The Beliefs of the Transhumanist Church

In response to a post on this board I have started a new thread detailing the beliefs of the Transhumanist Church. We are a religious organization that brings together the ideas of Humanism, Transhumanism, Cryonics, and Universal Immortalism into one all encompassing belief structure. We are a small movement, in the infancy of our development, but feel that there is a need for our message. While many have eloquently argued the merits and logic of our positions, we feel that there is still a need to place this all in a religious context. Religion and faith rule the lives of the vast majority of the people on this planet. We feel this is something to embrace, not to try and tear down.

But that does not mean that we must resort to metaphysical or supernatural foundations for our faith. Reason and rationality guide our positions. We are an ever evolving organization, shaped by new ideas and discoveries. Ultimate truth is a moving target, and we hope to come closer to it with each passing day.

What follows is the initial draft of our beliefs. I invite all to comment on it. If you feel moved by what follows, and would like to have an active part in developing our faith further, I encourage you to join the Transhumanist Church. The adventure is just beginning!

Tripper McCarthy
President, Transhumanist Church
www.transhumanistchurch.org

The Beliefs of the Transhumanist Church

We have a soul and it is informational in nature.

The soul, by definition, is the center of our being, the essence of who we are. In most religious systems the soul is seen as a metaphysical entity not of this world. We do not accept the supernatural definition of the soul, and instead provide a rational, scientific definition of what constitutes our soul.

To us the soul does exist, but it is not supernatural. The memories we have, the thoughts we consider, the emotions we feel; these form the essence of who we are. For without these qualities we would cease to be us. And there need be no supernatural explanation for these qualities. These memories and processes are stored in the brain biologically as information. There is no metaphysical or 'otherworldly' quality to this. It is simply akin to software running on a vastly complex computer. And like software, it is the pattern of information that is important, not the medium it resides on. Our soul may arise from the structure of our brain, but it need not be reliant upon it.

The aim of life is to grow and improve ourselves and our 'Community'. This is a continual process with no end.

We embrace the ideas of Humanism. We must all strive to live meaningful and ethical lives while supporting the rights of others to do so as well. Self-improvement should be the center of our lives. We must strive to maximize and enhance the good qualities in our human nature (i.e. compassion, love, understanding, tolerance), while minimizing (and even eliminating) the bad ones (i.e. hatred, jealousy, envy, closed mindedness).

We understand that no person lives in isolation and that we all belong to a greater 'Community'. This community consists not only of other human beings, but life as a whole. We have a responsibility to improve both our own lives, and the overall welfare of the entire community of life.

The process of growth and self-improvement, for both the individual and our community, is one that has no limit. There will always be new challenges to conquer, new ideas to explore, and new ways to improve our nature. This should not sadden us; the thought that we will never reach a pinnacle or perfect state. Instead it should fill us with happiness and joy. For it is the path we follow, and not the destination, that fills our lives with meaning and purpose. And this path will extend to the very limits of time itself.

We are our own saviors.

We cannot rely on supernatural or external forces to guide us on our journey. Responsibility is on our shoulders to create the world we wish to live in. Ethics, morality, and other philosophical questions must have answers that we provide for ourselves through rational exploration. No 'higher' power or supernatural entity need be turned to for these answers.

Everyone must take part in this process, to the best of their abilities. It is our future and we all must lend a hand in its realization. To that end we believe in the free flow of information and ideas, and a direct participatory democracy in which all have an equal voice. By coming together as one, in an informed and rational manner, we can come up with the solutions to the problems that face us.

Reason, rational thought, and the scientific method are our tools in reaching our goals.

We reject divine inspiration and other metaphysical approaches to arriving at truth. Instead we rely on reason, rational thought, and the scientific method as our tools to guide us down our path. The past century has shown us some of the wonders we can achieve when we properly direct our efforts. But these tools can also lead us to destruction and chaos if put to the wrong use. We must be ever vigilant and hold to the tenets of our faith.

We must transcend beyond our current biological limits to ensure the continual growth and existence of our soul.

While our beliefs show us that there is no limit to the progress the individual can achieve, we do find that there are practical limits. The human body, while wondrous in its current form and function, is not designed to carry our growing souls forever. Age, disease, death, and the limited capacities of our body put an absolute limit on how much an individual can achieve.

But we believe that these limitations can, and will, be overcome. To continue our growth and self-improvement, we must transcend beyond our current biological limitations. Age, disease, and even death itself should be eliminated. Our biological form should be modified and enhanced to surpass these limits. It may even become desirable at some point to transcend beyond our biological form entirely into other forms of existence. But no matter what form we transcend ourselves into, we will always maintain our soul, the essence of who we are.

None of this is to be achieved through prayer or divine intervention. Instead we will be the architects of our new nature. Science and reason will lead us down the path to creating a new and better existence. Already we see the beginnings of this with organ transplants, artificial limbs, cloning and tissue engineering. With time on our side there should be no limit to what we can achieve. Our physical form will continue to evolve, through our own efforts, to keep pace with our ever-growing soul.

Preservation of our soul is paramount. Today this means cryonics.

Everything we are, everything we will ever be, is contained within our soul. Deep within the confines of our amazing brains our soul sits, encoded in the biological structure of neurons and neurochemicals. But this biological machine, as wondrous as it may be, is fragile. In a blink of an eye our entire existence can come to an end, the information melting away as the brain is destroyed.

When the Transhuman era arrives, we will be better able to protect and preserve the soul of our being. But as that time has not yet arrived, we must turn to other ways to preserve our existence. At this time the best viable option is cryonics.

We believe that after death the body can be kept in a form of biostasis through the process of cryonics. There our soul will sit, safe in the frozen structure of the brain, awaiting the Transhuman era when we can be revived. So strong is our belief in cryonics that it is a major prerequisite for joining our faith. It shows that one is sincerely committed to our ideals.

We must also look for other ways to complement or even replace cryonics as a method of preservation. For it is not the how that concerns us, but the why.

Universal Immortalism is one of the ultimate goals of existence.

All souls (past, present, and future) have a right to exist and grow and improve eternally. We regard it as a supreme tragedy that past souls have been lost and not preserved. To that end, we dedicate ourselves to finding a way one day to bringing back all persons that have ever lived, so that they can join us in our eternal adventure. This is the idea known as Universal Immortalism (R. Michael Perry - Forever for All).

Once again we hope to achieve this through scientific, rational means. Based on the informational concept of the soul, it may be possible to accurately recreate souls where all information about them has been lost. At this point though, we just don't know if it can be done. But that does not mean that we should not try, and it is our 'leap of faith' that one day we will succeed.