The Free Urantia News
"Let the truth be known, though the heavens fall."Number 1 April, 1999
What are we going to do about Urantia Foundation?
In April 1958, Bill Sadler wrote:
"Unless the Foundation conducts itself with wisdom it may breed dissension between itself and the Brotherhood. In the opinion of the writer, there is no place in URANTIA Foundation for any ... exhibition of proprietary feeling toward the Urantia Papers."
Sadly, Bill’s worst prophetic fears came true. The Foundation did not conduct itself with wisdom, did breed dissension between itself and the Fellowship1, and "proprietary feeling" toward the Urantia Papers became the name of the game.
The "Urantia Papers" or "The Urantia Book"?
The revelators do not call the Revelation "The Urantia Book," they call it "The Urantia Papers." The name "The Urantia Book" is the Foundation’s name for their published version of the Urantia Papers, which includes some material of minimal human origin and creativity, namely the derivative "The Titles of the Papers" and the "Contents of the Book." Be that as it may, we are well advised to remember the statement from the Papers that, "One can be technically right as to fact and everlastingly wrong in the truth." (48.6.22 / 555)2. While there may be a technical, legalistic, hair spitting difference - useful perhaps in lawsuits against believers - between the terms, "The Urantia Papers" and "The Urantia Book," the truth of the matter is that for all practical purposes and to most believers, The Urantia Book equals the Urantia Papers which equal the Revelation.
But what is it? What is the Book, or the Revelation, or the Papers, however you prefer to think of it? Some say that it’s just a book like any other, and that the real Revelation is the teachings, or the living of the teachings. However, the Urantia Papers themselves tell us that they are the Revelation, on the same page that they tell us Jesus was the Fourth Epochal Revelation. A list of the five Epochal Revelations to our planet is given at 92.4. / 1007-1008, "The Gift of Revelation." They are:
1. The Dalamatian teaching.
2. The Edenic teachings.
3. Melchizedek of Salem.
4. Jesus of Nazareth.
5. The Urantia Papers.
Thus, in this regard at least, the Urantia Papers and Jesus are equal in the sense that they are both epochal Revelations. The Urantia Papers are not just a book - they are far more than that. The Papers really are an epochal Revelation from God’s government, in book form.
"Who do men say that I am?"
At 157.3.3 / 1745, Jesus asked his apostles, "Who do men say that I am?" They replied that he was, "regarded as a prophet or as an extraordinary man by all who knew him; that even his enemies greatly feared him, accounting for his powers by the indictment that he was in league with the prince of devils. They told him that some in Judea and Samaria who had not met him personally believed he was John the Baptist risen from the dead. Peter explained that he had been, at sundry times and by various persons, compared with Moses, Elijah, Isaiah, and Jeremiah."
Then Jesus asked them: "But who say you that I am?"
We are told, "There was a moment of tense silence. The twelve never took their eyes off the Master, and then Simon Peter, springing to his feet, exclaimed: ‘You are the Deliverer, the Son of the living God.’
And the eleven sitting apostles arose to their feet with one accord, thereby indicating that Peter had spoken for all of them."
What do men say the Urantia Papers are?
As shown earlier, and as we know as believers, the Urantia Papers are the Fifth Epochal Revelation, just as Jesus was the Fourth Epochal Revelation. The question Jesus asked his apostles, "Who do men say that I am?" can be applied to this Revelation, too. "What do men say the Urantia Papers are?"
Many of us have introduced the Urantia Papers to a fundamentalist Christian of one kind or another. Oftentimes for our efforts we have been told that it is the work of the Devil or some such, paralleling the apostles’ experience which they related to Jesus, that some thought he was "in league with the prince of devils." Others don’t know what to make of it, and consider it just another spacey New Age metaphysical book in a crowded market of so-called channeled material. Still others, possibly inured or calloused by today’s religious climate, dismiss it seemingly without thinking.
By the same token, Jesus’ second question to his apostles can also be applied to the Urantia Revelation. As he asked them, "But who say you that I am?" - so too it can be asked:
"But what say you that the Urantia Papers are?"
Most believers, perhaps after "a moment of tense silence" as the apostles had with Jesus, will center on the truth and will reply that, "The Urantia Papers are a new epochal Revelation to our planet from God’s government, authored by God’s agents, celestial, spiritual beings such as angels and others" - or something close to that in their own words. As believers, if we are not ashamed or embarrassed about our religion and our beliefs, shouldn’t that be our answer in all cases and without equivocation? As believers, shouldn’t we be like the apostles when they exclaimed, "You are the Deliverer, the Son of the living God." Shouldn’t that be our answer to each other, our answer to questioning Christians and other religionists, our answer to the Copyright Office, the Trademark Office, and our answer to the Courts? What if the apostles had told Jesus, "Well, Master, we believe you are the Deliverer, the Son of the living God, but we can’t tell anyone else that. You know, it would be so embarrassing, and besides, we couldn’t prove it anyway." Just imagine the apostles saying that to Jesus, if you can!
The apostles’ reply was pure, honest, and heartfelt, with no hedging, no beating around the bush, no ambiguity, no doublespeak, no "legalese." They didn’t even qualify it with, "We believe..." They simply said, "YOU ARE..." They gave Jesus one answer and one answer only, because they loved him and there was only one answer to give - the truth as they knew it to be. Isn’t that the way we should reply, with one true answer, our statement of what we believe-know, whenever we are asked, "What do you say the Urantia Papers are?" or "What is The Urantia Book?" or "Who wrote the Urantia Papers?" or some variation thereof?
But what is the reality of the situation with regard to what some supposed believers say the Urantia Papers are? For example, what have the trustees of the Urantia Foundation said the Urantia Papers are? What do they say to us, and what do they tell others - our government, and the world? Do the trustees give a different answer depending on whom they are talking to? Depending on the venue, how does the Foundation answer the question:
Who wrote the Urantia Papers?
All believers know who the real authors of the Urantia Papers are. Their names are given within the Papers themselves. The Foundation trustees of 1955 also knew who the true authors were. The contact commission, having received the text of the Papers from them, had been involved with those celestial beings for 30 years or more. The 1955 trustees knew perfectly well who the authors were, and they and the contact commission are on record over and over stating that celestials - not humans - authored the papers. Dr. Sadler wrote, "The Papers were published just as we received them." "The contact commissioners had no editorial authority." "Our job was limited to spelling, capitalization, and punctuation." Emma Christensen, contact commissioner wrote, "The authors are all listed in the book itself..." "I can categorically assure you that no humans decided the content of the Urantia Book. The Book is as the revelators gave it to us." "The Urantia Book was not written by the Urantia Foundation. It is a revelation given to this world by superhuman personalities." "The Urantia Book was published precisely as it was given to the people of this planet. Not a word has been added or deleted." "No human scholars edited the book." Thomas Kendall, Foundation trustee wrote, "The Urantia Book is arranged and assembled exactly as revealed." "No human ever edited this material." And there are many more such statements. But in 1955 or thereabouts, the then trustees of the Urantia Foundation apparently felt they needed a copyright on the Revelation. However, in the United States, works that are written by celestial beings are not copyrightable - unless you tell the Copyright Office something else.
