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My dear fellow readers and students of The Urantia Book,
The forum moderators decided to remove the post entitled: “Another Interview: Sal Turano” because it contained comments that gave tacit approval to the practice of “channeling”. UAI has consistently upheld their strict policy prohibiting the promotion of channeling activities, either directly or indirectly, at their conferences, within their publications, or on their website. The policy (stated below) was drafted with the conviction that channeling phenomena create confusion and divisions, and ultimately devalue the supernal message contained in the fifth epochal revelation. This policy recognizes the freedom and right of individuals to hold opinions favouring and engage in practices constituting channeling but UAI will not allow those opinions and practices to be promoted on its website, at their public gatherings, or within their publications.
With love and service to the brotherhood,
Moderator 2
Channeling Policy
Within certain groups of people reading The Urantia Book, there has developed a phenomenon labeled “channeling” or the “Teaching Mission.” Advocates of this phenomenon claim to be in touch with superhuman personalities, who sometimes have names taken from The Urantia Book.
While Urantia Association neither endorses, promotes, nor denies any individual’s personal experiences, we must assure readers that neither Urantia Association nor The Urantia Book has any connection with this phenomenon.
Urantia Association has taken great care over the years to ensure that The Urantia Book is not publicly identified with cultic, psychic, or occult groups and phenomena.
Urantia Association, as an organization, does not sanction channeling activities at Association sponsored functions, seminars, conferences or internet discussion groups. We believe that The Urantia Book‘s teachings should be unencumbered by public alliance with either New Age beliefs or traditional religions.
While I appreciate the open transparency of the explanation, I do ask what would Jesus do?
To do as Jesus did, illuminate truth and thereby relegate error to history.
And this was his method of instruction: Never once did he attack their errors or even mention the flaws in their teachings. In each case he would select the truth in what they taught and then proceed so to embellish and illuminate this truth in their minds that in a very short time this enhancement of the truth effectively crowded out the associated error…[Paper 132:0.4, page 1455:4]
I’m also curious to know if this brother or sister were contacted “privately” beforehand—consistent with The Urantia Book guidance on such matters—and given the opportunity to respond to the concern raised?
Hmmm, Vern. Maybe, in this case, we should weigh all of Jesus’ instructions and statements about teaching error, misleading believers, and “falling into the pit”. Consider this quote, verbatim from Jesus himself, in light of the one you cited:
…To the speaker at the forum he said: “Your eloquence is pleasing, your logic is admirable, your voice is pleasant, but your teaching is hardly true. If you could only enjoy the inspiring satisfaction of knowing God as your spiritual Father, then you might employ your powers of speech to liberate your fellows from the bondage of darkness and from the slavery of ignorance….” (1461.5) 132:4.7
Was that an attack? No. But he wisely didn’t let it slide by, let others think this is a good and valid teaching. Neither was his an endorsement nor an enticement to error. And when he delivered the list of woes, was that a cowardly retreat from ignorance and sophistry?
“Woe upon you, false teachers, blind guides! What can be expected of a nation when the blind lead the blind? They both shall stumble into the pit of destruction..“Woe upon you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites that you are! for you do indeed encompass land and sea to make one proselyte, and when you have succeeded, you are not content until you have made him twofold worse than he was as a child of the heathen.“Woe upon you, chief priests and rulers who lay hold of the property of the poor and demand heavy dues of those who would serve God as they think Moses ordained! You who refuse to show mercy, can you hope for mercy in the worlds to come?
