IMAGE: PHOTO OF CLASSICAL PAINTING WITH TWO WOMEN

In response to recent LDS Church policy changes related to children of LGBT parents, a kind and well-meaning friend commented on the outpouring of reactions.

IMAGE: PHOTO OF ZOLTAN ISTVAN

All publicity is good publicity.

That maxim couldn’t be truer when it comes to transhumanism’s crossover with the presidential campaign cycle.

So thank you, Zoltan Istvan, wrong as you are.

IMAGE: PHOTO OF MTA LOGO

The Mormon Transhumanist Association is pleased to announce that next year's annual conference will take place on Saturday, 9 April 2016, at the Provo City Library.

Our transhumanist keynote speaker will be Eric Steinhart, author of Your Digital Afterlives: Computational Theories of Life after Death and professor in the Department of Philosophy at William Paterson University. Eric holds degrees in computer science and philosophy and has previously worked as a software engineer. He has written extensively on Nietzsche, metaphor, computing, technology, and religion. Our Mormon keynote speaker will be announced later.

IMAGE: PHOTO OF JESUS PAITING

I would like to share a new perspective on priesthood: that of a Mormon Feminist Transhumanist. Although some may criticize me and my minority position in our vulnerability, I feel it is important to offer this perspective with authenticity and honesty.

IMAGE: PHOTO OF CLASSICAL ART MAN

We are admonished in the scriptures to let our will be swallowed up in the will of God, suggesting that our desires can only be inferior to God's, whose desires for us far surpass our own. There is certainly something right about this; if our concept of God does not acknowledge the superiority of divinity to humanity, we are merely worshipping ourselves.

IMAGE: PHOTO OF CARL YOUNGBLOOD

Carl Youngblood, VP and COO of the MTA, was recently interviewed by James Patterson of A Thoughtful Faith podcast. The interview touches on transhumanism and Carl's involvement in the Mormon Transhumanist Association, as well as his research on how Mormon narratives can be demythologized in our post-secular era to revitalize faith.

IMAGE: PHOTO OF STARRY SKY AND PERSON

If theism is simply belief in God or Gods, then I am clearly a theist. What flavor of theism is more complex, and I don't know the closest words, but I believe in a very Mormon structure of families of Gods going back in time perhaps longer than we can imagine. But look for a moment at this definition of atheism from Michael Shermer:

IMAGE: PHOTO OF OUTER SPACE GALAXY

Funny how the lessons of life recur. We see them in one form, glean insights, and years later in a different guise. We build lesson upon lesson and are architects of sorts. From where do the raw materials stem? From where do the lessons which become our personal thesis arise?

IMAGE: PHOTO OF WOMAN PRAYING

While reading some comments on social media concerning prayer, I’ve found that too many of my fellow believers and non-believers have sorely lost sight of the function of prayer.

IMAGE: PHOTO OF WOMAN SELECTING FRUIT AT MARKET

The futurist Ray Kurzweil is not only famous for consistently predicting a technological singularity within decades, but also for his unusual habit of consuming more than 250 supplements per day in an attempt to live to see it. His logic: that if one can live long enough to witness the singularity, one may achieve "longevity escape velocity" and, perhaps, biological immortality (not to mention conscious immortality via mind uploading). While most professing transhumanists cannot afford Kurzweil's fountain-of-youth cocktail, there are many practical, evidence-based interventions that can extend our lives and health.