Human copyright laws exist to protect creations of the human intellect and to see that the human who creates a work from their own intellect receives his or her material benefits. So the early trustees were faced with a dilemma. According to a deposition early in the Maaherra trial by Bernard Dietz, longtime head of the Renewal Division of the Copyright Office, if you tell the Copyright Office that a divine being wrote the material you want to copyright, the Copyright Office will not and cannot grant you a copyright. In other words, if you have a manuscript that was written by angels and you want a copyright, you simply have to tell the Copyright Office something else in order to get a copyright on that work. You have to lie. Following is an excerpt from the Dietz deposition. The questions were asked by Mr. Brylawski, an attorney, and the answers were given by Bernard Dietz, on October 17, 1991 in Washington, DC:
Q. If someone had responded that what they were seeking to copyright in 1956 was not created by them but came to them by divine revelation what would you have done? A. It was not unusual during that period to receive claims to copyright for works for which the individuals asserted that this was revealed to them in a dream by an alien from outer space or a divine being and these claims were routinely rejected. [Emphasis added.] Q. On what basis? A. That they were not works - in the second instance that they were not works of human authorship, and in the first instance, that the author of the work did not have - was not a member of a governmental body that had copyright relations with the United States, Mars, for example, or the moon. Q. Would it be fair to analogize that with the 10 commandments in the sense that Moses was not the author of the 10 commandments? A. Exactly. Q. He merely had received them and written them down? A. Yes. Q. So as I understand it the mere writing down of someone else’s statements or expressions does not constitute the person writing it down as an author? A. No. The authorship has to emanate from an individual. There has to be something that could be attributable to that individual.
The Urantia Revelation - the text which was authored and materialized by the superhuman revelators (i.e., the foreword and papers 1-196) - is not copyrightable. Nobody likes to think about it, and some refuse to face it, but that’s exactly what the early trustees did - they lied to the Copyright Office and claimed that the "Urantia Foundation" was the author of The Urantia Book. It says so plainly on the copyright documents - the original and the renewal. In the "Author(s)" box, it says, "Urantia Foundation." The Foundation ascribed human authorship to The Urantia Book in order to secure a copyright. It was the only way they could get a copyright, and it was the only way the Copyright Office would give them one. If the Urantia Foundation had told the truth about the celestial authorship of the Urantia Revelation, then, as Bernard Dietz said, their copyright claim would have been "routinely rejected." And the Copyright Office is not the Police Department. If you lie, and they have no reason to doubt you, they take your word for it. They do not check up on you. But lying to get a copyright is much like some able-bodied person lying to the Department of Motor Vehicles to get a Handicapped Sticker for their car. If you lie successfully, do you then have a valid permit to park in the handicapped places? Should others respect the special privileges and power you obtained by lying?
In the 1970s the Foundation sued Forum member Robert Burton. In that lawsuit, the trustees claimed that the Foundation had an oral assignment of copyright from the "sleeping subject," a patient of Dr. Sadler’s. The way copyright law works is that the sleeping subject would have had to reassign his rights over to the Foundation at the time of the renewal. Since that was impossible, the Foundation went even farther with their lie on the Copyright Renewal Application in 1983 and told the Copyright Office that the Urantia Revelation was, "a work made for hire."3 Imagine! Can you picture the trustees telling Jesus that? What an unbelievable slap in the face to the Master and to the revelators! And what a field day future enemies of the Revelation will have with information such as: the Foundation is the author, and it is a "work made for hire." The Foundation has also claimed in court records that the Forum authored the Papers (by asking questions), the contact commission authored the Papers, and William Sadler, Jr., authored the Papers. The Foundation has trashed the credibility of the Revelation and handed it to the Revelation’s enemies on a silver platter.
What difference does it make?
But everything turned out all right, right? The Papers were protected (aside from the secret alterations the Foundation itself made), right? Well, for many years it didn’t make much practical difference - except perhaps to early evangelists like Robert Burton (to name just one) who was sued by the Foundation in 1975 for sending photocopies of Paper 72, Government on a Neighboring Planet, to members of the U.S. Congress and for financing a Spanish translation. (President Kennedy had a copy of the Papers thanks to Bob Burton). For the most part, longtime readers of, and believers in, the Urantia Papers never gave the copyright much thought. It was just there, everything was more or less fine, nobody made any waves, and we supported the Foundation and the Brotherhood equally with our contributions every year. Believing I was helping to print and disseminate a "divine revelation," I sent donations for 30 years - from 1959 until 1989. (By the way, in court the Foundation claims to be a "commercial publisher." Have you ever seen a fundraising letter from commercial publishers like McGraw-Hill or Simon and Schuster?)
Even before Dr. Sadler and Emma Christensen ("Christy") died, things were deteriorating at the Foundation. In 1968, the year before Dr. Sadler’s death, Martin Myers was invited to come to the Foundation to live. After Dr. Sadler and Christy died things got worse. A militantly legalistic mindset, backed by a lot of money, came into power. We may never know the real origin of this situation, but the Urantia Papers say that, "Caligastia...is still free on Urantia to prosecute his nefarious designs..." (53.8.6 / 610). People were sued for spreading the Revelation in their own way (sued against the Master’s clear teachings to, "Forbid him not." (159.2.1 / 1764), "excommunication" (disenfranchisement) threats were issued and carried out against the Brotherhood, text changes were made in secret to the Papers, (contrary to the Foundation’s Declaration of Trust which requires them to keep the text inviolate),4 and power which was supposed to be separate and equal between the Foundation and the Brotherhood was gathered to the Foundation via various legal strategies and documents, aided by the naiveté and trust of many believers.
As noted earlier, apparently the early trustees felt they needed a copyright. We may speculate on whether or not it was a human or celestial idea to obtain a copyright (the Foundation’s Special Report claims it was a human plan), but the revelators must have known full well that works authored by superhumans (angels and so forth) were not copyrightable in the United States unless a lie is told and human authorship is claimed. Thus, if it was the revelators’ idea to have the early trustees get a US copyright, then we must believe that the revelators intended that the humans LIE to our government concerning the authorship and the nature of the Revelation. That hardly seems likely. Is this how God conducts his affairs, asking humans to lie about the nature and authorship of a divine revelation? How can that be?