“Woe upon you who dissimulate when you take an oath! You are tricksters since you teach that a man may swear by the temple and break his oath, but that whoso swears by the gold in the temple must remain bound. You are all fools and blind. You are not even consistent in your dishonesty, for which is the greater, the gold or the temple which has supposedly sanctified the gold? You also teach that, if a man swears by the altar, it is nothing; but that, if one swears by the gift that is upon the altar, then shall he be held as a debtor. Again are you blind to the truth, for which is the greater, the gift or the altar which sanctifies the gift? How can you justify such hypocrisy and dishonesty in the sight of the God of heaven?“Woe upon you, scribes and Pharisees and all other hypocrites who make sure that they tithe mint, anise, and cumin and at the same time disregard the weightier matters of the law — faith, mercy, and judgment! Within reason, the one you ought to have done but not to have left the other undone. You are truly blind guides and dumb teachers; you strain out the gnat and swallow the camel.“Woe upon you, scribes, Pharisees, and hypocrites! for you are scrupulous to cleanse the outside of the cup and the platter, but within there remains the filth of extortion, excesses, and deception. You are spiritually blind. Do you not recognize how much better it would be first to cleanse the inside of the cup, and then that which spills over would of itself cleanse the outside? You wicked reprobates! you make the outward performances of your religion to conform with the letter of your interpretation of Moses’ law while your souls are steeped in iniquity and filled with murder.“Woe upon all of you who reject truth and spurn mercy! Many of you are like whited sepulchres, which outwardly appear beautiful but within are full of dead men’s bones and all sorts of uncleanness. Even so do you who knowingly reject the counsel of God appear outwardly to men as holy and righteous, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and iniquity.“Woe upon you, false guides of a nation! Over yonder have you built a monument to the martyred prophets of old, while you plot to destroy Him of whom they spoke. You garnish the tombs of the righteous and flatter yourselves that, had you lived in the days of your fathers, you would not have killed the prophets; and then in the face of such self-righteous thinking you make ready to slay him of whom the prophets spoke, the Son of Man. Inasmuch as you do these things, are you witness to yourselves that you are the wicked sons of them who slew the prophets. Go on, then, and fill up the cup of your condemnation to the full!“Woe upon you, children of evil! John did truly call you the offspring of vipers, and I ask how can you escape the judgment that John pronounced upon you?Richard E Warren
I’m also curious to know if this brother or sister were contacted “privately” beforehand—consistent with The Urantia Book guidance on such matters—and given the opportunity to respond to the concern raised?
Vern, thanks for raising this concern. I wish to reassure everyone that the participant was contacted privately and the reasons for deleting the post were explained to him/her. Of course the opportunity is always given for the person in question to respond to the action taken.
I hasten to add that in taking this action, the moderators were not seeking to discipline or reprimand the participant.
Moderator 2
Hello all!
As we are taught, will is so highly respected, even by God, that each person is gifted absolute sovereignty over his will. Jesus knew of this gift, itself willed by the Father’s universal law that each of us must choose according to will. Jesus knew his enemies were in strong will against him and his teachings and he cast his divine light upon their dark ways, exposing their real motives and dark aspirations. Rick is right to broaden our understanding of what would Jesus do!
It is the will and motive of the individual who posted the video that I question. The post added nothing to discussions of the Book contents for our betterment and spiritual growth.
The Moderators are right to remove the post and right to directly communicate with the individual about the post.
How friendly is a place that proclaims a warm welcome when in fact there is an axe hanging over each posters head?
Rick put up many quotes in support of censorship, the argumentative defence of any proposition is inversely proportional to the truth contained.
I’m well aware of all the attempts Jesus employed to soften the hearts of those who were opposed to him and only when he knew for certain they had heardened their hearts against him did he call out their hypocrisy.
We are instructed however, to judge not, lest we be judged. For who can know the value of the soul of a brother?
We are admonished to heed the purpose of Jesus’ teaching which is to restore self-respect in those timid and fearful souls who have lost it.
In bringing men into the kingdom, do not lessen or destroy their self-respect. While overmuch self-respect may destroy proper humility and end in pride, conceit, and arrogance, the loss of self-respect often ends in paralysis of the will. It is the purpose of this gospel to restore self-respect to those who have lost it and to restrain it in those who have it. Make not the mistake of only condemning the wrongs in the lives of your pupils; remember also to accord generous recognition for the most praiseworthy things in their lives. Forget not that I will stop at nothing to restore self-respect to those who have lost it, and who really desire to regain it. [Paper 159:3.3, page 1765:5]
I stand by my original mode of living which is to follow Jesus.
