© 1999 K. Richard Keeler
© 1999 Urantia Foundation
¶ Worldwide Expansion
Increasing activity among URANTIA Book readers around the globe is proof that the Urantia Revelation is taking hold in the hearts and minds of people from many cultures. The increasing demands on URANTIA Foundation, both as a book publisher and as a service provider to readers, has caused us to develop a strategy for managing the affairs of URANTIA Foundation outside of the United States through the establishment of business offices and Foundation Representatives.
A new URANTIA Foundation office sometimes, but not always, begins with a translation effort, then with the appointment of a regional Foundation Representative. As the translation is in progress, a group of interested readers become organized around the translation project. This group serves by asking questions, reading the papers, and assisting the translators in evaluating the translation. The group may become tightly integrated as a study group, as happened in Finland and Russia, and once the translation has been printed, the group then assists in trying to interest bookstores and libraries in carrying The URANTIA Book.
The Foundation Representative is able to provide a service to readers by answering questions and referring them to other readers and study groups. This same representative also supports programs such as library placement and bookstore consignment and seeks to find distribution outlets. After several years, as business increases due to an increased demand for the book, it may become necessary to establish an office in that country. Readers and book trade personnel are better served by people who speak their language and come from the same culture.
Meanwhile, the reader groups may organize for dynamic service in the form of a fraternal group. Once that happens, the potential for personality interaction, and the myriad of results of such interaction, comes into play, and the readers become key instruments for disseminating the teachings and fostering the study of the Book.
¶ The International URANTIA Association and Other Global Reader Activity News
History was made at the International URANTIA Association (IUA) conference in Helsinki in 1998 with the inauguration of the IUA Council of National Presidents and Vice Presidents. This council facilitates the interaction and cross-fertilization of reader ideas and activities across the globe.
The IUA was founded on the following principles:
- The respect for URANTIA Foundation’s right to perpetually preserve inviolate the text of The URANTIA Book and its right to own the copyright and registered marks.
- The acknowledgment of, and loyalty to, the Declaration of Trust Creating URANTIA Foundation, which assigns the Trustees the responsibility to disseminate the teachings of The URANTIA Book and to devise, develop, and effectuate means and methods for such dissemination.
- The interdependence with URANTIA Foundation to foster the indepth study of The URANTIA Book and the orderly dissemination of its teachings.
In five years the IUA has grown to include National Associations in AustralialNew Zealand, Colombia, Finland, France, Peru, United States, and soon Canada and Estonia. There are twentyone Local Associations in the United States and three in Canada. Groundwork has been completed for the inauguration of an Internet University with a worldwide teacherleadertraining program. Here are a few highlights of global activities:
Russia—study groups are being formed. The difficulties caused by the unstable political situation there and the economic crisis that have troubled the distribution of the Russian translation will soon be resolved.
Norway—the Oslo study group, which was formed only two years ago, is gaining strength. A Norwegian translation effort is beginning. Talks are underway to form a multinational Association of the IUA to serve Norway, Denmark, and Sweden. A considerable number of Swedish and Norwegian participants attended the 1998 international conference in Helsinki.
Greece and Cyprus—the number of reader inquiries from the Greekspeaking world is increasing. There seems to be much interest in having the Revelation translated into Greek.
France—the French study groups are getting stronger. The French Association of the IUA, Association Francophone des Lecteurs du Le Livre d’Urantia (A.F.L.L.U), is volunteering to host the 2002 International Conference for the International URANTIA Association.
Belgium and Spain—talks are underway with Belgian and Spanish readers who wish to form National Associations of the IUA in their countries.
The Netherlands—study groups are gaining strength since the recent publication of the Dutch translation. A large number of Dutch readers participated for the first time in the 1998 IUA Conference in Helsinki.
Estonia—the Estonian translation effort is progressing steadily. An Estonian National Association of the IUA will be forming in the near future. Estonian readers are sponsoring a fiveday conference in August 1999. The English, Finnish, and Russian translations of The URANTIA Book are being sold in increasing numbers in Estonia.
Lithuania—there is an increasing interest in the Revelation as hundreds of people have been exposed to it through the activities of readers there.
Finland—the 1999 “Winter Days” Conference was held in January. A summer conference will be held in midJune. The 1998 IUA Conference held in Helsinki indicates that the Finnish readers are skilled at presenting meaningful and valuable study conferences. Study groups are doing well and gaining strength. More copies of The URANTIA Book are being sold per capita in Finland than in any other country. Since 1985 the Finnish Association has published a quarterly journal, and seminars and public discourses are regularly sponsored.