Related to this issue are the alleged "secret instructions." No one really knows for sure if they are the remnants of real instructions from the revelators, or if they are BOGUS, made up by someone for some dark (or even well-meaning) reason, or "channeled," in what is possibly described in the Urantia Papers as, "sordid performances taking place under the general designation of spiritualism." (77.8.13 / 865). But there are clues. One strong hint that these "instructions" did not come from the revelators is a quote from trustee Martin Myers concerning them. He wrote:
"The early leaders of the Urantia Movement devised an ingenious plan. Their strategy was twofold. In order to protect the text from editing, alterations, and distortions, they foresaw the necessity of placing The Urantia Book under the United States and international copyrights, thus guaranteeing future generations the privilege of having the unadulterated Fifth Major Epochal Revelation. To that end the Urantia Foundation was formalized and the book was lawfully copyrighted in its name."
This opens up several serious problems. If the "early leaders" devised this "ingenious plan," then it was not the revelators who devised it. And perhaps in some sort of "Freudian slip," it really was an "ingenious plan" in the same way that Eve’s or Lucifer’s plans were "ingenious." Yes, misguided, and possibly evil, but "ingenious" from a human standpoint. At the end Martin stresses - seemingly unnecessarily - that it was "lawfully" copyrighted. Why would he say that? Wouldn’t we assume it was lawfully copyrighted if he’d just said it was copyrighted, period? And last, Martin wrote that one of the reasons for the copyright was to "protect the text from editing, alterations, and distortions." But the Foundation itself has made all manner of unexplained and unfootnoted changes to the text since 1955 (such as deleting the words, "in the manger" from 119.7.6 / 1317). Who or what is going to protect the Revelation from the "editing, alterations, and distortions" of the Urantia Foundation? That’s not the Copyright Office’s job.
In 1955, after the book was printed, the revelators told the contact commissioners, "You are now on your own," and the connection between the humans and the revelators was cut for the first time in 40 years. However, Thomas Kendall, a former trustee, said that in 1980 Christy was allegedly "receiving" messages from someone or someplace unknown. Kendall wrote:
"After the Board of Trustees meeting the next Saturday, Christy had Martin read a message to me which had allegedly come to her earlier in the week." [Emphasis added.]
What can anyone make of "earlier in the week"? Messages from who or what or where? Surely not from the revelators. They said in 1955, "You are now on your own." Was Christy or someone else making them up? Was she channeling the messages? We may never know. In any case, and for good reasons, all secret instructions were supposed to have been destroyed when the Urantia Papers appeared in print. Real or not, the existence of this "instruction" shows clear disrespect for the revelators’ wishes.
I believe the "instructions" to copyright the Papers are bogus for several reasons:
1. The first is mentioned above. I cannot believe the revelators would have wanted the humans to lie to our government about the nature and authorship of the Revelation. On the copyright form, the section requesting the authorship information is equivalent to, "What do you say The Urantia Papers are?" By listing "Urantia Foundation" as "Author(s)" and by saying that the Revelation is "a work made for hire" on these government documents, the trustees of the Foundation have told the world, "The Urantia Papers are a work of fiction that was written by the staff of the Urantia Foundation and others." And in fact, "Foundation Staff" is listed as the author of The Urantia Book in Bowkers’ "Books in Print." The Foundation specifically contacted Bowkers to instruct them to list it that way.5 Copyrights are for works created by humans and human intellect, not for angels or aliens from Alpha Centauri. A copyright tells the world that a work has human authorship.
2. Another reason the secret supposed-to-be-destroyed "instructions" to copyright the Papers are probably bogus (that is, made up by someone, some human, for their own purposes, or channeled in some "sordid" contact with the spirit world, akin to a seance) is because in a talk given in 1990 by former trustee Thomas Kendall, Kendall said:
"In early 1966 the trustees began to realize that the Foundation needed to do more to protect the name, Urantia. Christy had recently brought to my attention a message which was given to the contact commissioners in 1942:
‘You have not done enough to protect the name. You must carefully safeguard the name Urantia. Make it very safe for one generation so that it cannot be pre-empted. In a common-law trust you hold the name. You also do it in the copyright. You must also carefully register it with the division of government which controls trade relations, trademarks. In all ways you must safeguard the name. This is one of your most important duties.’"
Thomas Kendall continues:
"I had been a trustee for three years, but this was the first I had heard of these instructions."
Imagine that, if you can! Thomas Kendall had been a trustee for three years and a member of the inner circle for far more, and yet had never heard of these "instructions." These "instructions" almost certainly did not originate with the revelators, nor do they date from 1942. (Perhaps these "instructions" were really just previous examples of messages that had come to Christy "earlier in the week"?)
3. A third reason for believing the "instructions" to be bogus is that they simply sound bogus. They have the flavor of channeled material, or of having been made up by some human, perhaps even subconsciously. They are not the quality of the material that we have come to know from the revelators, and they don’t make sense. Ernest Moyer wrote about this in the 1990 Winter edition of The Urantian Sojourn. In part, Ernest said:
"Why did sixteen years elapse between the public establishment of the Foundation and this message with instructions to seek trademark protection of the name? Was this message known to the first Trustees in 1950 when they applied for registration of the Three Concentric Circles as a service mark? If these instructions were known at that time why did the Trustees not immediately apply for registration of the name? Tom [Kendall] reports that he was a Trustee for three years before he first became aware of this message. If the original Trustees had this message to guide them that message would have been known to all subsequent Trustees. Consider the message. Does it sound authentic? ‘You have not done enough to protect the name.’ Note the tense, The instruction is for those who have already taken steps to protect the revelation, not for those who are still trying to decide what they might do in the future. There was no protection of any kind in 1942. Therefore, this message would not have been given in 1942. ‘You must carefully safeguard the name Urantia.’ Note that this instruction is restricted to the name "Urantia. " It says nothing about the Three Concentric Circles, or the word Urantian. If instructions were given on trademark protection, they would specify all pertinent symbols. ‘Make it very safe for one generation so that it cannot be pre-empted.’ A very odd remark. Why would protection be limited to one generation? Perhaps our unseen friends liked the legal advice offered by the trademark attorneys to the Trustees… Or more likely, Christy was aware of that legal advice, and phrased this message accordingly. ‘in a common-law trust you hold the name. You also do it in the copyright.’ Again, this remark could not have been made in 1942. Neither the common- law trust nor the copyright then existed. With the death of individuals and the need for others to protect themselves, we may never have the full truth in this life. They will continue to lie to preserve their social positions."
When this "message" surfaced in 1966 (after being allegedly unheard of since 1942), Dr. Sadler was dying, an aging Christy was almost on her own, and new forces were coming into power at the Urantia Foundation, perhaps evil new forces (don’t laugh, it’s happened before on Urantia), with the idea to impede, discredit, sabotage, and/or destroy this new Epochal Revelation, just as we are told Caligastia has attempted with other Epochal Revelations on Urantia.
