Post-biological Transfiguration
Dorothy Deasy interprets the Lucan Transfiguration account as an "action parable" with profound implications for transhumanism. She argues that transfiguration should be understood not merely as physical enhancement but as spiritual and communal transformation—a call to reshape society toward justice, inclusiveness, and compassion. As biotechnologies advance, Deasy contends that religious and humanist transhumanists bear a responsibility to ensure these developments benefit all people, guarding against exploitation and advocating for ethical standards that protect the marginalized and the voiceless.
Dorothy Deasy is a Methodist theologian currently pursuing a Master’s of Applied Theology from Merrill Hurst University. Her spiritual journey began later in life with an awakening experience triggered by her study of the historical Jesus. ¶ Deasy’s work explores the intersection of spirituality and technology, particularly examining the nature of religious experience in the context of rapidly advancing biotechnologies. She questions whether electronically or pharmacologically induced religious experiences hold the same value and significance as traditional spiritual engagement, emphasizing that true spirituality involves the incorporation of insights from peak experiences into daily life—a call to action and interconnectedness. ¶ Deasy posits that neuroscience, with discoveries like mirror neurons, increasingly supports the idea that empathy and sociability are fundamental aspects of human development. She argues against the dualistic separation of science and religion, suggesting that understanding the biological mechanisms behind transcendent experiences does not negate their profound meaning. Her research bridges the gap between scientific understanding and spiritual experience, relevant in an age where humanity has the potential to alter the human body and influence the very triggers of life.
Transcript
Speaker 1
Dorothy Deasy is a freelance design researcher specializing in. Strategic qualitative projects for new product development and branding. She’s currently working on an independent study of the societal meanings of empathy. She has a bachelor’s degree in industrial and organizational psychology. Dorothy is a Christian existentialist and a Methodist. She received her Master’s of Applied Theology in 2011, and her thesis topic was Theology for a Transhuman Age. She is an occasional contributor to the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, and she will speak to us on postbiological transfiguration.
Dorothy Deasy
It is with deep gratitude and indebtedness that I acknowledge the work of theologian John Dominick Crossan as the foundation and support for this paper.
Dorothy Deasy
Is transfiguration simply a byproduct of the science and medicine that frees us from the limits of our biology? In the next few minutes, using the key symbols within the Lucan Transfiguration account, I hope to show that Transfiguration may be viewed as a spiritual and communal transformation rather than simply a physical change. It is as much about the transfiguration of society as it is about the body.
Dorothy Deasy
The Gospel writers likely did not create the accounts of the transfiguration with transhumanism in mind. They could no sooner anticipate the transhuman age than we can fully grasp the world of the twenty-third century. Also, the Transfiguration is a story suggested of several forms, with strong eschatological overtones.
Dorothy Deasy
And here, quoting Crossan Israel’s covenantal faith was that a God of, quote, justice and righteousness had created the earth and chosen Israel to be a witness to a lifestyle of distributive justice. But Israel’s colonial experience was that the earth was thoroughly unjust and that Israel had received far more than its fair share of imperial justice. Israel reconciled its faith and its experience by insisting that God would someday, quote, in the days to come, end quote, make an end to the evil, injustice, oppression, war and violence here below upon a transformed earth.
Dorothy Deasy
Eschaton was not, repeat, not, about the destruction of the earth, but about the transfiguration of the earth The direction of eschaton was not from earth to heaven, but rather from heaven to earth.
Dorothy Deasy
To inform the post-biological age I’d like to use the Lucan account of the Transfiguration as an action parable to show Transfiguration as spiritual and in cooperating with the Divine. This from the Oxford, New Oxford Annotated Bible, Revised Standard Edition.
Dorothy Deasy
He took with him Peter and John and James and went up to the mountain to pray. And as he was praying, the appearance of his countenance was altered, and his raiment became dazzling white. And behold, two men talked with him Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was to accomplish at Jerusalem.
Dorothy Deasy
As we meet here on Good Friday, we recall that the departure referred to in this account is his crucifixion and death. Jesus was sentenced to death because the Christian movement was perceived as a threat to imperial rule. Jesus was seeking a restoration of social and economic justice.
Dorothy Deasy
His mission, and here again I’m quoting Crossan, was a challenge launched not just on a level of Judaism’s strictest purity regulation or even on the Mediterranean’s patriarchal combination of honor and shame, patronage and clientage, but at the most basic level of civilization’s eternal inclinations to draw lines, invoke boundaries, establish hierarchies and maintain discriminations. It did not invite a political revolution, but envisioned a social one No importance was given to the distinctions of Gentile and Jew, female and male, slave and free, poor and rich. And for today I would add gay and straight.
Dorothy Deasy
The transfiguration itself occurs as Jesus is praying. That he was praying clues us in that this is a mystical experience. The transfiguration stems from the spiritual realm.
Dorothy Deasy
During this experience, Jesus’ countenance is changed, reminiscent of how Moses’ face glowed after the encounter on Mount Sinai. And Jesus is seen In the presence of Moses. That symbolism is important because it alludes to Moses’ actions of bringing his people out of slavery and the contrast between slavery and the promise of the covenant.
