Comments on Mo Siegel's "Unity Initiative" statements,
by Norm Du Val

Date: Fri, 23 May 2003 21:38:54 -0400
To: forum@justice.urantia.org
From: Steven Hecht <shecht@newview.org>
Subject: forum Unity Initiative (from Mo Siegel)

Mo wrote:
>Friends,

>Since the unity initiative was published, numerous people have asked the trustees to weigh in. So I shall. What I have to say is my personal opinion. In writing this, I am not representing any other trustee, Urantia Foundation, the IUA, or the Fellowship.

Mo, why don't you and the other trustees get together and issue a joint statement on your collective culpability in this matter, the same way the "Initiative" signers did even though they never said what exactly they did wrong or how they would have done things differently, they expressed their apparent sorrow for something or other.

>My name is signed on the Unity initiative and I was glad to be included in that letter. I was a member of the Brotherhood since the early 1970's and before becoming a trustee, a member of the General Council for 17 years. Beginning with the 1955 printing of the book until the split, The Brotherhood was the only officially sanctioned social organization that represented the revelation.

"Officially sanctioned?" What does that mean? Officially sanctioned by whom? By God? Do you mean "officially sanctioned" by Urantia Foundation? I may be wrong, but I don't believe and I don't think the Fellowship believes that Urantia Foundation created the Urantia Brotherhood (aka, The Fellowship), so by what authority other than it's own internal authority could the Brotherhood have been "officially sanctioned?" The problem, Mo, is that such terms as "the only officially sanctioned social organization" belie a continuing, wrong, proprietary and imperious attitude at Urantia Foundation, and such things poison the water. In fact, "such things" are the root cause of the split. When will you see that?

>From 1955 until 1989, when you called Urantia Foundation for information about social groups, you were referred only to the Brotherhood. For many of us, we grew up with strong allegiance to two organizations, the Brotherhood and the Foundation.

>In our local community the only organization people have ever known is the Brotherhood/Fellowship. And while, on an infrequent occasion, Foundation/Fellowship political differences arise in our local community, rarely is this discussed publicly. In the study group that meets in my home every Wednesday night, politics are NEVER discussed. We read, study, and share the book with one another. Whether you are a Fellowship or IUA member is not relevant to our study of the book.

So what, Mo, even if true? What does any of that have to do with the split and the issues that led to the split and the solutions to the split? Do you know what the issues are, Urantia Foundation's proprietary feeling, imperiousness, and intransigence? Are you ready to face those issues and deal with them? How is it that they were so clear to you in 1991 (see the quotes below) but now you can't see them? You sure flip-flopped once they made you a trustee. Any way the wind blows seems to be the way you operate.

>Enough is enough!!!

Well said, Mo!!! You say all the right things. But you know, actions speak louder than words, what are the trustees plans to undo all the damage they've done? Should everything just be swept under the rug as Urantia Foundation assumes absolute control again? Is that what you'd like? Do you think that will work?

>During the last few months, I have had the unique pleasure of spending time with numerous readers in our believer community. These readers are actively involved with the Foundation, the IUA, the Fellowship, and study groups. After every discussion, I've been reminded and amazed at the quality of men and women devoted to the Revelation. And what I've heard from almost everyone is that they have had enough fighting. They view the brotherhood of believers as a sacred family and want the fruits of the spirit to be the living trust in our community.

That's real nice, Mo. Everyone's had enough fighting, according to you. But what were the issues that the fighting was about, Mo, and have those issues been dealt with and solved?

How can such peace happen if Urantia Foundation continues to take the view that it and it alone has been appointed by God to manage the Revelation, and if other people don't agree, Urantia Foundation will simply sue them in court, spitting on the Master's teachings to "Forbid him not"? Did you know that was one of the issues? And how can such peace happen if Urantia Foundation continues to take the view that it can print whatever text it likes and call it the "inviolate text" and not footnote or explain the changes it's made, within the book?, not even mention IN THE BOOK that any changes have been made at all? And if other people don't agree, Urantia Foundation just blows them off and moves on, their stated philosophy of such things being:

"Often problems are not solved; they are just outlived and become irrelevant."
From Urantia Foundation's "SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT" Copyright 1999 Urantia Foundation

Could you speak to that philosophy, which to tell you the truth, smacks of Caligastia to me.