And this was his method of instruction: Never once did he attack their errors or even mention the flaws in their teachings.… [Paper 132:0.4, page 1455:4]
Greetings Friends!!
The Association’s policy is clear and well articulated. The issue is certainly not new to the readership or its organizations or the elected leadership and formation of by-laws, etc. I applaud the Moderator’s support of related policies and their protocol in handling all such issues; there will be additional opportunities to apply discretion and wisdom to similar situations over time. Consistency will help guide this site and its visitors by long standing traditions that have merit and purpose and broad support amongst the membership who funds all Association ministries and projects and infrastructure by their free will donations.
The Mods here do not determine these policies but apply experience and care in their service here in serving and representing the collective will of the Association. The membership of the Association itself determines both priorities and policies. If there is any dispute as to those policies by any member, this is not the venue for such objection. Such discussions should more appropriately be taken up within the membership and leadership of the organization itself IMO.
This issue is nothing new to our world or to the Urantia movement. The policy is grounded in the actual results these claims of such powers have delivered – from disruption to actual chaos and organizational failures. Any group has the right to self determine its own priorities and policies as the Association has done to protect itself and its members from the falsehoods pronounced by those who claim special status or powers that are directly contrary to the teachings within the Papers. We are warned about such priestly claims and aspirations and their results.
The Association policy does not preclude nor prevent nor even criticize those who believe or participate in such activities. But the policy clearly does not allow for sponsoring, supporting, or allowing such activity with or by Association resources or at any event or site hosted or sponsored by the Association. The post did exactly that.
As to Martin and his potential motive or agenda, I would suggest we consider that his work is well intended (consider his professional and personable interview with L.K. posted here). A historical videographer may simply hope to capture a broad selection of interviews representing a cross section of the readership. An admirable agenda. But in this particular example, the site and community should not be put in the position of “supporting” the views of all those so interviewed by allowing any and all content, claims, and opinions to find voice or audience here when and if those clearly contradict the Association policies (which allow ample room for many opinions and experiences to be so documented and expressed). I look forward to more interviews by Martin and hope he feels welcome to submit them for review and archiving prior to their submission which would have prevented this issue to begin with.
IMO the Forum is for readers to share and discuss their personal experience in the UB – but Mr. Turano did not post or attend and Martin did not offer his own positions – such interviews are not discussions in any sense of the word and the Discussion Forum is not a blog site or archival location for videography. But the website offers many forms of archiving historical documents and records that have been reviewed and approved by the site managers and mods. Or so I think.
Bradly
Moderator-2 wrote: I wish to reassure everyone that the participant was contacted privately and the reasons for deleting the post were explained…Thanks for confirming this. It will be interesting to see if this poster continues to participate in this forum.Vern wrote: …How friendly is a place that proclaims a warm welcome when in fact there is an axe hanging over each posters head? Rick put up many quotes in support of censorship, the argumentative defence of any proposition is inversely proportional to the truth contained.That’s a distortion and an exaggeration my brother Vern. No one is favoring censorship, nor is an axe hanging over members’ heads. Posts can be removed, we say up front, channelings aren’t permitted.
Vern wrote: …I stand by my original mode of living which is to follow Jesus.
So, we aren’t? That’s kind of unfriendly and defensive, isn’t it?
Cheers, Rick
Richard E Warren
Rick Warren wrote:So, we aren’t? That’s kind of unfriendly and defensive, isn’t it?Rick, my friend I’m only speaking an individual who loves Jesus. I simply choose to look for the truth in what people say.I’m sure you do likewise, attempt to seek understanding of your fellows. Understanding which can develop into tolerance and then become friendship and ripen into love.Many times I ask what would Jesus do? I just can’t conceive that he would endorse a channeling policy.To my thinking having that channelling policy up front is like one of those “trespassers will be shot” signs on a piece of land.Sounds like a fun place, let’s go there!Well perhaps my turn of phrase is not very subtle or tactful, the “art of living” is a lifelong work-in-progress project of mine and I don’t imply any deficiency in you or anyone else, to do so would be hypocrisy. I simply know my own heartfelt truth, and it does not bother me that you hold a different point of view. We are not meant to think alike to share the same spiritual values.I cannot recall where and when Jesus endorsed the priests who claimed to speak for God and his celestial hosts to other mortals. Neither did he uphold the apostles in their own self puffery to deliver miracles or to proclaim themselves superior to others or one another. Those who claim to be reservists and/or God’s messengers to others defy the text and teachings of that which they hold up as their authority to do these things.