Dorothy Deasy
Jesus also meets with Elijah. Elijah is a prophet whose feeding and healing miracles were similar to and predated those of Jesus. Craig Evans, in his article, Luke’s Use of Elijah Alicia Narratives and the Ethic of Election, says, quote, the references to the Elijah Alicia stories would indicate that even the Gentiles would receive the benefits of the blessings of the Messianic era.
Dorothy Deasy
Jesus, through his life, works, teaching, sought to establish a new paradigm. He contrasted the life of faith with an emphasis on sharing inclusiveness and wholeness against a political and economic system of oppression and poverty. When read as an action parable, the Transfiguration challenges us as followers and as co-creators to live from the paradigm of our prophets. It emphasizes freedom over slavery, abundance over poverty, and inclusiveness over marginalization. It speaks of the transfiguration of our society and social systems.
Dorothy Deasy
So what does that mean for us? Today, we have a greater capacity to manipulate the human body and other organisms than at any other time in history, ushering in changes that will no doubt transform society. We have gone beyond developing medication and vaccines to beginning to understand the neurochemical and genetic causes for disease. We create human, non-human chimera and have advanced on the road to synthetic biology. We are continuing to increase the human life span, tilting the possibility for radical life extension more towards science than fiction. In short, we have gone from being at the mercy of nature to being cocreators of life forms and species. The technologies that will allow us to transcend the limits of our biology have already begun to emerge.
Dorothy Deasy
A transformation of our society is also underway. Emerging alongside the technologies are issues of disparate access and the potential for exploitation.
Dorothy Deasy
We have yet to deal with the ethical issues arising from surrogacy, especially international surrogacy and egg harvesting. While some state legislation may protect surrogates in the U. S. , women in developing countries may be at increased risk of coercion.
Dorothy Deasy
Another prominent example is the ACLU court challenge to genetic patents, specifically the patents on the genetic mutations that cause breast cancer. According to the ACLU website, quote, the suit charges that the patents stifle diagnostic testing and research that could lead to cures and that they limit women’s options regarding their medical care.
Dorothy Deasy
We are beginning to question, test and challenge the line between nature and industrialization. Genetic material can be mined for commercial purposes. We are living in an age where corporations are legally considered people, but the very material that makes us who we are may be considered a product.
Dorothy Deasy
The genetics revolution is bound to bring about a boom for the economy and for helping address issues of food and energy shortages, as well as treatment for a wide range of diseases. Genetics research should continue and commercialism is likely to flow. At the same time, We need to create new models for the evaluation of the breakthroughs that recognize what I believe to be the inherently sacred nature of our DNA.
Dorothy Deasy
Bartha Knoppers, a professor of law at the University of Montreal, said, quote, the question is not so much, are we a resource, I think we are. I mean mothers breastfeed their children, people give blood, people give organs. We understand that our body can be useful for society and for others. The question is, how far do we go in recognizing that while we want to be useful, we want to participate. We don’t want to exploit. To trade in human DNA as if it were just another raw material is, at best, biological colonialism, and if abused, may come dangerously close to human trafficking.
Dorothy Deasy
The Department of Energy’s website states, quote, patents for stem cells for monkeys and other organisms have already been issued. Therefore, based on past court rulings, human embryonic stem cells are technically patentable. A lot of social and legal controversy has developed in response to the potential patentability of human stem cells. A major concern is that patents for human stem cells and human cloning techniques violate the principle against the ownership of human beings.
Dorothy Deasy
The spiritual component of transfiguration confers upon us responsibility for ensuring freedom and inclusiveness. As religious, spiritual and humanist transhumanists, we are called to transfigure not just ourselves, but our society as a whole. We have a responsibility to speak up for the voiceless, to advocate for guidelines and regulations that ensure true choice relative to adoption of biological technologies. We need to guard against developments that lead either to suffering or to diminishing the perceived value of the unenhanced.
Dorothy Deasy
Beyond U. S. regulation, we need to seek to establish global governing authorities and to draft and enforce ethical standards. And four, we must be on the forefront of developing new methods for valuation of research and innovation that do not simultaneously exclude the poor, the marginalized and the powerless. from the benefits of innovative discoveries.
Dorothy Deasy
A post biological age will allow us to be transfigured, but only if we can do so with empathy, compassion and justice for all.
Speaker 3
Sorry, I’ll shout. Um we had a talk earlier about compassionate obsolescence. Thanks. We had a talk earlier about compassionate obsolescence, and I’m wondering if you see religion as being the vehicle of choice moving forward to deliver these aesthetics? Or if you see religion itself having a compassionate phase of obsolescence?
Dorothy Deasy
Wow, that’s a really interesting question. I think, as other speakers have noted, that our moral and spiritual paradigms need to change and keep pace with our scientific and computational ones. If we resort to fundamentalism, then yes, there’s an obsolescence there. But I think we can continue to use spirituality as a way to inform us towards empathy and compassion.