>Yet hostility continues in spite of the peaceful intentions and actions of at least 90% of readers.

I wonder why? Is it because the problems haven't been solved and Urantia Foundation still continues with it's imperiousness and intransigence? What about Urantia Foundation's lawsuits against believers. Why does that hostility from Urantia Foundation continue? Do you recognize it for what it is, hostility against believers, plain and simple? Why is resistance to Urantia Foundation's Imperial Rule considered "hostility" by you, but Urantia Foundation's lawsuits against believers for spreading the Revelation in their own ways is not? Don't you see that you are not being honest, that you're just playing the spin game? Can't you see that? When will Urantia Foundation swear off lawsuits forevermore, the same way that Sadat and Begin pledged "No More War"?

>It's as though the greater family of believers has been taken hostage by a small number of warriors who can't take the thorn of resentment from their minds and replace it with divine forgiveness.

That's an interesting spin on the situation, Mo, but it's false. YOU simply MUST address the issues that have created this schism. YOU and the other trustees must sit down AS EQUALS with the leaders of the Brotherhood/Fellowship and attempt to restore what was before Urantia Foundation wrongly usurped all temporal power to itself. And of course, look to yourself and your own organization for the "small number of warriors" who can't accept that many do not want to be under your rule and under your thumb where God's Revelation is concerned, but who insist that it must be so for there to be peace. When will you face this, Mo?

>For the rest of us and our organizations, we're done!!! The thorns are gone, love has won!

Mo, you're not dealing with the problems, you're just white-washing over them, sweeping them under, declaring the symptoms gone when the disease has not even been properly diagnosed. Some doctor you'd make.

"Mr. Smith, I'm doctor Mo. Regarding your symptoms, which are caused by some disease or another that I'm not sure about and don't want to investigate very much, I declare your pain is gone, you're cured, and love has won." Marvelous.

Mo, please get together with the other trustees and sit down as equals with the Fellowship officers and then issue a joint statement with them that says, "We're done!!! The thorns are gone, love has won!"

>As to the split, no one group was solely responsible for the disruptive behavior leading up to and beyond the 1989 crisis.

That's nonsense! Here's what you yourself said, Mo:

"Four issues persuaded me to remain in a Fellowship Society rather than join the new Urantia Brotherhood Association. 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."
Mo Siegel, March, 1991

"Urantia Foundation's current Trustee selection raises negative speculation about conflicts of interest, self-dealing, and concerns about checks and balances. Three former college fraternity brothers control the majority of votes on Urantia Foundation Board while simultaneously dominating the Board of Urantia Brotherhood Association."
Mo Siegel, March, 1991

"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

"Nothing would be better than Urantia Foundation conducting its affairs in a moral, legal, and spiritually uplifting way. We all wish to see a successful Foundation that works in the deepest level of loyalty, cooperation, and dignity with the universe government and men and women dedicated to the universe government's work on Earth, the Fifth Epochal Revelation."
Mo Siegel, March, 1991

"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

It's clear that in 1991 you knew very well that it was Urantia Foundation that "was solely responsible for the disruptive behavior leading up to and beyond the 1989 crisis." But that all changed when Urantia Foundation offered you a "preferred seat" at the table. And you STILL dodge the issue of Urantia Foundation imperiousness, intransigence, and insistence on absolute control, or else. Why don't you sit down as equals with the Fellowship officers, you and the other trustees, and discuss Urantia Foundation imperiousness, intransigence, and insistence on absolute control?

>For those who think the sole blame resides with the Brotherhood/Fellowship, the Jan. 18th, 1990 former Trustees' letter presents an opposing perspective. And for those who think the Foundation is solely responsible for the condition we are in, how do they account for the Fellowship's treasurer who promises to spend every penny of his personal fortune to destroy the copyright and the Foundation if need be?