Since the "secret instructions" seem to try to "protect" the Revelation, some might ask how those instructions could be in Caligastia’s interest or be instigated by him? The answer is that in order to "protect" the Revelation using the copyright method, at least two lies about the nature and authorship of the Revelation have to be told and were told (that the Foundation wrote it, and that it is a "work made for hire"). And these lies damage and undermine the credibility of the Revelation and are the root cause of all the dissension, division, and spiritual and material destruction within the Urantia community, pitting one faction against the other. This is in Caligastia’s interest and this is the legacy of the Foundation’s lies. This is what the human stewards of the Revelation - the trustees of Urantia Foundation - have wrought since 1955.
The "secret instructions," if one believes them, indicate that any period of protection was to be for "one generation." One generation, by any normal definition of the term, was easily well over by 1982 when Christy died. Thus, those who undertook to renew the copyright in 1983 simply disregarded the "secret instructions" as it suited them. At this point, we have a situation where:
1. The early trustees lied to get a copyright (probably believing they were doing the right thing, like Lucifer, Caligastia, Serapatatia, Eve, etc.)
2. A "secret instruction" was concocted by someone to cover the lie and to justify control of the sacred symbol (the circles) and the words "Urantia" and "Urantian," and
3. The "one generation" part of the bogus secret instruction was ignored when it became expedient to ignore it. Those in power simply went ahead and did what they wanted to do anyway.
What could be more damaging to the Revelation than this? And this lie of Foundation authorship has now spread all around the world, in library and bookstore computers and microfiches. Contact any bookstore or library and ask, "Who wrote The Urantia Book?" They will tell you, as per the Foundation’s public lies of 44 years now, that it was written by the Urantia Foundation, or the "Foundation Staff," or even by William Sadler, Jr.!
There’s more!
The Urantia Foundation is on record, in letters to believers and in the courts of the United States, saying that The Urantia Book is their "INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY,"6 and that it’s "NOT A RELIGIOUS BOOK."7 Yes, they’ve really said these things. Imagine what Jesus would think. Imagine how this must hurt him to know that the trustees’ attorneys have stated on the Foundation’s behalf in United States courts that the Revelation is "not a religious book." If a printed revelation from God’s government is not a religious book, what is? And the Foundation has never corrected this legal and public record. To do so, of course, would jeopardize their power and control over the Revelation - power and control which flows from a copyright which was obtained by a lie.
In a court case in Hawaii, Tonia Baney was asked by an attorney if she knew who wrote The Urantia Book - who authored the book. In spite of the true authors being listed right in the Papers, and in spite of her being a reader of the Papers for 30 years and being the Executive Director of the Urantia Foundation, she said she did not know.8 How could she possibly say that? Earlier in this paper we read that Christy, a trustee and the last contact commissioner, had said, "The authors are all listed in the book itself..." Why didn’t Tonia give Christy’s answer? Would telling the truth have undermined the Foundation’s legal position or been a personal embarrassment for Tonia? And what about the copyright document? It says the Foundation wrote the book. Why didn’t Tonia give that answer? Was it too much of a lie for Tonia to stomach repeating in court? What if, after Jesus died, one of the apostles had been in a court case and an attorney of the time had asked, "Who was this Jesus?" Would the apostle have said, "I don’t know," after having previously told the Master to his face, "You are the Deliverer, the Son of the living God"?
At 166.5.5 / 1832, the revelators share with us that Abner "dared to withstand Paul" and that he considered Paul to be "the ‘clever corrupter’ of the life teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of the living God." Who will dare to withstand the Foundation? Lies about the nature and authorship of the Urantia Revelation by the trustees undermine the credibility of the Revelation and would seem to make them the new clever corrupters for our time. The mixing of good and evil - the simultaneous claims of superhuman authorship and of human authorship - constitutes an unholy attitude and default of the Fifth Epochal Revelation by Urantia Foundation. Whose interest is served by having the world be told that humans wrote the Papers, or that we don’t know who wrote the Papers, or that it’s a "work made for hire" or that it’s "not a religious book"? It would not be unreasonable to answer: Caligastia.
Fear and Loathing at the Urantia Foundation:
Part I - A Short History,
...or as Jesus said, "By their fruits you shall know them."
1971 - Urantia Foundation orders the destruction of the plates used in the original first printing; 1973 - Urantia Foundation convinces the trademark examiner that the word "Urantian" has "no known meaning;" Urantia Foundation sues Jacques Weiss, translator of La Cosmogonie d’Urantia; Urantia Foundation sues Burton King for giving away quotes from The Urantia Book; 1975 - Urantia Foundation sues Bob Burton for sending out copies of Paper 72, "Government on a Neighboring Planet," to members of Congress; 1976 - the Foundation registers the name "Urantia" and the concentric circles symbol as commercial trademarks; the Foundation issues strict guidelines regarding what is permissible at a Urantian conference; 1977 - the Foundation announces it will no longer allow Urantians to purchase case lots of books at wholesale prices; 1979 - Henry Begemann of the Netherlands declares the Foundation in default; 1980 - the Foundation sues the First Urantia Society of Houston, Inc. for using the word "Urantia"; 1981 - Forum member Clyde Bedell publishes a call to action in response to the Foundation’s repressive policies; 1982 - Urantia Foundation issues comprehensive guidelines for permissible use of The Urantia Book, including permission to read up to 500 words aloud in public; 1987 - the Foundation threatens to revoke the Brotherhood’s right to use the concentric circles symbol and the name "Urantia," as well as its freedom to sell books; 1988 - the Foundation denies the revealed nature of The Urantia Book in the C.U.B.S. lawsuit; 1989 - Urantia Foundation refuses to allow public access to their financial records; three trustees (Helena Sprague, Frank Sgaraglino, Gloriann Harris) resign from the Foundation; Foundation office staff resigns; the Foundation disenfranchises the Urantia Brotherhood Corporation as sales and distribution agent for The Urantia Book, de-licenses Urantia Brotherhood, and forbids use of the words "Urantia," "Urantian," and the concentric circles symbol; the Foundation terminates Urantia Brotherhood’s lease of office space at 533 Diversey Parkway; Trustee Emeritus William Hales resigns from Urantia Foundation; 1990 - Brotherhood representatives put forth the suggestion that an attempt be made to put the disagreement before a conciliating commission. The Foundation responds that conciliation is only relevant to disputes between equals; Urantia Foundation "delists" The Urantia Book with all major book distributors, book sales begin to plunge; 1991 - the Foundation initiates legal action against Kristen Maaherra for creating and giving away an electronic index of the Urantia Papers; 1992 - the Foundation refuses to sell books to individuals known to be unsympathetic to the Foundation’s sociopolitical objectives, sending out this statement in a letter to many Urantians, "The Trustees of URANTIA Foundation do not wish to sell copies of The URANTIA Book to you." 1997 - Two more trustees of Urantia Foundation abruptly resign en bloc without explanation. Within days, two members of the Foundation’s office staff also resign without explanation; the Foundation announces its new "PERMISSION-TO-QUOTE POLICY." This policy dictates that no one may quote more than 1,000 words of the Son of God, Christ Michael, Jesus of Nazareth, our Creator Son, or any of the rest of the Urantia Revelation, without permission from the Foundation; the Foundation sues the Fellowship, Jesusonian Foundation, Eric Schaveland, and Kristen Maaherra (again, in the middle of their other lawsuit against her); 1998 - the Foundation asks court for permanent injunction against Kristen Maaherra and "those in concert or participation with her."