United Kingdom—regular study groups and an annual summer conference have been held for many years. A library placement project has been recently completed during which every major library was given a copy of The URANTIA Book.
Korea—as was seen at last year’s Seoul Book Fair, Korea has a great interest in the Revelation. A reader group has already been established and is eagerly awaiting the completed translation, which will be published later this year.
Canada—three Local Associations of the IUA have been chartered, and a National Association is forming. Foundation offices are being established to serve both English and Frenchspeaking provinces.
Australia/New Zealand—our friends from “down under” have a long history of accomplishments. Their Library Placement Program is very successful, and their goal is to place books in libraries worldwide. They established a reference library of URANTIA Book related material and secondary works; have held an annual national conference since 1983; publish a quarterly newsletter; have study groups throughout the country; and have a semiannual day when study groups around both nations meet and study the same topic simultaneously.
USA—twenty-one Local Associations affiliated under the National Association of USUA are organizing local and regional conferences, publishing newsletters, creating and marketing calendars, and hosting study functions. One Local Association has coordinated a successful Prison Project whereby a URANTIA Book was placed in every Federal prison library in the United States. Another has blanketed its entire state library system with books. Still another group is disseminating the teachings with a “Thought Gems” Calendar of inspiring quotes from The URANTIA Book. It will soon be available in Spanish.
Since January 1998 new Local Associations of the USUA were formed in Puerto Rico, Colorado, KansaslMissouri, and Nevada. The United States is hosting “URANTIA 2000,” the next IUA Conference, in New York City. It will be another opportunity for readers from all over the world to meet and share with one another.
Central and South America—The Peru and Colombian National Associations of the IUA held a joint conference last year. There are thousands of Spanishspeaking readers and many study groups throughout Mexico, Central and South America.
Israel—has a wellestablished study group of about 20 Russianspeaking readers.
India—books are being placed in libraries throughout India
Ghana—readers have formed a group there and have been requesting books.
Senegal—a long standing study group has exposed hundreds of new Frenchspeaking readers to Le Livre d’Urantia.
German, Portuguese, Italian, Lithuanian, and Swedish translations are progressing steadily, and we are receiving more inquiries from readers interested in those translations. We hope a Farsi (Persian) translation will soon be launched. URANTIA Foundation encourages all major language translations.
In addition to all of the above, the Foundation’s Reader Service Department receives hundreds of phone calls and letters every month from readers all over the world who have found this Revelation and claim that their lives are being transformed by its teachings.
All Urantia is waiting for the proclamation of the ennobling message of Michael,. . . The hour is striking for presenting to Buddhism, to Christianity, to Hinduism, even to the peoples of all faiths, not the gospel about Jesus, but the living, spiritual reality of the gospel of Jesus. (The URANTIA Book, UB 94:12.7)
¶ From The President: The Struggles Of Time And Space
by K. Richard Keeler
Is not much of reality, as comprehended by mortals, about a struggle of forces? The URANTIA Book teaches us that struggle is a reality of the experiential adventure of time and space. The religion of the spirit means effort, struggle, conflict, faith, determination, love, loyalty, and progress. (UB 155:5.11) We experience emotional struggles within ourselves and between ourselves and others. There are also struggles between intellectual forces, between ideas. And at a still higher level, there are struggles that go on at the level of the soul. They go on within us, and they go on between us as individuals, groups, cultures, and nations.
The indwelling Adjuster cannot stop or even materially alter your career struggle of time; the Adjuster cannot lessen the hardships of life as you journey on through this world of toil. The divine indweller can only patiently forbear while you fight the battle of life as it is lived on your planet;. . . (UB 111:7.2)
We struggle with the forces of patience and the forces of impatience; the forces of faith and the forces of fear; the forces of goodwill and the forces of anger; the forces of love and the forces of hate; the forces of responsibility and accountability and the forces of liberty without accountability; the forces of limited personal sovereignty and the forces of unlimited personal sovereignty; the forces of compromise and the forces of inflexibility.