Tsk, tsk, Mo! No one "destroyed" the copyright. Its illegality was simply exposed. The copyright expired in 1983 and was not renewable. Is there something about the legal ruling that you don't understand or that you resent and refuse to accept? Why would anyone want an illegal copyright? It'd be like a healthy person having an illegal handicapped parking sticker, special privilege that is not deserved. 38 years was enough. And you're not even printing the original text as it is, so the copyright didn't keep the text from being corrupted. After you (Urantia Foundation) beat Kristen into the ground, you urged everyone to accept the ruling of the court. Now, in this case, you fight and fight and fight against the fair and correct ruling of the jury and judge, and now you fight against the rulings of the Appellate Court. And as far as anyone knows, the Fellowship's treasurer is being used by God to help bring an end to Urantia Foundation's religious tyranny and molestation of believers and readers. That's what I think. Unless the trustees are finally ready to sit down with the Fellowship as equals and come to fair, honest, and un-proprietary solutions to the still existing problems, the schism will continue even if there are those who prefer "peace at any price," that price being Urantia Foundation's insufferable imperious control attitudes continuing into the distant future, and which attitudes you exude from every pore, seemingly oblivious to the fact that those propriety attitudes ARE THE PROBLEM. Even if it's not about organizational blame, Mo, it is about the reasons for the split. What's being done to address those reasons and solve them? The answer is, nothing. Will Urantia Foundation soon be working with the Urantia Brotherhood, aka The Fellowship, as A FULL EQUAL SISTER ORGANIZATION AGAIN? Or will Urantia Foundation still insist on absolute subservience from Urantia Brotherhood? Mo, I really don't think you can have peace in the movement unless Urantia Foundation actually does something different from what it's been doing for the last 30 years. But the mind set at Urantia Foundation is not going that way, is it Mo? As your fellow trustee Georges Dupont has so clearly said referring to the Fellowship, "We have nothing to do with those 'dinosaurs'". Isn't that nice? What sort of "peace and unity" can there be under those attitudinal circumstances?

>There are two sides to this sad story.

Don't you suppose that Caligastia probably says the very same thing about his situation, that he uses the same tired cliche, Mo? "Yo, Gabriel, there are two sides to every story, you know." I'm just pointing out that such old saws as "there are two sides to every story" can be misleading and can wrongly be used to muddy the water and justify or cover-up evil. Such statements as "there are two sides to every story" and cute quips like "even a pancake has two sides" sound like and are often accepted by the listener as truisms when in fact they are just generalities. We must face the fact that not in all cases are both sides to a "sad story" equally valid, correct, or righteous, even though the "two sides to every story" adage would seem to suggest otherwise, and as you have so used it.

>After understanding both sides of the split, I've come to realize that everyone was doing what they felt was right at the time.

Marvelous Mo! But what were the REASONS for the split, such as the problem of "We're the Imperial Urantia Foundation and we're in charge here, do what we say or we'll sue you" that Urantia Foundation still continues to have?, and what has been done or what is being done solve the reasons for the split besides simply unilaterally declaring, "We're done!!! The thorns are gone, love has won!"? And what about the problem of "We'll print whatever text we like and call it the inviolate text and if you don't like it that's too bad."? What about that problem, Mo?

>So let's spread the blame equally. We're all guilty.

There again, I have to think that Caligastia would likely have tried to float that very same idea across in his case. "We're all guilty, Gabriel." (Guilty of what, Mo?) Mo, what are YOU guilty of? But rather than talk about who's to blame (who is to blame FOR WHAT, specifically?) why can't we talk about the PROBLEMS, THE CAUSES OF THE DISEASE, the REASONS for the split, rather than the SYMPTOMS of the disease, the bad feelings, etc?), Mo, let's talk about the specific problems that led to the break. What were they? Have you identified them? Does your list agree with say, Harry's list? Have you trustees sat down as equals with the Fellowship and worked them out to everyone's satisfaction without threat of legal action? Are those problems still with us?

>Now let's move forward and stop looking backward.

What about the lawsuits, Mo, and your refusal to accept the court's ruling that the copyright has been illegal since 1983, and Urantia Foundation's "our way or the highway" philosophy, and the altered text in your "inviolate text" books? What about those things? Will you free the sacred banner of Michael, the concentric circles, for everyone and every Urantian organization to use? Will you suggest to the other trustees (and make it so) that you (Urantia Foundation) put a notation under each use of the circles telling the world that they are "The Banner of Michael?" That way the world would come to associate the circles with Michael rather than with Urantia Foundation. Wouldn't that be nice? And will you go to the Trademark Office and tell them that the word "Urantian" really wasn't coined from Urantia Foundation's name like you said, and that the word "Urantia" does after all have some meaning, especially in a geographical sense, and thus is not trademarkable? And will you go back to the court where your attorneys said, "and by the way, it's not a religious book" and explain to the court that your hired guns misspoke and that you'd like to correct the public record? Will you ask Tonia Baney to contact the court in Hawaii and correct her testimony saying she didn't know who wrote the book? Of course she did. Either the authors listed in the book, or the "sleeping subject" would probably qualify as correct answers at this time.

