© 1979 Urantia Foundation
This past year has been a happy and exciting time for those of who share the joyous challenge of serving here at “533”. We are privileged to receive and respond to a steadily increasing stream of inquiries those who are discovering the supernal teachings of The URANTIA Book. This year has witnessed hundreds of visitors, hundreds of telephone calls, and thousands of letters.
There is no way to typify the person who comes to us. They may be a child or a grandparent. They may be rich or poor. They may have a doctorate or have never graduated from grade school. They may be excited or calm. But, they all have one thing in are all seekers after the Father. We wish we had the space, time, and ability to share the marvelous experiences we have had with these people, but, unfortunately, we don’t. However, to give you a sense of the flavor of these communications, we are once again including, a little farther along in this newsletter, some of the portions of letters we have received in recent months.
As most of you know, Urantia Foundation increased the price of The Urantia Book from twenty-six dollars to thirty-four dollars effective November 1, 1979. The increase was and is necessary to insure the Foundation’s continued ability to carry out its programs. Operating costs have increased for the Foundation not only because of inflation, but also because of the growing scope of the Foundation’s work. Also, another printing of The Urantia Book is scheduled for late next year and funds must be assured.
The Trustees regret the necessity of the increase. Everything possible has been done economically to carry on Foundation operations and wisely shepherd current funds. The support and understanding of this increase which has so far been shown by our readers has been encouraging—even pleasantly surprising—though it is evident that increased attention to fund raising will be necessary in the future, both short and long term.
Concerning The Urantia Book, future pricing policy will, of course, be dependent on factors such as inflation, growth in Foundation services and activities and the level of reader contributions. Since our two main sources of financial support are proceeds from the sale of the Book and contributions, each of us can help in forestalling further upward price adjustments through increased financial support.
We thought you would like to know that Urantia Foundation (and Urantia Brotherhood) has made a special effort to operate in full conformance with the operating and reporting requirements of the Federal Government and the State of Illinois, not only to insure continued tax exempt status under U.S. Law, but also to insure contributor confidence in the use of funds. In the last decade, Urantia Foundation has been audited by the Internal Revenue Service three times, including this past year, as part of their regular procedure for reviewing the fiscal responsibility of nonprofit, tax exempt, organizations.
The Trustees are pleased to report that based on the 1979 audit, the IRS continues to recognize Urantia Foundation’s U.S. tax exempt status. (In addition to these IRS audits, Urantia Foundation’s books are independently audited annually by Arthur Andersen and Company. You may request a copy of the latest financial statement by writing to us.)
In the pie-chart-type graph that was attached to the fund raising letter sent out in November, we provided a breakdown of our expenses. Certainly, money is necessary to print and sell The Urantia Book and to pay for personnel and building expenses. Also, money is necessary for legal expenses, although the reasons for this may not be as readily apparent.
One of the two concordant objects of the Declaration of Trust, which is both the philosophical and legal document which governs the Urantia Foundation, is to “…perpetually preserve inviolate the text of The Urantia Book…”. The means of protecting the text is copyright law and so we are prepared and feel duty bound to legally oppose any person or group who threatens the textual integrity of the Book—especially during these early years in the life of The Urantia Book, When the copyright to The Urantia Book expires, how will a person know if they are getting the original text of the Book “inviolate“? The answer is that our text will be identifiable from other versions by carrying the identifying registered mark Urantia and/or the Concentric-Circles Symbol. To fulfill the objective of protecting the”text and assuring future generations of obtaining an original version, we believe we must protect the copyright and our registered trademarks and service marks.
Although we take this responsibility with the utmost sincerity and dedication, legal action is taken only after careful consideration and upon advice of legal counsel. In reviewing our 30-year history (as of January 11, 1980), we have taken an infringer of the copyright or the marks to court on only seven occasions. All other infringers have ceased their activity through our efforts to dissuade them in a friendly and co-operative manner or, when that fails, by the certainty of litigation.
To date, our efforts have stopped people from illegally photocopying the French translation of The Urantia Book and selling it in twelve volumes for $250.00 per set; we have stopped another group from using the word URANTIAN as part of the title of their organization and from reproducing and distributing portions of the teachings confusingly intermixed with ideas not expressed in The Urantia Book; we have stopped challenges to the very existence of the copyright to The Urantia Book which, if we had been unsuccessful, would have opened the door to any opportunist, no matter how well motivated he might claim to be, to profit from and exploit the teachings-even to discredit them—as be so chooses; we have stopped a person from giving lectures and distributing printed material that incorporated the teachings with his own ideas in an often indistinguishable and confusing manner; we are still in the process of litigating a disagreement with a translator of the Book who attempted to repudiate the clear obligations of his contract, which among other things, dealt with maintaining the integrity of the teachings; we have stopped unaffiliated persons or groups from using the word URANTIA, such as Urantia Trading Company, Massage Parlor, Cocktail Lounge, and Music Company. This is not an exhaustive list.
In addition, legal expenses entail the registration of our trademarks and service marks in foreign countries as a protective method as the Book becomes better known worldwide. Also, those situations which are settled without litigation may still require legal opinion and thus much of the money is spent getting sound legal advice in the hope of avoiding litigation or, where litigation is necessary, to be sure we have as strong a position as possible.
