is oh-so-frightened to stand up to the bully, and wants to be seen as loving and pacifistic, when all it is really is is weak and cowardly. "Please don't act as if you're going to hit me, Mr. Bully. If I give you money and promise never to publish the Revelation-from-God again, can't we be friends? Here's $10,000 dollars."
>In keeping with the spirit of the agreement, members of The Fellowship
>Translation Committee will attend the Foundation Translators Conference in
>Paris next month. As you can see by the terms below, we plan to combine
>expertise and financial support to further the dissemination of the
>revelation to the world.I see the strategy. If you can just get the Fellowship involved and entangled in your little programs, subvert them a little more, pretty soon you'll have the game won. And I'm sure it will work. Btw, how much is the junket to Paris going to cost?
>We appeal for the understanding and support of the community.
But what about the Foundation's persecution of believers for disseminating the Revelation or using the symbols of the Creator? What about "Be willing to suffer injustice rather than to go to law among yourselves"? Janet, doesn't that mean anything to you? How can you expect the "understanding and support of the community" when the Foundation continues to tell the Master through its actions, "We don't give a damn about your teachings, we do what the hell we want"?
(Regarding Janet, would someone please forward this to her, or send me her address? Also Mo and any others that aren't online.)
>We all know
>there is more work to be done than either group can accomplish alone, more
>readers to be served than there are brothers and sisters to serve them. We
>shall start with a few carefully chosen projects-public relations, web
>activities, translations-and build confidence in the potential of our
>cooperation, as we proceed step-by-step.Yeah but...what about all the Foundation's crimes of the past that are still extant, still current and still leaking pus all over the place? When are you going to solve those problems? Why don't you call the copyright office and explain to them that you made a mistake when you said the Foundation was the author of the book and that you'd like to correct that mistake right now? Ask them to amend the copyright so that the real authors are listed on the copyright document instead of your organization. It's never too late, you know, to be honest. Honesty is the best policy, have you heard that? Do you know who wrote the book? I understand that Tonia Baney, your Executive Director and a 30 year reader does not, -that she has so stated in a public courtroom. Why didn't she just give the answer that's on the copyright document? It would have been a lie, but she could have pretended she didn't know it was a lie. Anything would have been better than saying "I don't know". I can send you a list of the authors of the papers if you like. When are you going to announce to the readership that you are either going to restore the original text to its "inviolate" condition as is required by your Declaration of Trust, or properly footnote in the book the changes you've made with an explanation for each one? Or at least offer an original text Revelation to those who would prefer one and clearly mark the different versions as being different, one original and one altered? Are you planning on making right any of those wrongs? Are you all going to talk about this stuff in six months?
>It is our belief that the community of URANTIA Book readers may be best
>served by two independent but mutually supportive organizations.Isn't that what we thought we had before the Foundation wrongfully disenfranchised the Brotherhood, "two independent but mutually supportive organizations"? Isn't that what we thought we had before the Foundation started on its power trip, registering and trademarking everything in sight, issuing ultimatums and disenfranchising those with whom it disagreed? Are we back to GO again? Does this mean that the Foundation now considers the Fellowship its equal, unlike the last meeting some years ago where the Foundation refused to conciliate because it considered itself superior and the Fellowship inferior, a mere created subsidy of the Foundation? And if so, will the Fellowship and all the societies of it now be able to use the circles, etc? There's no need to wait six more months to thrash all this out. Let's do it now.
>The
>leaders of the Foundation and The Fellowship intend to walk the second mile
>in this journey towards unity. We ask that you walk with us.I believe it is only the leadership of the Fellowship that is going to walk the second mile, and that will probably be at about $10,000 per step. What exactly has the Foundation given in this latest exchange except for smiles and an agreement to not litigate a suit that they would probably lose? They look magnanimous by saying, "OK, we won't sue you." It's like saying, "OK, give us your money and we won't hit you, you little wimp." Everyone is so relieved. "Here, here's $10 grand and thank you so very much for being our friend and not suing us, even though we did nothing illegal because Judge Urbom had declared the copyright invalid." How sickening.
>The terms of the Agreement are below. They have been sealed with a
>handshake, symbolic of a renaissance of trust and cooperation between our
>organizations.
>
>
>TERMS OF THE AGREEMENT
>
>1. Pending any appeal to the 9th Circuit's decision, URANTIA Foundation
>shall release The Fellowship and Uversa Press from all claims for damages
>from having published the first and only Uversa Press edition of The
>URANTIA Book.There was no case to be made against the Fellowship for damages and I'm sure the Foundation knew it. The action took place while the copyright was invalid as declared by a Federal Judge. The Foundation has given nothing here except a BULLY'S promise not to HIT the Fellowship, and for that, the Fellowship pays $10,000 in protection money and gives up its right to print the Revelation from God, thus acknowledging once again the PRIMACY of the Foundation and the subservience of the Fellowship, now dependent once again on Foundation books, Foundation pricing, Foundation policies. The Fellowship has given away the store along with its rights and dignity. The first and only Uversa Press edition? Janet Farrington, is this your doing? Is this what the General Council wants? I need to know whose policies are involved here. Without its own book Janet, and dependent upon the Foundation, the Fellowship is doomed in the long run. We seem to have taken a decidedly strange turn in the Fellowship since the change of Presidents. Janet, did Patty overpower you during long phone conversations? What are the celestials going to say? "What of Janet Farrington of Urantia, does she still stand unmoved?" The obvious answer seems to be "No, she just gave away the store."