>Let's actively replace the anger, introspection, and misunderstandings of the last decade with love, forgiveness, unity and outward service to the world.

You assume a lot about other people's "anger" etc., and you play on it, but how can any of that happen without solving the problems that caused the break? And what about the trustees' anger, the hidden anger that we don't see much of because of your internal "code of silence" but which does see the light of day from time to time such as in Dupont's ugly statement that "We have nothing to do with those 'dinosaurs'"? What about the trustees' anger, Mo? What about Keeler's anger, threatening David Kantor's life? How did the investigation of that come out? I must have missed the report.

>I stand with the vast majority of readers and say "We've had enough fighting".

Yeah but, Mo, what about the problems that caused the break? Do I have to list them all over again? What has been done to address them, especially the problem of Urantia Foundation imperiousness and insistence that it and it alone will decide all matters? Is Urantia Foundation ready to recognize Urantia Brotherhood, aka The Fellowship as an equal?

>We want our children and grandchildren to inherit a peaceful kingdom of united believers.

We might want a lot of things, Mo, but problems have to be solved to get them, just as people worldwide say they "want" peace and no more wars, yet we continue to have wars, worse than ever. It's because problems are not solved, Mo, and here you are advocating some sort of peace without solutions to problems.

>Those of you, who want to keep fighting, stop now! The fight is over.

It's Urantia Foundation that is "fighting," Mo. Look what they did to Kristen. Look what they did to the "inviolate text." Look what they did to the Fellowship. Look what they did to the circles and the words "Urantia" and "Urantian." And Urantia Foundation still fights, it fights the courts to the bitter end, it fights with trustee Kwan Choi and refuses to let him see the books. What are the trustees hiding there, Mo? You want the fighting to stop? Swear that Urantia Foundation will never again raise the sword of legal action against anyone. Is Urantia Foundation ready to do that? Swear that Urantia Foundation will restore the original inviolate text in place of the altered inviolate text that they're now using, or at least footnote IN THE BOOK the changes they've made. Swear that Urantia Foundation will treat the Fellowship as a full, equal sister organization and will drop all pretense of imperiousness.

>Disruptive Warriors and World Heroes: While there were legitimate differences of opinion on substantive issues leading up to 1989, history shows that one individual was the insurmountable stumbling block in resolving the problems between the Foundation and the Brotherhood.

Here's where Mo un-Christianly apparently tries to blame Martin Myers for all the problems, without mentioning his name, yet even after Martin left no policies changed and today Urantia Foundation still operates in the same imperious manner that it did when Martin was at the helm. This is more whitewash, assigning of "blame," and avoidance of the problem solving that needs to be done.

>After much pain, sorrow and a huge dose of courage, that individual was removed as a Trustee by the Board of Urantia Foundation. Since that time the Foundation has been rebuilding itself and is well on the road to increased service for the revelation.

Marvelous, if what you say is true, which it may not be. But what about the Fellowship? Are you all at Urantia Foundation ready to accept and restore the Fellowship to its rightful place of equality with the Foundation, etc? Will the Fellowship, as a Urantian organization devoted to Michael's work on Urantia be freely able to use the Banner of Michael, the circles, to identify with? Tell me it will be so, Mo.

>The past is behind us and the future is what we make of it.

Marvelous, Mo. And so profound. "The past is behind us..." I suppose it's equally and cliche-ly true too then that "What's done is done." These are marvelous problems solvers! It's very helpful to know that the past is behind us, and that the future is what we make of it. Who knew? I guess that's the value of a college edukasion.

>Subsequent to becoming a trustee, I've taken a fair amount of heat over remaining a member of the Fellowship. I've continued my membership for 3 reasons: A. To work as a bridge of unity between the Fellowship and the IUA/Foundation (I haven't done too well on this count); B. Because of the life long Fellowship friends I've grown up with, locally and nationally; C. Because the vast majority of Fellowship members are good people devoted to the Revelation.

