Eric's Response (Trademark)
(The following is from a personal letter Eric wrote in January, 1997, to a friend who was asking about the Colorado lawsuit. Because I think this letter expresses Eric's feelings so well, I asked him if I could format his letter to share with you):
Stewardship of the Banner of Michael
In reading your letter, I feel a need to clarify several points about this lawsuit as I see it:
1. I believe that Urantia Foundation has no intention of settling the trademark issue in a way that does not allow them to win. I took down my home page and changed my domain name, but this is not enough for Urantia Foundation. They say (through their office manager, Tonia Baney) that I need to agree to a Consent Order saying, basically, that I will never infringe their trademarks again as long as I live.
One problem with this situation is that if I were to agree to a Consent Order, and then a year from now I inadvertently typed the word "Urantia" in an e-mail message to anyone, I would technically be in violation of a Court Order. Urantia Foundation would then go into Court asking for contempt charges against me, and I would never again get to argue the merits of my Counterclaims. Instead, I would be in the position of having to argue whether or not I violated a Court Order instead of the real issues of Trademark. (I believe the Foundation got Kristen to sign an agreement with them so they could sue her again.)
Urantia Foundation intends to neutralize my effectiveness to spread this revelation in any way -- totally and finally.
2. You ask me essentially: Why do I bother with the Banner of Michael? Is it really worth all this trouble just to have the Banner on the Internet? Wouldn't Jesus, the Prince of Peace, just make peace with Urantia Foundation, ignore evil, and go about doing good?
I will try to answer these questions.
I put up a Home Page on the Internet with the intention of making the Urantia Papers available to truth seekers who might not otherwise have access to them. (And I did hear that a person actually first found the Urantia Papers on my home page.)
I put the Banner of Michael on my Home Page to show my loyalty to Jesus. I really do not care what Urantia Foundation and its supporters think of my actions. Their opinions are irrelevant to me. If you asked me what Saddam Hussain thought of my home page, I would tell you that I really do not care. What Saddam Hussain thinks is irrelevant to my actions. If you told me that he was going to sue me if I didn't take down my Home Page, I would say: "So what? Saddam Hussain doesn't own the Banner of Michael."
If you told me that Saddam Hussain has more money than I do, therefore I should make peace with him, I would say: "I am at peace with him. He just doesn't own the Banner of Michael."
3. It is really very simple. Urantia Foundation claims that they own the Banner of Michael and the word Urantia. I don't think that they do -- either legally or morally.
Under the current mores -- since I am working class (a stone mason) -- I don't have the where-with-all to contest the "property rights" of wealthy persons or institutions. I understand that as the reality of the times that I live in. I am not engaged in this lawsuit for fame and fortune. I really don't care if everyone decides that I am totally wrong and should recognize the Foundation's bogus marks as private property. What concerns me is the issue of stewardship as defined by Jesus.
Let me try to explain.
The authors of the Urantia Papers decided to reveal -- once again -- the Banner of Michael to the world. They didn't have to do this. The last time that Melchizedek revealed this material symbol to mortals, we lost it. People apparently thought that it was too sacred for mortals to use. By reducing the Banner to a trademark, Urantia Foundation is making the Banner too secular to use.
I believe that I have a responsibility to use the Banner of Michael appropriately. I have been given a stewardship of trust by the revelators in that they have intrusted mortals once again with the revelation of the Banner of Michael.
I think such a trust is far more important than most Urantians believe.
Because we are a planet that is technically still in rebellion, the Banner of Michael has enormous significance on this world. If I were happily ignorant of the material symbol of the Paradise Trinity, I would have no problem with the Foundation secularizing it. But I am not ignorant, thanks to the revelators. I do know what the three concentric circles mean.
If I listen to Urantia Foundation and pretend that the circles are a commercial trademark that refer only to Urantia Foundation (that being the purpose of a trademark), then I have to live a lie and deny my trust.
If I use the circles as the Banner of Michael, then Urantia Foundation is going to sue me. A lawsuit is not something that I would chose, but if the alternative is denying the Banner, then I choose a lawsuit.
When the Foundation has power, they misuse it -- absolutely. Don't forget; it is a fact that the Foundation made Kristen take off the Banner of Michael in court.
I know that sooner or later I will have to stand before Jesus and give an accounting of my stewardship. I would much rather tell him that I lost his Banner to the Foundation in a Court battle because I was a lousy lawyer than that I signed his Banner away to the Trustees because I didn't think that I had the money for a good attorney.
Ultimately, I will stand in front of my Master alone. I really do care whether or not I disappoint Jesus. If I please anyone else along the way -- well, that is just icing on the cake. So you see, I feel that this is a personal thing between Jesus and myself. This is not your problem. Urantia Foundation hasn't asked you to deny your Master as far as I know.
Maybe it is fitting that I stand up for my Master's Banner without an attorney. Realistically, I have very little chance against the three Foundation attorneys who are working against me. I know that I would rather lose honestly than live the rest of my life regretting that I did not stand up against evil and sin.
Part of what I think you don't understand is that Urantia Foundation is fanatically dedicated to stopping this revelation from entering the evolutionary culture of our world.
They refuse to accept that the Urantia Papers are in the public domain, which is why they also sued me for copyright infringement. These "trustees" are not just evil, they are sinful. They know better, but they continue to persecute believers in the Urantia Papers.
I think that by standing up and telling the "trustees" that I will not be bullied, I am doing what is right. I think that if I kill someone who is bullying me, it is safe to assume that I am doing something wrong. I am not fighting with the Foundation, I am merely protecting myself from their attacks.
To be honest with you, I feel pity for the "trustees" of Urantia Foundation. I think that they have all defaulted in their trust disastrously, and when they face this fact, it will be very hard on them.
I have tried to share some of my inner feelings about this lawsuit with you because you have honestly shared yours. My feelings about the Banner of Michael are really a personal thing between Jesus and me, and I don't expect other people to understand or participate just because they read the Urantia Papers.
Sincerely,
Eric Schaveland
Last Updated April 13, 1997 by Kristen Maaherra