In the URANTIA movement we’ve struggled with the forces of copyright and trademark maintenance and the forces of copyright and mark destruction; the forces of support for the Declaration of Trust and the Foundation and the forces of opposition to the Declaration of Trust and the Foundation; the forces of interdependence and the forces of independence; the forces of cooperation and the forces of competition; the forces of teamwork and social cooperation and the forces of selfdetermination. We may, however, take solace in the words of the Master:
“What I require of you, my apostles, is spirit unity—and that you can experience in the joy of your united dedication to the wholehearted doing of the will of my Father in heaven. You do not have to see alike or feel alike or even think alike in order spiritually to be alike. Spiritual unity is derived from the consciousness that each of you is indwelt, and increasingly dominated, by the spirit gift of the heavenly Father.” (UB 141:5.1)
Although the struggle may have strained, it has not broken our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory and love—which stretch between every heart and soul of every participant in our young movement and beyond—will yet swell the chorus of unity and brotherhood when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature. [Adapted from a statement made by Abraham Lincoln.]
Today, efforts are underway to heal the organizational wounds of the past. Perhaps what doesn’t destroy us makes us stronger. May we learn from, but not regret, the past. May we plan for, but not pine for, the future. And may we live dynamically, but wisely and patiently in the present-assured that, if we act boldly, perseveringly, lovingly, and joyfully, seen and unseen friends and forces will come to our aid.
Let us work together. And if we do so lovingly, we can dynamically participate in bringing to our perplexed planet the most recent of the revelations of truth to the mortal races of Urantia. (UB 92:4.9)
¶ Maaherra Appeals Final Judgment
In the fall 1997 issue of URANTIAN News, we announced that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in URANTIA Foundation’s favor in the copyright infringement case of “URANTIA Foundation v. Kristen Maaherra.” The Appellate Court declared URANTIA Foundation has a valid copyright in The URANTIA Book, and that Ms. Maaherra infringed the copyright. Shortly thereafter, the case was remanded to the lower court, the United States District Court, for final judgment by Judge Urbom. On January 29, 1999, Judge Urbom issued a Declaratory Judgment, which states:
IT IS ORDERED AND DECLARED as the final judgment in this case that the defendant, Kristen Maaherra, infringed the renewal copyrights in The URANTIA Book by the verbatim copying of The URANTIA Book onto computer diskettes and distributing the diskettes to others.
A few weeks ago we were ready to announce that URANTIA Foundation was, for the first time in many years, involved in no litigation, and that the Trustees intend to do everything possible to stay out of court. We hoped that, with the new Copyright Permission Policies announced in our last newsletter (fall 1998), future litigation would rarely occur.
We regret to announce that Ms. Maaherra has resubmitted the copyright dispute to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. We shall keep you informed about this case. In the meantime, we shall continue to focus our energies and resources on the duties assigned to us by the Declaration of Trust —preserving inviolate the text of The URANTIA Book and disseminating the teachings.
¶ Strategic Planning
Last November in Chicago, URANTIA Foundation sponsored a gathering of about one hundred readers to explorepractical ways to effectively disseminate the teachings of The URANTIA Book.
There were five workshops: Leaders and Teachers, Study Groups, Education, The Role of Service Groups, and Translations. The facilitators conducted their workshops with vigor and intelligent enthusiasm. Many workshop participants volunteered to join in the implementation of the many of the ideas put forward.
We believe that the workshops stimulated the spirit of service and teamwork. URANTIA Foundation will continue to invite interested readers to participate in our planning and to encourage these teams of committed men and women to strive for the wise, patient, and noninvasive dissemination of the Revelation to the world.
¶ In Memoriam Inez Burch (1907-1998)
Inez Burch “graduated” to the mansion worlds last November. (You may remember Inez from the Foundation’s video on translations.) Born in 1907, Inez began studying the Urantia Papers in 1935. She was married to Art Burch, a former Trustee of URANTIA Foundation. In her many years of service, Inez was the leader of the long time Western Springs (Illinois) study group, which has been meeting since 1955. The readers in Inez’s study group will surely miss her. To all who knew Inez, she was a shining example of someone who lived the teachings of The URANTIA Book.
Inez’s daughter, Mary Suzanne, also ended her earthly career in 1998. A memorial service was held for both mother and daughter on January 16, 1999. Friends, relatives, and neighbors offered their reflections, including a beautiful and inspirational tribute given by a former Trustee of URANTIA Foundation.
¶ Why Do We Have Trademarks?
In the fall 1998 issue of URANTIAN News, we included an article on the Foundation’s trademarks—the words “URANTIA” and “URANTIAN” and the Concentric-Circles Symbol. From time to time, the Foundation informs readers about the necessity and benefit of having trademarks, service marks, and collective membership marks as a means to identify our products and services and to distinguish them from other sources providing similar products or services.