Marvelous, Mo.

"Four issues persuaded me to remain in a Fellowship Society rather than join the new Urantia Brotherhood Association. 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."
Mo Siegel, March, 1991

>If I am going to pay the price of criticism for membership in the Fellowship, then I'm going to get my money's worth by freely expressing my opinion (feel free to post this letter). It's time for the General Council of the Fellowship to vote out, in this summer's elections, every individual in an important leadership position that stands in the way of unity among readers.

What about the individuals at Urantia Foundation that stand in the way of unity among readers, Mo, those who say, "We have nothing to do with those 'dinosaurs'", those who advocate lawsuits against believers, those who advocate absolute control of the Revelation by Urantia Foundation, those who advocate altered text and insist on calling it "inviolate text," and what about Foundation imperiousness and intransigence, etc? Don't you have any feel for the idea that such things stand in the way of unity among readers? What are the trustees going to do to clean out their own house and change their own attitudes? Why is it the Fellowship that has to change? What has Urantia Foundation ever compromised on? And does "standing in the way of unity among readers" really mean standing in the way of Urantia Foundation's continuing desire to become the sole, big boss appointed by God, again?

>The Council needs to understand that having officers pledged to the destruction of Urantia Foundation is an insurmountable obstacle to peace.

Peace is not the issue, and certainly peace at any cost is not acceptable in absolute terms no matter how many desire it. Problem solving is the issue. War is a symptom. It's a symptom of problems unsolved. And it's likely that after 30 years of Urantia Foundation generated "war" that God has led certain individuals to take a defaulted Urantia Foundation out of the picture for the unfaithful steward it has been. What about Urantia Foundation, Mo? Doesn't it need to understand that having trustees who are imperious and hostile to the Fellowship and who refuse to sit down with the Fellowship as equals and restore the equality that must exist between the former sister organizations, is an insurmountable obstacle to peace?

>Those disruptive individuals need to abandon their obsessions or go away.

I think you should go away, Mo. And take Rich and Gard and Georges with you. Leave Kwan and let him appoint Kristen and Harry and Terry Kruger and David Kantor as replacement trustees. Then we'd see a reformed Urantia Foundation that we could all love again.

>Moreover, it's time for all our organizations to vote out every disruptive warrior from positions of leadership.

That'd be you too, Mo. You and Rich and Georges, etc. As far as I know, since you've been a trustee you've signed on to every imperious Foundation lawsuit and edict against believers and readers. You need to vote yourself out, your actions show you to be a "disruptive warrior," a deceptive silver-tongued one, to be sure, what with all your "peace at any cost" and "we're all to blame" talk.

>Those warriors do not represent the behavioral mandate of Jesus to his followers nor do they represent the desires of the broader family of believers. We are paying a terrible price for appeasing hostile individuals who keep terrorizing our group processes.

Speaking of "the behavioral mandate of Jesus," what do you and the other trustees make of this behavioral mandate of Jesus, Mo?:

"Forbid him not. ...How can you expect that all who will believe the gospel shall be subject to your direction?"

You seem to be very selective about your mandates, Mo.

>As our institutions mature, a periodic review and updating of our processes should become the protective mechanism to insure that our organizations safely function for the benefit of the larger community (seen and unseen).

Marvelous. "Safely function?" What does that mean? And what is Urantia Foundation going to do to address and solve the extant problems that led to the split and continue to divide us because they're unsolved?

>We simply can't allow politically manipulative individuals with destructive personal agendas to gain control of our organizations.

So what is your plan to purge Urantia Foundation of politically manipulative individuals with destructive personal agendas? When will you be resigning?

>Our group responsibility is to create the greatest good, for the greatest number of people, for the greatest period of time.

Great, Mo. But what's the plan? Have you and the other trustees sat down in equality with the Fellowship and agreed on the plan? Or do you want them to first purge all of those who don't want the Fellowship to be subservient to Urantia Foundation? And are those who refuse Urantia Foundation imperiousness and intransigence the ones you refer to as "disruptive warriors" who "stand in the way of unity among readers"? Be honest, Mo.