Fear and Loathing continued:
Part II - Some Quotes
1989 and 1990 were particularly bad years. Conditions were so extremely ugly at the Foundation that 60% of the Trustees resigned en masse.
In 1990 Trustee Helena Sprague wrote:
"To the extreme discomfort of other Trustees, the President, Martin Myers, as spokesman, gave the impression that the Foundation was rejecting, judgmental and dictatorial by responding to the Brotherhood and others with delay, neglect, secrecy, isolation, condescension and attacks on individuals. In Board meetings, the climate was often tense, suspicious, secretive. There was no prayer or reading from the book. No background material was offered me as a new Trustee. When I wished to call the attorney to ask a question, I was told in shouts that I was attempting to control the Board. ...Meetings and conference calls were sometimes disrupted by the President’s temper tantrums. ...I was directed by the President not to speak to Urantia friends Julia Fenderson and Mo Siegel, later Duane Faw and Berkeley Elliott, (which directive I ignored). When I early expressed concern about some of these situations, I was unprepared for the verbal abuse and being told, ‘I do not invite your input.’ ...Martin has been heard, with several present, to bestow approval of the midwayers on one individual, and to tell another, ‘The midwayers are not pleased with you’ and ‘You are in league with Lucifer.’"
Trustee Gloriann Harris wrote:
"Frank Sgaraglino, Helena Sprague and I resigned from the Board of Trustees of Urantia Foundation in response to a crisis in board management of critical magnitude. ...It is true we resigned individually. It is not true that the cause of our resignations was personal and individual. ...I personally felt that the course on which the board was headed was dangerous for the survival of the Foundation itself and was detrimental to the fulfillment of the purposes of the Foundation as stated in the Declaration of Trust ... it was impossible for me to prevent the Foundation from pursuing what I believed to be a self-destructive course."
Trustee Frank Sgaraglino wrote:
"We had a president who had numerous temper tantrums, hung up on Trustees and Brotherhood members, and openly lied to Trustees. For example, during one conference call with our attorney, Martin became uncontrollable: his face became crimson as a fit of anger seized him. He stormed around the room and stammered, ‘I will not let them destroy my revelation.’ Since it was apparent to everyone that he was not capable of rationally discussing the issue, we had to discontinue the call and left him alone to contemplate his childish behavior. The fact that the Foundation is deceiving thousands of readers proves that there is a ‘crisis of a substantive nature.’ On page sixteen [of the "Special Report"], the Trustee states ‘they have to use donated and invested funds to supplement the Perpetual Printing Fund.’ Since I was directly involved in establishing this fund, I can prove that there should be sufficient money in the fund for this to be an impossible occurrence. The numbers do not lie, the Foundation does."
The Urantia Society of Glenview wrote:
"In 1978 the Foundation asked the Society to sign a licensing agreement that contained a number of statements and implications that we all knew to be falsehoods... Over the last year or so... it has become increasingly clear to us that our trust in the Foundation was gravely misplaced. The Society has formed the opinion that the Foundation is now extending the original falsehoods into deeper and more misleading and confusing statements, particularly in its April 1990 document entitled, ‘Special Report to the Readers of The Urantia Book.’"
Duane Faw wrote about the Foundation’s "Special Report:"
"The document is fraught with untruths, half-truths, distortions, exaggerations, and significant omissions. I sincerely pray that it does not accurately reflect the moral advancement of its authors."
The Urantia Society of Central Connecticut wrote:
"...wisdom does not permit us to ignore the Foundation’s disregard for it [spiritual unity]. The creation of the Association [International Urantia Association (IUA)] was a declaration of spiritual war.
The Association is the sign of the Foundation’s disesteem for the ideal of spiritual unity. The Foundation’s attempted dissipation of those loyal to this revelation should not be suffered to pass quietly by in the darkness."
Thomas A. and Carolyn B. Kendall wrote regarding the "Special Report:"
"Some of what appears in the Report agrees with our knowledge of policies and memory of events. A great deal more is simply revisionist history - propaganda directed at those who did not experience at close hand the events of the past 35 years, especially events of the last 10 years that led up to the present conflict... The greatest danger to the safety of the name Urantia, the concentric circles, the copyright and the organizations lies in the inability of the Trustees to recognize their friends. They have, in fact created enemies from among their friends."
A Tangled Web
"Oh what a tangled web we weave
When first we practice to deceive."
We have seen firsthand what a tangled web has been woven and the damaging consequences thereof - the Foundation’s legacy - all from one little lie: The wrongful disenfranchisement of the Urantia Brotherhood, an organization which was supposed to be the equal yin to the Foundation’s yang, but which simply became a battered, abused and beaten spouse, now estranged and cast aside for a new tart, a new invention, the more obedient and controllable International Urantia Association; the altered text of the Papers after the First Printing in direct violation of the Foundation’s Declaration of Trust mandating them to keep the text inviolate; the lawsuits over the spreading of the Revelation by believers as Jesus taught ("Freely you have received, freely give,") and in violation of his admonition to, "Be willing to suffer injustice rather than to go to law among yourselves."9 (140.3.14 / 1571) - not to mention the clearest teachings of Jesus in the lesson of The Strange Preacher (159.2 / 1764-1765). The Master said:
"Forbid him not. Do you not perceive that this gospel of the kingdom shall presently be proclaimed in all the world? How can you expect that all who will believe the gospel shall be subject to your direction? Rejoice that already our teaching has begun to manifest itself beyond the bounds of our personal influence."
Jesus sternly rebuked his apostle John. In the face of this, how can the Foundation think this doesn’t apply to them? How can they expect that all who will believe this Revelation shall be subject to their direction?
More lawsuits
Then there were the lawsuits over the use of the circles - the "banner of Michael" - and the words "Urantia" and "Urantian." The Foundation claimed in court that the banner of Michael was not the emblem, banner, or flag of any foreign government, even though it is the "banner of Michael" on Salvington and "the material emblem of the Trinity government of all creation." Concerning the symbols and words, surely it must be sacrilegious to appropriate the banner of Michael, "the Satania symbol of the Paradise Trinity" (93.2.5 / 1015) and make a commercial corporate trademark out of it for the exclusive use of those whom the Urantia Foundation has "authorized" like some sort of New Papacy Club.10 And the words "Urantia" and "Urantian" are more cases of the Foundation actually lying to our government to get what it wants. They told the Trademark Office that the word "Urantian" was "coined" from their name, and that no one else is allowed to use it,11 but the word is in the Papers some 33 times and the Papers predate the Foundation - so that’s simply a lie. Geographical names are also not trademarkable, yet the Foundation told the Trademark Office that the word "Urantia" had no geographical meaning - when of course it’s the name of our planet. If Jesus or Melchizedek came back tomorrow they’d have to ask the Foundation’s permission to use the sacred circles symbol and the words "Urantia" and "Urantian," or risk being sued.