>2. The Fellowship shall retain possession and control of the disposition of
>the unsold copies of the Uversa Press edition of The URANTIA Book. These
>copies shall not be sold.Why not? Why can't they be sold? Is there something wrong with them? Why not properly test the Appellate decision, find out what it means? Why let the Foundation's lies stand?
> They shall be given to libraries, prisons, or to
>persons who cannot afford a book.
>
>3. The Fellowship shall make a significant donation to the Foundation's
>Translation fund.Yes, the protection money. $10 grand? That's what I heard. Why isn't that figure mentioned in this joint statement? And how much will the trip to Paris cost and who is going to pay for that? That Foundation video must've really pushed the patsies over. The UF wannabees all want to go overseas and rub elbows with all the nice folks in the video. Hey, I saw it too. It was pretty slick. Shows what PR you can buy if you have plenty of money.
>4. The two organizations shall form a small committee to address ongoing
>problems in a timely fashion.You mean ongoing problems like persecution of Kristen and Eric? Or altered text books in violation of the DOT? What ongoing problems do you mean? Can't you just list them for us all to see? Oh, and are you going to talk about the "Reign of Error" as Lee Armstrong calls it? Are you going to apologize to everyone for Martin Myers? Oh, and what about Foundation apologies to everyone for the letters which contained this text: "The Trustees of URANTIA Foundation do not wish to sell copies of The URANTIA Book to you."? Don't you think in this new era of cooperation that such apologies would be appropriate? It looks like all the Foundation is going to do is to promise not to hit the Fellowship. My, my, such a deal.
>5. Within the next six months, The Fellowship and the Foundation shall
>schedule a face-to-face meeting to address issues such as reader referrals,
>translation efforts, and licensing ideas.Why not start next week? You can do it using e-mail and phone conferences. Why wait another six months? It's going to take decades to do anything meaningful at the rate you are going. Hey, perhaps that's what you have in mind? The longer you can involve the Fellowship and drag things out the better, eh? If you are sincere, why not just unilaterally DECLARE that you are going to undo all the wrongs that the Foundation has done? You could renounce the licensing agreement, the disenfranchising, the copyright lie as to authorship, and you could publicly tell the MASTER that you were now willing to live by his teachings regarding going to law among ourselves and expecting to be the boss of everything ("How can you expect that all who will believe the gospel shall be subject to your direction?"). Just do it. Don't wait six months to talk about it. Trustees, humble yourselves. Restore the movement to the way it was. You and you alone can do it with a few words. Recognize the Fellowship as an equal and stop persecuting believers. That's all anyone wants from you, that you act in a Jesusonian manner. Why don't you just do it? Or will it cost the Fellowship $10,000 for each non-step that you take?
>6. Both organizations reconfirm their prior agreement to talk with each
>other before either group initiates legal action against the other.This is a SHAMEFULLY misleading statement. The only group that has ever initiated legal action against the other is the Foundation. Janet Farrington Graham, I believe they saw you coming and said, "Hey, here's an easy mark. Let's get her to agree to a statement that makes it seem as if they sue us like we sue them. The general public won't know the difference. Let's see if we can pull a fast one on Janet. She's a new President and is still wet behind the ears."
>7. The Trustees of URANTIA Foundation and the Executive Committee of The
>Fellowship shall help each other represent the Agreement to their
>respective constituencies in such a way that supporters of the two
>organizations shall know that cooperation and interdependence are possible
>between the two groups.Yeah, right. "We won't hit you if you just give us $10,000 and promise to let us be the only authorized-by-God publisher." "OK, here it is, don't hit us, and yes, we promise."
Now that's what I call "cooperation and interdependence".
With the Fellowship agreeing that it will never publish again (the first and *only* Uversa Press edition of The URANTIA Book), the Fellowship has lost any power or leverage it had to change things for the better. It now must rely on the "goodness" of the Foundation for any handouts the Foundation deems to give it (referrals, permission to use the circles, etc.), and it must continue to give money to the Foundation in order to remain "friends" with the Foundation. The Fellowship, like Abner, is doomed. It gained nothing, while it gave away the store. Seven years of pain and struggle gone with a few words. "Can we be your friends? We promise not to make you angry anymore. It was all our fault, really. We're sorry. We shouldn't have provoked you. Here's $10,000 dollars. Please say you won't hit us."
Amazing.
Norm.