When the Foundation’s copyright in The URANTIA Book expires in the year 2050, there may be multiple publishers of The URANTIA Book. Some of them may not publish the inviolate text. But readers and potential readers will be able to identify the inviolate text, published by URANTIA Foundation, because it will bear the Concentric-Circles Symbol.
In an article from the Publishers Marketing Association newsletter of February 1999, titled “Trademark Law: An Overview,” Ivan Hoffman writes the following:
In sum, owners of trademarks are not necessarily “evil” if they rigorously enforce their intellectual property. They must do so if they are to protect their commercial asset. And while, if you are not the owner of such a mark you may object to what you deem to be “restrictive” policies, keep in mind that you too benefit from the protection afforded by trademark law. If you want a particular brand of a product or service, you want to be assured that what you are buying is what you are getting. If the owner of that mark does not protect the mark, at some point you too may be a victim of the confusion that may result. (©1996, 1998 Ivan Hoffman)
URANTIA Foundation has used the Circles as a mark since 1950. This fact (in addition to the fact that the Circles are a registered mark of URANTIA Foundation) gives the Foundation the right to decide on the use of the Circles, as that use relates to activities and organizations with which the Circles might be associated, and to publications on which the Circles might be affixed. If there were no such ownership of the marks, the Circles might be used to give credibility to publications, activities, and organizations either promoting personal interpretations of The URANTIA Book or having little or nothing to do with its teachings.
After 2050, when the copyright expires, readers will know how to identify the inviolate text of The URANTIA Book because The URANTIA Book, published under the auspices of URANTIA Foundation, will bear the Concentric-Circles Symbol.
¶ Urantia Book Exposure Grows On The Internet
As we move into the 21st century, electronic media will play an important part in the dissemination of the URANTIA teachings. From websites, to Internet Email, and to video teaching tools, our fellow man will have more opportunity to find The URANTIA Book in new and exciting ways.
With this thought in mind, URANTIA Foundation introduced a new website policy that allows website owners to freely have The URANTIA Book on their website, from which others can download portions of the Book for study purposes. To date, two organizations, The Fellowship and the Jesusonian Foundation, as well as some IUA groups, have taken advantage of the new policy.
Within a few weeks we will have a new site designed where those wanting to use the new policy will be able to do so by logging onto the site and indicating their compliance with the terms indicated.
¶ Want to Produce a Secondary Work?
On UB 99:6.1 of The URANTIA Book, we are told, Confusion goes before growth as well as before destruction. As the growth and expansion of readerbelievers of the Book proceed throughout the world, thousands of individuals are seeking new ways to share the supernal teachings with their fellows.
It is with this in mind that the Trustees, in our fall 1998 URANTIAN News, instituted and announced new and liberal Copyright Permission Policies which allow readers to use text from The URANTIA Book, provided that minimal guidelines are followed. We hope that this will signal new growth regarding the spread of the teachings.
With growth comes some confusion and for many of us, when we want to use our teachings for educational purposes, we may not have time or not be aware that there is a very liberal policy for the fair use of the URANTIA teachings. To assist in the clarification of educational use, the PermissiontoCopy Policy for Educational Purposes is listed below.
- For purposes of this policy, “academic” andlor “educational” means “pertaining to institutional classroom teaching or learning.”
- Any person may copy and hand out various portions of The URANTIA Book amounting up to one full paper of The URANTIA Book per each academic or educational use without the necessity of requesting or receiving permission from URANTIA Foundation provided that:
- a. The recipient of the handout(s) containing quoted material is not charged money for the handout(s) over and above the cost of tuition or, in the event of a conference, the fee for attending the conference where the quoted material is handed out;
- b. The person copying the material from The URANTIA Book does not revise, alter, or amend the inviolate text of The URANTIA Book prior to copying and handing out the quoted material; and
- c. The handout containing the material quoted from The URANTIA Book gives the following acknowledgment: This handout is for academic and educational purposes only. It contains quotations from The URANTIA Book, © 1955 URANTIA Foundation, 533 Diversey Parkway, Chicago, Illinois 60614; (773) 5253319; https://www.urantia.org; all rights reserved.
- Any person who wishes to copy and hand out various portions of The URANTIA Book amounting to more than a full paper of The URANTIA Book per each academic andlor educational use needs to contact URANTIA Foundation for permission. Please contact URANTIA Foundation by telephone at (773) 5253319, or by email at urantia@urantia.org, or in writing addressed to URANTIA Foundation, 533 Diversey Parkway, Chicago, Illinois 60614.
