© 1991 Kathleen Swadling
© 1991 ANZURA, Australia & New Zealand Urantia Association
I have been enjoying Six-O-Six for quite a few years. The articles are so bright, intelligent, and stimulating that I often thought of writing to compliment Australians for publishing one of the more interesting and worthwhile journals in our movement. I was elated to read of the formation of AASUB and pray for your Australian Association of Readers and associated fellowship of students to grow “… in the Joy of the realization of sonship”.
It was when I received your Vol 12 No. 1 that I noticed a marked change in the policy of your publication that appears to have resulted from the tumultuous confusion over your having previously published the debate by readers over the efficacy of some tapes having to do with a worldwide disaster. Vol 12 No 1 was like the tabloids that we see at the check-out lines in supermarkets — “Big Foot Captures 12 Year Old Girl in Montana” or “Graveyard Found On The Moon”. I was inclined to send you a request to remove my name from your mailing list just to let you know how disappointed I was with the new direction that you were taking. It seemed as though any outlandish, ego-tripping, misguided material would now be able to find its way into print on your pages under the guise of ‘open-mindedness’. I’m glad, however, that I denied myself the impulsive reaction for I would not have received your next issue with the news of the formation of AASUB, the interesting article by Kathleen Swadling, and the heart-rending letter from Paul Michael Waterman of Toronto, not to mention the bright spot: “Is God a He or a She” which again reminded me of the gift of the Australian spirit that I enjoyed so much about Six-O-Six. I would also like to thank the editors for their frank and open discussion of editorial policy that enabled me to understand you both a little better and the fact that you are working on working together rather than destroy the whole endeavour over a fight.
URANTIA Book readers come from all walks of life, all races and cultures of the planet. Attending a conference of URANTIA Book readers in one way is like going to the public beach where you run into people with whom you would never otherwise have associated. Because of the diversity of cultural orientation among readers in our movement, it is incumbent upon publishers of newsletters in our movement to stick to The URANTIA Book, its study, and the experience of readership. New Age religious cults, channelled material and the like have their own publications (or should). I, for one, feel imposed upon to have read all of this other material in the context of the URANTIA movement.
Again let me thank you for your important publication. I pray for your continued production and a good solution to this adventure. I do not want to receive half of the next Six-O-Six, but all of it. Having it in two parts is like what is going on between the URANTIA Foundation and the Fifth Epochal Fellowship. What is going to happen in that situation is that one of them will die or they will go off in two opposing factions splitting the movement up.
Martin Greenhut, Monterey, Montana, USA