Untitled Document

An Essay on the Declaration of Trust
David Kantor
1997

The Trustees of Urantia Foundation have long stated that, as Trustees, their primary loyalty is to the Foundation's Declaration of Trust. They have pointed out that, according to that document, they are required to maintain absolute control over the physical fact of The Urantia Book and all translations thereof, and that they were duty bound to carry out those provisions by whatever means necessary. This statement by the Trustees clearly indicates the object of their primary loyalty -- not truth, not the Universal Father, not the Fifth Epochal Revelation, but the Declaration of Trust. And herein lies the heart of the matter before us.

In order to more fully understand this situation we need to visit the Foundation's Declaration of Trust. It is important to appreciate the fact that this is a legally binding document and that the Trustees, regardless of their personal views, sentiments or desires, are required by law to uphold the provisions of this document to the best of their abilities. [Click here to read the Declaration of Trust]

The Trust which comprises the legal basis for the existence of Urantia Foundation consists of a description of the "Trust Estate" -- several paragraphs which describe exactly what has been placed under the custodial care of the Trustees (Article IV), a description of the duties of the Trustees related to the preservation of the Trust Estate (Article III), and two paragraphs which describe the purposes for which the Trust was established (Article II).

In addition, there are some generic paragraphs which form a part of any trust document -- I don't believe these really bear on present issues (with the possible exceptions of sections 5.2 and 5.3). The Trust Estate is further divided into two sections, the Substantive Trust which consists of a description of the objects which are placed in the care of the Trustees, and a Subservient Estate which consists of various means which are to be used in the care of the Substantive Estate.

What is the Substantive Estate which the Trustees are charged with preserving? It consists of three items:

1. All plates or other media for the printing and reproduction of The Urantia Book
2. At least 3 "authenticated" copies of the original text of The Urantia Book
3. Authenticated copies of each and every edition and publication of The Urantia Book which might be produced.

It would seem that in order for Urantia Foundation to be a viable legal entity dedicated to the preservation of this Substantive Estate, this Substantive Estate must actually be in existence. But is it? The original plates entrusted to the Foundation were destroyed by order of the Trustees on May 6, 1971.

With the advent of computer technologies and the Internet, media for printing and reproducing the text of The Urantia Book have proliferated and have spread around the world. It would be physically impossible for Urantia Foundation to ever be custodian of all the media for printing and reproducing the book as they are required by their trust document. Several editions of the text have been published on a large scale with small-scale reproduction being done by computers for local use in various parts of the world. Even the Foundation provides an electronic copy of the text on their website.

I estimate that a paper from The Urantia Book gets downloaded from an Internet server somewhere in the world every 4 or 5 minutes, 24 hours a day. It has become physically impossible for Urantia Foundation to maintain "authenticated" copies of each and every edition and publication of The Urantia Book.

The fact of the matter is that technological advances have significantly eroded the Substantive Estate of Urantia Foundation. The only portion of the original Substantive Estate which they have left is the 3 "authenticated" copies of each printing which one would presume they have indeed kept in their custody. That's all that's left of the Substantive Estate which the Declaration of Trust charges the Trustees with safeguarding -- a few books in a safe.

Given this situation, what then becomes of the "Duties of Trustees" as specified in Article III of the trust document? Four duties are listed:

1. Section 3.1: Preservation of the Text -- contains the infamous "perpetually preserve inviolate" clause.
2. Section 3.2: Promoting the "Principal Object" -- we'll visit this along with section 3.4 3. Section 3.
3: Control of Reproduction of the Book
4. Section 3.4: Dissemination of the Teachings of the Book

Let's briefly consider each of these "duties" and their viability under current conditions.

1. Preservation of the Text: It is very important to realize that there is absolutely no mention, anywhere in the Declaration of Trust, of copyright or registered marks. With present day technology, "perpetually preserve inviolate the text" cannot possibly encompass all the varied forms in which this text might appear in the world, nor can it encompass each and every copy of the text or translation which might appear. Technological advances since 1954 as well as recent legal decisions dictate that section 3.1 of the trust document be interpreted as a very narrow range of responsibilities -- namely that of merely preserving a few copies of each printing of the text.

2. Control of Reproduction of the Book: This section charges the Trustees with retaining the absolute and unconditional control of the possession, custody, use, and disposition of all plates and other media for the printing and reproduction of the text and any translations. The drafters of the trust document could not have foreseen a world of computers, scanners, printers and global networks in which virtually anyone who owned a copy of The Urantia Book could simply place it inside a machine which could reproduce it and instantly publish copies to virtually any location in the world -- as many copies as the user desired -- edited or amended in any manner which the user might deem appropriate. Technological advances since 1954 have rendered the duties described in section 3.3 of the trust document impossible to execute.