No matter how distasteful it may be to you and to us to have to deal with legal problems, we believe it would be more distasteful to see these teachings adulterated and pirated by other persons and being ultimately destroyed. On Havana, individuals are self-governed by sincere and spiritual motivations and are seasoned with millions of years of experience and training. Although it is a tempting and certainly much easier choice to follow the suggestions of those idealists who advocate no controls, we believe such action would be a spiritually one-eyed view which, without the other eye on a more realistic and practical point of view, cannot produce the depth of insight and resultant wisdom we are searching for as our guide. We seek your help and co-operation in this challenging and necessary task in the knowledge that despite these preservative actions, the positive work of the international spread of the unadulterated teachings of The Urantia Book continues unabated enriching and ennobling the lives of many.
We are happy to again share with you excerpts from among the many letters we have recently received from readers of The Urantia Book:
“I felt such closeness to The Urantia Book when I saw it, I sold some towels and sheets to buy the book.”
“Saturday I purchased The Urantia Book, and I have spent each spare moment since reading it. I cannot express the joy I have at having found it, and, of course, it came exactly at the time I was ready for it.”
“The joy that I have experienced through The Urantia Book and its message is hard for me to express. I am a believer and I would welcome the opportunity for fellowship/service/study.”
“I have recently completed a labor of love and adventure through The Urantia Book, Fortunately you had included in the volume a little about yourselves and where you could be reached.
“One does not come out on the other side of this material quite the same person as he went in. I’ve concluded that even with my untrained eye that there could be so much power and joy discerned, how much more I could benefit from those who are better trained in the complexities of the revelation than I.”
“Knowing that you appreciate testimonials about The Urantia Book, I thought I would submit this essay on my own personal thoughts and feelings concerning the Fifth Epochal Revelation to earth.
I have studied the book now for a year’s time. Each time I open it and commence to reading, it never fails to inspire me, no matter what kind of day I’m experiencing.
“Jesus Christ certainly becomes somehow more real as a personality in the narrative of his dramatic life on our privileged world. Thanks to this amazing Revelation, the Word of Christ Michael truly takes on a new dimension of force and meaning in our times and for future generations on this planet. It is an eternal comfort to know that His teachings are clarified and accurately transmitted via The Urantia Book, Throughout the book, one always gets a sense of knowing which tends to dissolve the slightest skepticism one might have about the authority of this revelation. When I first started reading the book, I naturally said to myself, ‘This can’t be for real! How could this be a direct revelation from heavenly spheres?’ But the more I read, the more it dawned on me that the book is too precise with the most incredible amounts of data that could not have come from human beings. I actually KNEW that, somehow! And now it seems logical to me that the Superuniverse government of Orvonton would want to fill us in on gaps in our information about the Deity adventure, the organization of the local universe, and the teachings of Christ.
“…Also, I am pleasantly surprised when I reread a passage and perceive something there that I missed before. It could be very subtle. There is always a freshness or a newness to passages within the book, no matter how often I read them. Most importantly, I know the book prepares people spiritually to go forward with renewed faith and love—strengthened confidence in the Purpose of God on this planet and also the worlds to come.”
In addition to the above sampling of letters, we are also offering the following letter for your consideration. We think you will find its content thought provoking. Probably, at one time or another, all of us have been guilty of the misuse of the term “Urantian” as discussed in this letter, but as in the manner of Jesus’ teaching, the letter takes a positive and insightful response to the problem.
“On UB 94:10.3, The Urantia Book reads as follows: ‘…the Jesusonian Gospel: sonship with God, Brotherhood with man, and ever ascending citizenship in the eternal universe.’ UB 94:10.3
“On UB 95:7.3, it states: ‘…There were numerous centers that might have responded to the Jesusonian Gospel, but the Christian missionaries of the desert lands were an austere and unyielding group…’ UB 95:7.3
“Again on UB 195:10.5 under Section No. 10 ‘The Future’: ‘In winning souls for the master, it is not the first mile of compulsion, duty, or convention that will transform man and his world, but rather the second mile of free service and liberty-loving devotion that betokens the Jesusonian reaching forth to grasp his brother in love and sweep him on under spiritual guidance toward the higher and divine goal of mortal existence…’ UB 195:10.5
“I bring these quotes to your attention simply because I find it disturbing when the people who read and believe in the Urantia Book’s message refer to themselves as ‘Urantians’ as one might use the term ‘Catholic’ or ‘Methodist’.
“Personally, I’m not overly fond of the use of labels, however they seem to be needed to some extent at this point. Therefore, I feel that in seeking a term we should turn to the book that carries our beliefs.
“When using the term ‘Urantian’, the revelators, I believe, used it only in the sense of citizens of the planet Urantia as on page 983 paragraph last and page 1229 paragraph 6.
“I feel the term ‘Urantian’ could put off many people who could otherwise benefit from the teachings we have been given, closing their ears to any apparently out of the usual ‘sect’…
“Wouldn’t it be a shame if the number of people we shared these glorious teachings with was severely limited by the indiscriminate use of a single word?
“I think the revelators used the term ‘Jesusonian’ for a purpose, and that we should try to examine that purpose more closely.
“We are all born Urantians, some of us chose to be Jesusonians.”
When the chaos and confusion of our present world situation overwhelm you, recall Jesus’ admonition to the runaway lad: “Remember, there are two things you cannot run away from—God and yourself. Wherever you may go, you take with you yourself and the spirit of the heavenly Father which lives within your heart. My son, stop trying to deceive yourself; settle down to the courageous practice of facing the facts of life; lay firm hold on the assurance of sonship with God and the certainty of eternal life, as I have instructed you. From this day on purpose to be a real man, a man determined to face life bravely and intelligently."