The trustees of the Foundation must somehow be made to tell the truth about the Revelation and the symbols. And if by correcting and renouncing their lies the Foundation loses power, well then, so be it. As Jesus said to his apostle John, "Forbid him not. …How can you expect that all who will believe the gospel shall be subject to your direction?" And isn’t it sad how little human nature has changed in 2,000 years? John was all puffed up with self-importance and proprietary pride over the gospel, acting as controller and forbidder, and now we have the Foundation trustees in the same situation, and the Master’s lesson and teachings on the subject has been lost on them. And how can we as believing Urantians accept these public lies about our Revelation without feeling sick to the stomach? How can this Revelation be presented to the world when its history and the history of the organization controlling it since 1955 is the history of lies and lawsuits? How spiritually fragrant is this? Imagine the people who will be turned away from this Epochal Revelation when these matters are brought to their attention by Fundamentalists and anyone with an ax to grind or who wishes to see this Revelation fail. Imagine how all this must make Caligastia smile.
But what can you do?
Do you support the Foundation? If so, DEMAND that they tell the truth! It’s that simple. DEMAND that the trustees tell the truth about this Revelation just as the apostles told the truth about Jesus when they exclaimed without equivocation, "You are the Deliverer, the Son of the living God." And if the trustees don’t listen, send them a message by keeping your wallets and checkbooks closed, deny them your bequests, and boycott them until they stop lying. Stand up for the Revelation.
Foundation attorneys have said in court that William Sadler, Jr., wrote parts of the book.12 Regarding the work that is published by Urantia Foundation as "The Urantia Book," and as noted on page 1, he apparently did pen, "The Titles of the Papers," and the "Contents of the Book," (pages iv through lxii of The Urantia Book), both of which are derived from the Papers themselves and are not part of the Revelation. Sadler, Jr., wrote none of the Revelation per se, but that doesn’t keep the Foundation’s statement from causing irreparable damage to the Revelation itself. Many will be the enemy of the Revelation in the future who will quote the Foundation’s legal statements in a court of law:
"There was a trustee of the Urantia Foundation, William Sadler, Jr., not senior, who wrote, authored, however you want to look at it, parts of The Urantia Book."
Foundation attorneys have said in court that only members of Foundation approved organizations are allowed to wear the Banner of Michael, "the material emblem of the Trinity government of all creation" (53.5.4 / 606) - what the Foundation refers to as their "collective membership mark."10 Imagine! Michael’s banner, the emblem of the Trinity government of ALL CREATION debased as a corporate logo here on Urantia for the exclusive use of a privileged few.
Foundation trustee Martin Myers said that the Foundation owns the Banner of Michael and the word "Urantia," forever.13 In a recent change of policy, the Foundation now says you can’t quote more than 25,000 words of Jesus, or any other part of God’s Revelation, without their permission. It used to be 1,000 words, and before that it was NO amount of words without their permission, so some might say this is progress, but what difference does it make, 1,000 words or 25,000? What right does any earthly organization have to tell any child of God that they must ask the Foundation for permission to quote the words of Jesus or those of an Archangel? It’s simply outrageous. No one who really understands, loves, and believes this Revelation would ever ask the Foundation’s permission to quote from it.
Don’t go to law
Jesus said, "Be willing to suffer injustice rather than to go to law among yourselves," (140.3.14 / 1571) but by its actions - initiating lawsuits and persecuting believers for spreading God’s Revelation in their own way - the Foundation spits on the Master’s teachings. The Foundation’s Declaration of Trust requires that they keep the text of the Revelation "inviolate," but for years they made changes to the text in virtual secrecy and without footnotes or explanation, and have not printed an inviolate text since 1967. Only after they were exposed in 1990 did they belatedly publish a separate list of the changes they made over the years. And it is to the Foundation’s added shame that the Pathways Urantia Papers, which was available for two years while the copyright was declared invalid, carried on it a "Certification Of Authenticity" guaranteeing the original text of the Revelation, something the Foundation cannot honestly put on their altered, unfootnoted books.
In the Urantia Foundation’s lawsuit against the Center for Urantia Book Synergy (C.U.B.S.), they denied having a "Principal Object," even though their Declaration of Trust clearly states that they do.14 Also in the lawsuit against C.U.B.S., the Foundation denied the revelatory nature of the Urantia Papers.15 Regarding this sorry episode, in an October, 1988, letter to the General Council of the then Urantia Brotherhood, (now the Fellowship), Meredith Sprunger wrote in part:
"Our Planetary Prince joined the Lucifer rebellion. Adam and Eve defaulted in their responsibility. Some Mechizedek missionaries failed because of their misunderstanding of Machiventa’s instructions regarding over-organization. The followers of Jesus unintentionally substituted the religion of Jesus for the religion about Jesus. Tragically, the Fifth Epochal Revelation is now facing the threat of sabotage by those most responsible for protecting it."
"The revelators in charge of presenting The Urantia Book warned against allowing self and power-seeking individuals from getting control of the book."
"Just as we are recovering from the effects of the Vern Grimsley grasp for such influence and control, a far more threatening danger to the Fifth Epochal Revelation has appeared. The leadership of Urantia Foundation has gone on record in Federal Court declaring that they do not affirm that The Urantia Book is a revelation! ...It is unthinkable that Urantia Foundation would deny or even cast doubt on the revelatory nature of The Urantia Book! Nevertheless, such action has been taken in Federal Court."
Eleven years later, on February 20, 1999, Meredith wrote:
"Quite some time ago I concluded that the Foundation’s untruthful testimony in court probably resulted in their being regarded as being in default of their spiritual responsibility."
So where are we now?
The Foundation, in a strong display of public relations prowess beginning in late 1997, now tells believers that they really do believe the Urantia Papers were authored by celestial, spiritual beings. The problem is, they don’t tell the government the same thing. And this mixing of good and evil constitutes default. The authorship lies that the trustees told in 1955 and again in 1983 are still there! All of the lies that the Foundation has told in court, to the Copyright and Trademark Offices, and in other public venues, - that "it’s not a religious book," that it’s "a work made for hire," that it’s their "intellectual property," that they are the authors, that the "sleeping subject" is the author, that the Forum is the author, that the contact commission is the author - all those lies still stand, unrenounced and uncorrected by the Foundation. ALL such public and legal false statements about the Revelation MUST be corrected.