Was Jesus tolerant of those who defied universe reality and the personal relationship each mind has with God? Did he provide for surrendering our sovereignty to priests? Come on Vern. The practical “results” of these channelers speaks for itself. Your beef is with Association policy….take it up with the Association. This is not the mods call. And you know that. Your criticisms of them is misplaced and counterproductive to this site you love so much. Or so I think.
Bradly wrote: Come on Vern. The practical “results” of these channelers speaks for itself.Hi there Brad, of course I have the capacity to see error in content when someone posts it. You don’t get to my age without seeing a wide spectrum of partial truth registry in our brothers and sisters along the way. I’ve always done my best to determine the validity of content while maintaining a respect for the person………..not lessen or destroy their self-respect, as Jesus teaches us.The Urantia Book is all about emphasising the positive over the negative. It’s a pity that the Association has chosen to put so much emphasis on sustaining a position of suspicion when in fact we should be more confident of the strength of our own spiritual credentials.My personal view is that the Channeling Policy is an admission of weakness. The Association has been scared by the “boogy man” and reacted impulsively without thinking through the consequences. One of which is a diminution of drawing power. Drawing power that could provide opportunity to educate, illuminate and instruct, those who do not yet appreciate the significance of sonship with God.I see the daily activity on the Urantia Facebook groups which have membership in their thousands and have noted in the eleven months this forum has been active, the maximum number of individual contributors within the general discussion forum has not been more than fifteen persons (of which some are moderators). Practically speaking, this is a small group.Bradly, I do not doubt your dedication in spreading the good news of The Urantia Book, so too I include myself as an active supporter, among all who work selflessly to make this website fragrant in accordance with these teachings. These are exciting pioneering times nevertheless. Times of great upheaval are also times of great opportunity. Bradly, when you wrote:Your beef is with Association policy….take it up with the Association.My tenure with the ISB is over, I am a free man speaking without fear or favour, committed to the doing of my Father’s will, my concern is that the Channeling Policy is now set in stone forever, never to be changed, to become a calcified doctrine like those of other cults. Does the Association really covet the anti-channeling cult title?I think the Association should be an organization where channelling isn’t encouraged or permitted. We aren’t in existence to be popular and Facebook isn’t popular with readers because Urantia groups there permit or promote channeling. In fact, most groups, regardless of platform or size, don’t allow channeling or encourage it, because most people realize it leads to confusion, belligerence, so called “continuing revelation”, and prophesies of divine visitations that so far have utterly failed and completely confounded innocents.
Not permitting channeling is the compassionate thing to do. Grossly misleading people was one thing Jesus didn’t stand for. The Midwayers certainly didn’t give any credit, validity, or encouragement to seances, listening to disembodied voices of dead humans and supposedly wise beings, pawning phony teachings off as genuine and worthy of obedience.
UAI has good reason to disallow channeled material on its sites, at its conferences. The community was split by it in the ’80s and ’90s. Policies preventing channeling ever again to pervade and divide the only organization besides the Foundation that carries the Circles is wise in the long and short run, despite cries from condoners and advocates of this “sordid” practice.
We can respect the person and still reject a false teaching. You’re attempting to shame us into accepting a reprehensible practice and it won’t work. You’ll only draw attention to yourself and your opposition to a policy that stands as a perpetual bulwark against a practice that can only lead to more disaster and default. UAI is growing, steady and slow, and not because it tolerates and abets channeling.
There are a few FB groups that do allow channeling. Take your agenda there, it doesn’t belong here, we’ve had the discussion, policy has been established and it is being applied with all due discretion.