>About Doctor Sadler, he's the first human hero of this revelation!!!!!! We should all be deeply humbled by his service, dedication, and selfless unaffectedness. Out of the billions of people living on earth in the first half of the 20th century, our unseen friends picked Dr. Sadler to safely deliver this revelation to humanity. He stands tall in the halls of the world's greatest heroes.

?? I have no idea what the above relates to in Mo's letter.

>Our culture going forward

??

>The courage of those souls (this writer excluded) who signed the unity initiative thrills me. This is a big step forward in the healing process.

It was a boring document full of the self importance of a lot of folks, and it contained, like your letter contains Mo, not one solution to any of the problems that caused the split and continue to split us.

>Jesus told us that blessed are the peace makers for they shall be called the Sons of God.

Actually, according to the Urantia Papers, he said they were "Happy," not blessed.

He also told us:

"There cannot be peace between light and darkness, between life and death, between truth and error."

So we know that sometimes there cannot be peace, nor should there be in some cases.

Jesus also told us:

"Forbid him not. ...How can you expect that all who will believe the gospel shall be subject to your direction?"

And of course, for the "peace-at-any-price" folks, we read:

P.1480 - §4 The human mind does not well stand the conflict of double allegiance. It is a severe strain on the soul to undergo the experience of an effort to serve both good and evil. The supremely happy and efficiently unified mind is the one wholly dedicated to the doing of the will of the Father in heaven. Unresolved conflicts destroy unity and may terminate in mind disruption. But the survival character of a soul is not fostered by attempting to secure peace of mind at any price, by the surrender of noble aspirations, and by the compromise of spiritual ideals; rather is such peace attained by the stalwart assertion of the triumph of that which is true, and this victory is achieved in the overcoming of evil with the potent force of good.

I believe that all of Mo's talk of peace really means "The Peace of Urantia Foundation as Imperial Ruler of the Revelation On Earth." "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss." And people who disagree are smeared as a "disruptive warriors" and those who "stand in the way of unity among readers," and are "hostile individuals who keep terrorizing our group processes."

>The book says there is no room for sectarian rivalry or group bitterness in our Father's kingdom.

So what is Urantia Foundation going to do about its imperiousness and the sectarian rivalry that led it to wrongly usurp all temporal power to itself and strip the former Urantia Brotherhood of its organizational equality with the Foundation?

The book also says: P.1487 - §3 The kingdom of heaven in the hearts of men will create religious unity (not necessarily uniformity) because any and all religious groups composed of such religious believers will be free from all notions of ecclesiastical authority...

When will Urantia Foundation be free from all notions of ecclesiastical authority? When will it be willing to return to an equality based relationship with the Fellowship? And of course, as above, you assume too much and attempt to wrongly implicate when you refer to "group bitterness." In any case, if there is bitterness, the problems that Urantia Foundation created which caused such alleged bitterness have yet to be resolved or solved. They are still extant.

>The book is filled with clear expectations that believers should pray for one another, love each other,

So who is not doing that? Only God knows the answers to such things. The reasons for the split still need to be addressed, Mo. Are the trustees ready to do that, to sit down with the Fellowship as equals and to come to terms that don't require Fellowship subservience in any matters?

>serve together,

Hard to do when Urantia Foundation asserts itself as the only One True Organization from God to which all other Urantians and Urantian organizations must be subservient.

>and act toward one another as Jesus would act toward us.

Is that so? Well, Jesus would never take believers to law for spreading the Revelation in their own ways. He said: "Forbid him not. ...How can you expect that all who will believe the gospel shall be subject to your direction?" Is there some part of that you don't understand, Mo? Every one of your ploys to subvert the Fellowship is based on the idea that Urantia Foundation will be the boss.

>As a body of revelation believers, our social culture must reject disruptive organizational behavior like a healthy body rejects a virus.

That's why many of us reject Urantia Foundation, Mo. It has a history of disruptive organizational behavior. But I know what YOU mean. You mean that any group that doesn't accept Urantia Foundation's Imperial Rule is guilty of "disruptive organizational behavior."

>And while I have no idealistic illusions that we will somehow transform ourselves into perfection, we can and will do better than the sectarian rivalry and group bitterness that has earmarked our last 15 years.