3. Section 3.4 -- Dissemination of Teachings: Section 3.4 declares that it shall be the duty of the Trustees to disseminate the teachings and doctrines of The Urantia Book. We might ask ourselves what, in the past half-century of its existence, has Urantia Foundation published which might be considered dissemination of teachings and doctrines? A good place to start looking is the Foundation website in their section titled, "Newsletters and Archives." What do we find here? A copy of the Declaration of Trust and some 40-odd copies of "Urantian News". Spend some time perusing these newsletters and you will find that the primary "teachings and doctrines" being disseminated have to do with reinforcing the perceived value of the Declaration of Trust, explicating policy related to copyright and trademark issues, and reinforcing the primacy of the provisions of Declaration of Trust in their affairs.

This is in the company of additional articles, all of which seem to be directed toward the public relations task of letting the readership know what a great organization Urantia Foundation is.

Let me highlight one of several definitions of religion contained in The Urantia Book: 100:6.1-2 "True religion is a wholehearted devotion to some reality which the religionist deems to be of supreme value to himself and for all mankind. And the outstanding characteristics of all religions are: unquestioning loyalty and wholehearted devotion to supreme values. This religious devotion to supreme values is shown in the relation of the supposedly irreligious mother to her child and in the fervent loyalty of nonreligionists to an espoused cause. The accepted supreme value of the religionist may be base or even false, but it is nevertheless religious. A religion is genuine to just the extent that the value which is held to be supreme is truly a cosmic reality of genuine spiritual worth."

The "supreme value" held by Urantia Foundation -- their "primary loyalty" to use their words -- is the Declaration of Trust; not The Urantia Book, not the seeking of the Father's will, not the spiritual uplifting of a down-trodden humanity, but the perceived duties imposed by the Declaration of Trust. It is truly, in the greatest psychological sense of the word and in the above definition of religion found in The Urantia Book, the central element of their religion. The Declaration of Trust is the element of "supreme value" relative to which all other values are established.

Consider the second sentence of the above quote from The Urantia Book: "A religion is genuine to just the extent that the value which is held to be supreme is truly a cosmic reality of genuine spiritual worth.|" To what degree is the Declaration of Trust "a cosmic reality of genuine spiritual worth"? What business do we have supporting, reinforcing, aiding or entering into common undertakings with an organization holding such a central objective?

Section 3.2 of the trust document charges the Trustees with promoting and effectuating the general purposes set forth in Section 2.1 of the document. Now our situation gets interesting indeed. Section 2.1 of the Declaration of Trust -- the "Principal Object" of the document -- is almost identical to the Statement of Purpose in the constitution of The Fellowship. Each organization has as its stated objective "the fostering of a religion, a philosophy, and a cosmology which are commensurate with Man's intellectual and cultural development." One would think that if there existed any ground or basis for shared activities it would be found here.

As we saw above in our discussion of religion, the primary document relative to which Urantia Foundation has fostered a religion, a philosophy and a cosmology has been the Declaration of Trust, not The Urantia Book. In fact, the IUA charter, conceived and composed by Urantia Foundation Trustees, specifically states that, "IUA is not designed to carry the teachings of The Urantia Book to planetary culture..." "IUA is not to be a direct agent of change..."

The charter goes on to say that IUA should "discourage invasive dissemination....such as open computer networking which is exposed to non-readers." So, as we approach the end of the century, in what shape do we find Urantia Foundation relative to their obligations under their document of trust?

The Substantive Estate of the Trust is virtually non-existent except for a few books in a safe. The Substantive Estate has been wiped out by technological change and decisions made by past Trustees. Out of the four duties formally imposed on the Trustees by the trust document, two have been made obsolete by technological change and the other two have been severely distorted by the well-intended effort to execute an ill-conceived means of meeting the obligations of their trust. Instead of establishing a leadership role in the dissemination of the teachings of The Urantia Book, the Foundation has spawned the cult of the Trust Document.

The Trustees are not without options. The law provides for cases where the accomplishment of the purpose for which a trust has been established becomes impossible or illegal. In addition, sections 5.2 and 5.3 of the Declaration of Trust open the door to a wide range of options. Section 5.2 goes so far as to confer upon the Trustees the power to actually destroy all or any part of the Substantive Estate (except for those three books) if they find themselves in a situation in which they are prevented from preserving the Substantial Estate by reason of circumstances beyond their control.

Should we be encouraging Urantia Foundation to restructure and rehabilitate itself in a manner enabling it to find a role of cooperative participation? Are we being subtly blackmailed into reinforcing their illusions of viability in order to avoid being sued? Are we simply being mislead by sentimentality? Exactly what of value does Urantia Foundation have to offer the readership?

These are important questions indeed. But they can only be addressed in a context where our spiritual idealism is tempered with a clear understanding of the seriousness of the legal, social and religious condition of Urantia Foundation relative to the trust document from which they derive their identity and relative to the revelation which they purport to represent.

I hope these ideas help to broaden the context in which we are considering this matter.

David Kantor