Richard E Warren
Brother Vern, my friend….the “boogey man” is no fiction and it is not fear that is the foundation of this policy – it is experience and love I believe. Many of us have witnessed, experienced, and suffered by this humanistic perversion of the Revelation and its teachings. Many of us, including myself, would not attend, support, or serve any group that welcomes or allows this “voice” of insanity and manipulation to sing the siren’s song of impatience, self indulgence, false promises and claims.
Those who serve dissemination of text and teachings have an obligation to present the text and its teachings. Do those who contradict the teachings in their self proclamations of authority, position, and power help or hinder those new to the text? Do they demonstrate the fruit of the spirit to the world? ….or bring reasoned doubt and confusion and obstacles to new readers, the public, and the future’s perspective of this truthbook? This group of self proclaimed and self anointed ones are charlatans or their victims or are self deluded for a season. They each and all have ample formats for expression. And those organizations which permit such false claims and practices suffer thereby in many ways.
It is my opinion that the Association has, does, and will flower a fragrant and attractive bloom for those who know the text and teachings well enough to transcend the immaturity and dysfunction of those who raise themselves up as the person and/or group which speaks for God to others. Fortune tellers, oracles, priests, self declared reservists….are not representative of the teachings and are not worthy to be teachers of that which they contradict. The Association asserts this and makes welcome all who wish to serve the dissemination of the Revelation itself and its teachings, especially those declaring the ministry of the Father’s, Mother’s, and Son’s Spirits directly to each and the divine sovereignty of the personal relationship of the each to the Creator….no mortal emissaries or middle man or spokespersons or diviners or interpreters or priests needed.
We will see this group eventuate into their own niches for those so inclined but their teachings and practices and proclamations have no place in the Association’s efforts of dissemination truth, beauty, and goodness as taught by the Revelation. The Association is that organization focused far more on servants activated by purpose than it is a membership group hoping for universal appeal and mere numbers of members. Quality is not quantity. How many times did the Master filter and refine and distill the larger group into the smaller activist corps of the faithful? Are we to worry about popularity in our work? Is our appeal to be “whatever” you believe or claim or do is okie-dokie? Did the other epochal revelations falter in the face of primitivism and popularism? No.
The Urantia Book says what it says and it don’t say what it don’t. On this issue, the text is clear and redundant. No priests. The policy in question merely proclaims this truth as clearly as it can and does indeed attract a vital corps of activists who strive together to disseminate the revelation to the world to allow it to speak for itself to others and deliver the blessings of knowledge, fact, and truth from those in charge of our world…not the words of mere mortals, self deluded into self proclamation! We shall see how long such a policy may be needed….but for now, it serves an important purpose of distinction. Or so I think.
Dear Rick and Brad, my brothers in this faith adventure,
Thanks for taking the time to reply, I know you both to be sincere in support of the Channeling Policy and I do wonder if you really hold a view that The Urantia Book will never achieve its intended purpose without it?
I happen to have full confidence in the combined wisdom of our universe family and the intended purpose of the United Midwayers of Urantia in giving us the gift of The Urantia Book. It has the power to appeal to sincere truth seekers sufficient unto itself.
As love is the desire to do good to others, I pray, you Brad, Rick, and myself included, love each other as brothers, and be exceedingly glad we can speak openly on a diverse range of topics secure that we all are united in spirit. Sons of the Father with the same destiny.
And by the way Rick, I wish to assure you I have no other agenda than to gain a deeper understanding of the teachings of The Urantia Book and become a living testimony of the truth discovered therein of which I’ve been a devoted student since I was 24 (42 years). I’m saddened that after so many years of working with you as an integral part of my Communications team, fostering a greater social awareness of the Fifth Epochal revelation, you should harbour such doubt and suspicion. Sorry to have failed your acceptance audition. I guess it will take an eternity for one brother to recognise the other. Lots of time still to establish friendship.
Bye bye, may you both continue to bear much fruit-of-the-spirit. I’ll leave you in peace and return to doing harmless stuff like posting the daily Thought Gems.
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