IMAGE: PHOTO OF MONKEY ON A LION

When I first began my circular questioning, asking what Gods within nature would look like, and what kind of cosmos would result in the Gods I believe in from scripture, I had no idea how much it would change my understanding of theology. Perhaps the strangest thing is the beautiful imperfections I now see in the heavens.

IMAGE: PHOTO OF 2016 MTA CONFERENCE

Registration now for the 2016 Conference of the Mormon Transhumanist Association!

The 2016 Conference of the Mormon Transhumanist Association will be held on Saturday 9 April 2016 from 9:00am to 9:00pm in Provo, Utah, at the Provo City Library. Speakers will present on the themes of Mormonism, Transhumanism and Transfigurism, with particular attention to topics at the intersection of technology, spirituality, science and religion. The conference is open to the public.

IMAGE: PHOTO OF MORMON BILLBOARD

Mormons and Modernism: Modernism, Secularism — and the Mormon Response?

Thinkers as diverse as Charles Taylor, Marcel Gauchet, John Milbank, Mark Lilla, and Louis Dupré have written about the origins of the modern period—the radical change in thought and society from the medieval period to the modern that occurred gradually and culminated in the sixteenth century. Modernism brought us the renaissance, modern science, the birth of the modern state and democracy, as well as, ultimately, what Nietzsche called “the death of God.” In the twentieth century, questions arose about modernism, such as “How should we understand its grand narratives?” and “What have been its costs to human being?” Recognizing both modernism’s difficulties and achievements, if we cannot think against or beyond modernism, can with think within it?

IMAGE: PHOTO UNAVAILABLE

Long live Han Solo. We love the space pirate. That’s because he was a reluctant hero.

IMAGE: PHOTO OF LINCOLN CANNON

Lincoln Cannon, president of the Mormon Transhumanist Association, is featured at Ozy in an article on “The Intersection of Tech and Church“, part of a series that explores the Big Ideas shaping our tech-driven future.

IMAGE: PHOTO OF HUMAN EVOLUTION

Whether humankind began among higher apes or as enlightened, ensouled images of God, one thing is clear to me: as long as humankind has existed, it has been transhumankind. What that means is that to be human is to continue to evolve, not just biologically as critters do, but mentally and techno-organically. This isn’t generally acknowledged. An unspoken assumption pervades our discussions on transhumanism: that our foray into merging with technology and changing humanity into something new is somewhat recent, a product of the Information Age or, at most, the Industrial one.

IMAGE: PHOTO OF WOMAN IN LIGHTS

This post is part of a series of personal narratives written by members of the Mormon Transhumanist Association. Each tells their story of how they became a Transhumanist. Guest: Andrea Loper Johnson.

Now that I have your attention ...

IMAGE: PHOTO OF MICHAEL LATORRA

My friend Michael LaTorra, an ordained Zen priest and the abbot of the Zen Center of Las Cruces, New Mexico, has written a short, simple and readable introduction to Buddhist Transhumanism. The article was published in Theology and Science in April with the title “What Is Buddhist Transhumanism?”

IMAGE: PHOTO OF MTA LOGO

Dear members and friends of the Mormon Transhumanist Association,

You're invited to join me in giving a gift to the Mormon Transhumanist Association this Christmas season. We have just received an offer from another generous member to match your donation this year up to $3000!

IMAGE: PHOTO OF SHEET MUSIC

I don't know what I think about Jesus, sometimes. I'm clearly a believer -- a believer in his life, in the resurrection, in the atonement, in salvation and exaltation, in his hard moral teachings. But sometimes the ways I believe in these things seem so different from how I understood them before that some might not recognize them as Mormon.