Probably not until Urantia Foundation changes its attitudes. What do you say, Mo? Is Urantia Foundation ready to change its attitudes?

>On the practical side, this fight makes us look terrible to the outside world. It's hard to be inspired to join groups that fight one another over religion.

It's Urantia Foundation's fault, Mo. Stop the lawsuits, all of them forever. Correct the Foundation's court lies about the nature and authorship of the Revelation, including the latest one that there is no plot to the Revelation, etc. Restore the text to its inviolate original state or footnote the changes in the book. Restore the equal working relationship between the Brotherhood and the Fellowship. Disband your cynical but compliant prostitute IUA replacement for the Foundation's "first wife." Tell the truth to the Trademark Office. Etc.

>Our job is to export revelatory words, not disunity.

Problems have to be solved then. You haven't offered any solutions to the problems, the reasons for the split, which reasons continue to this day.

>And for the Urantia Foundation, we have no time for this squabble.

Sure you do. You must make the time. At Urantia Foundation, your attitudes drive "this squabble." So you must take the time to solve the problems, and you're not doing that yet except for flapping your gums and trying to gloss it over while nothing changes and Urantia Foundation still walks with its Imperial Rule swagger.

>Our financial resources are thin and the work load heavy.

Too bad about your finances. Consider the millions of dollar's of God's resources that Urantia Foundation has wasted in lawsuits against believers, and those who have closed their wallets and checkbooks to you because of your un-Jesusonian activities, spitting on the Master's teachings with your legal assaults. You've made your bed. And according to Urantia Foundation's 2002 Annual Report, you spend $90,000 per year on upkeep on that dump at 533 Diversey Parkway. Unbelievable! That's over a quarter of a million dollars every three years just to keep a roof over Urantia Foundation's collective head. It smacks of the ostentatious trappings of "very important people" much like the Arab sheiks and their gold plated toilet seats. What a waste of the money of your contributors to spend $90,000 a year for that building. My wife and I live on a pension that is 1/5th of what Urantia Foundation spends on maintenance. And concerning your "heavy workload," please! Maybe you will impress the Lord with that stuff and your (Urantia Foundation's) oft repeated laundry list of "wonderful works" (translations, CDs, etc.), but I doubt it. You poor babies with your preferred seats at the table! We all have our burdens to bear. If you fold up shop there are plenty of others who will take your place and not whine about it.

P.1571 - §7 "In the great day of the kingdom judgment, many will say to me, `Did we not prophesy in your name and by your name do many wonderful works?' But I will be compelled to say to them, `I never knew you; depart from me you who are false teachers.' But every one who hears this charge and sincerely executes his commission to represent me before men even as I have represented my Father to you, shall find an abundant entrance into my service and into the kingdom of the heavenly Father."

>In the next decade we need to translate and publish at least 15 new translations.

Is that right? Is that God's plan? We who? We "Urantia Foundation" with only Urantia Foundation's name and address in the books? How can that work? Are you ready to put the Fellowship's name and address in all your books too?

>Even further, distribution of The Urantia Book is a daunting task that requires focus.

And that "focus" can only come from the High Officials of the Imperial Urantia Foundation, no doubt.

>We need all hands and dollars on board to place the inviolate text in as many bookstores as wisely practical.

A. If you stop the lawsuits you'll have more dollars that won't go to attorneys. and...
B. You do not now have the "inviolate text." You simply cannot have a dozen different versions of the book out there and call them all the "inviolate text." You must footnote or end-note, IN THE BOOK, all of the changes you have made in the last 50 years. Are you ready to do that yet? Or is it like Dupont said, "We have nothing to do with those "dinosaurs" when it comes to decide what we have to do with the printing of the UB."

>We need as much support as possible to create the needed translations!

Why doesn't Urantia Foundation support the Fellowship in doing some of the "needed translations?" And why doesn't Urantia Foundation agree to have the Fellowship's name and address in the books along with the Foundation's own? Such moves would be very helpful and refreshing.

You have a long way to go, Mo, with your thinking. You "wish" for situations but you're not willing to work to get them, to do the real problem solving that it's going to take to put this Humpty Dumpty back together again, and your smearing of those who disagree with Urantia Foundation Imperial Rule as "disruptive warriors" and worse, is a sign that you're part of the problem.

Sincerely,

Norm Du Val