If you would like more information concerning the copyright and trademark policies, please contact URANTIA Foundation.
¶ Urantia Foundation In Canada - 1999
To better serve Canadian readers, URANTIA Foundation will soon open two offices in Canada, one in Quebec City, Quebec, and the other in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Vancouver office will service the English-speaking provinces and will be a distribution and information center for the English edition of The URANTIA Book. The office in Quebec City will handle Foundation business for the Frenchspeaking province of Quebec and will be a distribution and information center for Le Livre d’Urantia. Of course, both the French and English editions of the Book will be available at both Canadian offices.
When the offices are officially open, we shall announce the contact information.
¶ Youth And The URANTIA Book
A group of dedicated young readers of The URANTIA Book, who desire to meet and join together the youth of the Urantia movement across the globe, have been working together to establish communication channels for readers who are under 30 years of age. A website and email discussion list for youth have been established which include descriptions of young readers, an opportunity to “chat” on the net together, and a “guestbook.” It also includes information on upcoming conferences and an invitation to join the youth discussion list.
A database has been established and is being used to encourage young readers to network with one another. One young reader wrote:
In order for young people to become enthusiastic about sharing the teachings of The URANTIA Book (or just enthusiastic about reading the Book), we need somehow to tailor the social aspects of Urantia readers to the youth. People my age need to feel comfortable about spending time with people our parents’ age, and we need to have the support of others our own age who are struggling with reading this huge Book, and are struggling with understanding many of its concepts. I love discussing the teachings with people my own age, who are struggling with similar things in life, and who have a similar understanding of the Urantian concepts. It’s exciting to discover things for ourselves rather than have them “taught” to us. I encourage all the older readers to talk to your children and let them know that things are happening amongst the younger generation and that they are not on their own in the daunting world of being a second generation Urantia Book reader.
As our youth are a powerful medium to spread the teachings throughout our world and are important for the future success of this revelation, URANTIA Foundation wishes this group well in its activities.
¶ Announcements
IUA in Puerto Rico — On January 24, 1999, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, 12 voting members and 23 nonvoting members (“Friends of IUA”) joined the International URANTIA Association. This new Association, La Asociacion URANTIA Puerto Rico, is a part of the USUA.
Leather zipper book recalled — The Foundation recalled its newest product, the leather zipper edition of The URANTIA Book because it contained numerous errors, most of which were introduced to the text during the reformatting process. The errors will be corrected and the popular, little book made available once again.
National USUA Conference, Nashville — From April 29 to May 2, 1999, the Southern Kindred Spirits Association will sponsor the IUA Study Symposium. The theme of the conference is “Disseminating the Teachings: Strategies for Sharing Personal Truth.” Participants are encouraged to prepare for the conference by reflecting on Jesus’ techniques of sharing truth as told in The URANTIA Book and in the New Testament gospels.
URANTIA 2000, New York — The IUA will sponsor an international conference in 2000. The conference will be held on Staten Island at Wagner College from August 4 to 7, 2000. The theme of the conference is “The Spiritual Experience: Living the Will of Our Father” and will focus on the teachings of The URANTIA Book. Readers from around the world, including Foundation Representatives, translators, and international office staff, will participate. For more information, contact Nick Scalzo at 860/669-4900, E-mail: NICHOLASWS@aol.com or Carol Cannon at 718/956-9334, E-mail: cacannon@erols.com
On Sale — You may now purchase the 8“ x 10” hard cover edition of The URANTIA Book for $34.95. We will soon be printing a new, 8½“ x 5½” hard cover. Also on sale is The URANTIA Book Concordance, down from its original price of $65.00 to $34.95.
¶ Reader Comments About The Urantia Book
“I would like to thank everyone responsible for insuring the perpetual life of the Urantia message. Our advanced truth has enriched my life, bringing together in the physical knowledge that inside me I already knew and suspected to be true. Reading it has reinforced my God Consciousness as well as my place in creation.” ~ Seattle, Washington, USA
“Having recently embarked on the reading of The URANTIA Book, I am finding numerous parallels within the text, with my own inner thoughts, concerning the source and centre of existence.” ~ NORWAY
“I have recently started reading The URANTIA Book and am already very impressed with its content. It has already proved itself invaluable in my ongoing research into the nature of life, the universe, and everything.”
“Dear ones—Thank you so very much for bringing this divine Revelation into my life experience.” ~ Glendale, Arizona, USA