Where are your loyalties? Are they to the Revelation and the Master, or to the Foundation and the trustees? No, they are not one and the same. Default can happen here, and it can happen to us. Those "in authority" have defaulted in two of the first four Epochal Revelations to our planet, and they were high spirit beings (Lucifer and Caligastia) and superhumans (Adam and Eve). These trustees are mere mortals, fallible humans just like you and me. If you love this Revelation then DEMAND that the trustees renounce, correct (in the venues where they were made), and publicly apologize for each and every lie and misstatement that they have made about The Fifth Epochal Revelation over the past 44 years.
Hypocrisy
"Through their own words, they will be exposed.
They’ve got a solid case of the emperor’s new clothes."
The Emperor’s New Clothes, -Sinead O’Connor
Trustee Mo Siegel is a virtual gold mine of hypocrisy. Consider this:
In 1991, Mo, then a big shot in the Urantia movement but not yet a trustee, wanted to know why the trustees of that time couldn’t or wouldn’t tell the TRUTH. He wrote:
"What prevents Urantia Foundation from precisely speaking the truth about the book’s unseen authors? ...don’t the trustees see that their tactics will discredit, then annihilate the very object they covet for their sole possession?"
Mo knew then that lying about the Revelation would destroy it. What has happened to him in the meantime? In September of 1998, I sent Mo an e-mail, asking him:
"Mo, now that you are a trustee, can you answer the question you asked in 1991? What does prevent them, and now YOU, from precisely speaking the truth about the book’s unseen authors?"
Mo Siegel REFUSED TO ANSWER. In reply to my query, he wrote:
"Please remove me from your e-mail list."
Now that he’s a trustee, he doesn’t want to talk about why they can’t TELL THE TRUTH. How embarrassing it must be for Mo to be exposed as a hypocrite and a glory seeker jockeying for a preferred seat at the table.
Mo also wrote:
"How safe can the revelation be under these management circumstances? Human history is replete with examples of the disasters which occur when a small group of isolated people obtain unlimited power. Even the best intentioned individuals usually fall when given absolute power. Absolute power corrupts absolutely."
Mo Siegel, March, 1991
Is there any chance that you might speak to that issue now, Mo?
And this is from Mo too:
"As devoted believers in the revelation, we can only pray the Trustees have been making unintentional errors answering the authorship question. Nothing could destroy the revelation’s long-term success quicker than the original publisher giving sworn court testimony that The Urantia Book was authored by human sources. Imagine how discredited the revelation would appear when church leaders gave their congregations copies of Urantia Foundation’s disclosures on authorship." Mo Siegel, March, 1991
What can you tell us about that now Mo, now that you are a trustee? Were the trustees making "unintentional errors answering the authorship question"? Has any of the "sworn court testimony that The Urantia Book was authored by human sources" been recanted? Or have more lies been added and allowed to stand for the sake of power and control, such as the idea that the text of the Revelation was "arranged" by the humans?
In a 1991 letter to Lyn Lear, Mo wrote:
"Thank you for sending me a copy of Urantia Foundation’s letter to Jeff Keys. Their letter was heart-breaking because of the Trustees’ pervasive lack of truth and fact. The Urantia Book says on Page 1981, ‘It requires a great and noble character, having started out wrong, to turn about and go right.’ We all hope the best for Urantia Foundation Trustees and pray they return to the Trust they were given. ...The Foundation needs to be restored to the dignity of high meanings and values our forefathers dreamed for this human institution."
Now, eight years later, Mo is a trustee, nothing has changed at the Foundation except the window dressing, and Mo doesn’t want to talk about it. In other amazing hypocritical writings before he became a trustee, Mo said:
"While the Fellowship performs as an imperfect human institution, it democratically represents the vast majority of organized believers. Conversely, control of Urantia Foundation lies in the hands of five Trustees self-appointed for life." ... "Urantia Foundation’s current Trustee selection raises negative speculation about conflicts of interest, self-dealing, and concerns about checks and balances." ... "Nothing would be better than Urantia Foundation conducting its affairs in a moral, legal, and spiritually uplifting way."
Impropriety
In a letter in 1991 to trustee Neal Waldrop, Mo Siegel wrote:
"...the goings on of Urantia Foundation are being meticulously watched. ... You must avoid even the appearance of impropriety. ... As a trustee, you are completely accountable for all actions of the Foundation including the actions of your fellow trustees. ... The trustees have entered a period during which there will be extreme outside scrutiny for civil improprieties and criminal activities. ... You should be fully aware that you Trustees have embarked upon a course that will assuredly result in dire consequences."
Mo must have conveniently forgotten that he wrote any of this, now that he is a trustee, because last year there were pleas and petitions to him and the other trustees to investigate allegations of serious wrongdoing within the trustee ranks. These allegations concerned death threats against David Kantor by a trustee,16 and allegations of other trustee criminal activities.17 All such pleas to the trustees have been stonewalled and gone unanswered.
You can help!
1. Quote freely from the Urantia Papers. Use the Banner of Michael and the words "Urantia" and "Urantian" to express your religious feelings and affiliations. Translate the Revelation. Print the Revelation if you have the money and the courage to oppose the Foundation’s power.
2. Do not support those who lie about our Revelation any more than you would support those who would lie about Jesus, the Son of God.
3. Insist that the Foundation tell the truth about the nature and authorship of the Revelation, about the words "Urantia" and "Urantian," (about everything related to the Revelation!) just as you know Jesus would have them do.
4. Insist that the Foundation immediately stop all lawsuits against believers, and that they promise never again to go to law against a believer.
5. Insist that the Foundation adopt the teachings and attitudes of the Master: "Forbid him not! How can you expect that all who will believe the gospel shall be subject to your direction? Rejoice that already our teaching has begun to manifest itself beyond the bounds of our personal influence."
6. Insist that the Foundation restore the text of the Urantia Papers to the First Printing "inviolate" text condition (as their Declaration of Trust requires them to do), or that they make the inviolate text available to those who want it.
Insist that the changes - every one of them - be properly footnoted and explained, in the Foundation’s book. They have failed this simple task of leaving the text alone, of keeping the text inviolate as the early trustees promised, and they have stonewalled all questions and concerns about this matter from believers.
For more information on the changes, please see: whitepaper.htm
7. Insist that the Foundation cease debasing the sacred circles symbol with their corporate trademarking of it. It’s simply blasphemy to make a commercial product symbol out of the emblem "of the infinity, eternity, and universality of the Paradise Trinity."
8. Insist that the Foundation actually and actively "foster a religion" as their Declaration of Trust requires them to do. Lawsuits and lies are no way to "foster a religion."
9. Insist that the trustees come clean, and that they take to heart Mo Siegel’s admonition of 1991 that they "must avoid even the appearance of impropriety." Insist that the trustees be open, honest, above board, and forthcoming - and that they investigate and discipline their own.
In all these matters, ask yourself,What would Jesus do? What would Jesus want?
To date, The Free Urantia News has been sent to 700 Urantians by e-mail, and to over 1,000 via the US mail - many of whom are not on the Internet and who only receive Foundation and Fellowship oriented material. This second mailing will be sent to up to 2,000 more and is an ongoing project. While e-mail is virtually free, real letters are more expensive, for postage and printing costs. Donations of money and Urantian mailing lists to get this truth out would be greatly appreciated, and would speed up the mailing timetable. If you can help with mailing lists or financial donations or know of Urantians that you would like to have receive this truth mailing, please reply to: [Addresses old and changing, removed.]
If you know Urantians who are not on the Internet, please copy this and give it to them. Make copies for your study group and discuss it there. Send copies to the news media and Christian organizations as you see fit. Defend the truth about the nature and authorship of the Urantia Revelation and expose the Foundation and its lies.
And please remember our sister Kristen Maaherra who has fought such a valiant fight against the Foundation’s religious tyranny and persecution for eight years, and who still needs our help. Send any contributions for her to: Kristen Maaherra, 311 Pearl Street, #1, Boulder, CO 80302.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Norm Du Val
Freely Copy And Distribute As Desired!
Notes:
Note 1. The Fellowship, a.k.a. The Urantia Book Fellowship, formerly known as The Fifth Epochal Fellowship, formerly known as The Fifth Epochal Fellowship for Readers of The Urantia Book, and formerly known as The Urantia Brotherhood before the Urantia Foundation disenfranchised it and took away its name.
Note 2. This newsletter uses a natural reference system native to the Urantia Papers, usable with any version of the Revelation and one which was tried out in the now aborted, short-lived Fellowship Uversa Press book - and a reference based on the Foundation’s book. Thus, (48.6.22 / 555) refers to Paper 48, section 6, paragraph 22 of the Urantia Papers / or page 555 of the Foundation version.
Note 3. On the copyright renewal dated January 3, 1983, the Urantia Foundation claims that it is the "Proprietor of copyright in a work made for hire."
See: 1983renewal.htm
Note 4. Excerpts from the Foundation’s Declaration of Trust regarding keeping the text inviolate. "Article II - OBJECTS, 2.2, CONCORDANT OBJECTS: The concordant objects for which the Foundation is created are to perpetually preserve inviolate the text of THE URANTIA BOOK..." "Article III - DUTIES OF TRUSTEES, 3.1. PRESERVATION OF TEXT OF THE URANTIA BOOK: It shall be the primary duty of the trustees to perpetually preserve inviolate the text of THE URANTIA BOOK..."
Note 5. "When ‘Books in Print’ was contacted, they furnished the date and name of the individual within Urantia Foundation who instructed Bowkers to list the ‘staff’ as The Urantia Book author." Mo Siegel, 1991
Note 6. "However, you are advised that the Foundation intends to take all steps which are necessary (including litigation if necessary) to protect its intellectual property." Urantia Foundation lawyer Dean Booth’s threat to Chris Hansen concerning the Pathways Urantia Papers which were legally published during the two year period in which the Foundation’s copyright was declared invalid by Judge Urbom.
See: miscell.htm
Note 7. Foundation attorney Craig Folcher: "But, your Honor, I think the most telling aspect of this, if you think the book’s really in the public domain, and by the way it’s not a religious book..."
See: folcher.htm
Note 8. Attorney Mr. Fujino: Q Would you answer my questions truthfully? Tonia Baney: A. Yes. Q If you do not understand a question, would you let me know, and I’ll rephrase the question? A Yes. Q Are you familiar with The Urantia Book? A Yes, I am. Q How are you familiar with this book? A I’ve been studying the book for a number of years. Q Do you know approximately how many years you’ve been a student studying the book? A I started studying the book in 1967 Q To the present? A Yes. Q How much time a week do you spend studying the book, The Urantia Book? A I spend approximately a half an hour a day, a half an hour, depending on how much time I have. Q Are you going to be employed by the Foundation soon? Yes, I am. That would be as an administrator? As an executive director, yes. Attorney Jack Schweigert: Q: So do you know who wrote The Urantia Book, who authored The Urantia Book? A: No, I do not.
See: UFquotes.htm
Note 9. Comment: One can only wonder about the terrible magnitude of the "injustice" that the Foundation, a non-sentient corporate entity, has suffered at the hands of Kristen by her freely giving away God’s Revelation, that they would spit on the Master’s teachings and spend over 4 million dollars in an attempt to crush her and her First Amendment rights to freedom of religion. What madness of power and control makes people do such things, especially those "in charge" of an epochal revelation from God? Can this possibly be what Jesus wants?
Note 10. Foundation attorney Craig Folcher: "Your Honor, the only people who are allowed to wear the collective membership mark...are members of the San Fernando Urantia Society and the Western Springs Urantia Society. If they’re members of that then they’re entitled to wear the collective membership marks, otherwise they’re not."
See: folcher.htm
Note 11. "It [the word ‘Urantian’] is a coined word - formed by, and from the name of, Applicant Foundation... ...no other person, firm, corporation, or association, has the right to use said mark..." Foundation statements to the U.S Trademark Office.
Note 12. Foundation attorney Craig Folcher: "There was a trustee of the Urantia Foundation, William Sadler, Jr., not senior, who wrote, authored, however you want to look at it, parts of The Urantia Book. And that was part of the work, and it was clearly work for hire, also a joint work."
See: folcher.htm
Note 13. "Down here on rebellion-torn and sin-seared Urantia, the Foundation owns the trademarks, the word "URANTIA" and the Concentric-Circles Symbol - in perpetuity." Martin Myers, Urantia Foundation President, in the Special Report, April 1990.
Note 14. URANTIA Foundation denies the Principal Object of its Declaration of Trust. From the Foundation’s Declaration of Trust: "ARTICLE II, OBJECTS, 2.1. PRINCIPAL OBJECT: The object for which this Foundation is created..." From the Foundation’s reply in their lawsuit against C.U.B.S: "Plaintiff [Urantia Foundation] denies that it has one principal object..."
See: CUBS.htm
Note 15. C.U.B.S. stated: "The Urantia Book is the Fifth Epochal Revelation to the planet Urantia, also known as the planet Earth." The Foundation told the court: "Plaintiff [Urantia Foundation] is without knowledge or information sufficient to admit or deny the allegations of paragraph 10 of defendant’s counterclaim and therefore denies same."
See: CUBS.htm
Note 16. David Kantor wrote: "The statements which I attributed to a trustee were made to me by Richard Keeler minutes after he was on stage doing his unity performance in San Francisco. Among other threats he told me about how much time he spent thinking up ways to have me killed; that he spent a lot of time thinking about what it would be like to watch me die a slow, painful death."
See KantorLee.htm
and,
Note 17. "I had been concerned about Mr. Keeler and his fitness to serve as a Foundation trustee for some time prior to my telephone conferences with him regarding the San Diego criminal investigation." Martin Myers, Foundation Trustee.
and,
Rev. 4/19/99