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I remember being told in my youth that God saw everything we did, and that when we did wrong His spirit would go away. I know variations on this are common teachings, and it did cause me a little distress at times, knowing that God saw the things I had done wrong and would judge me for it. But God was pretty impersonal for me, despite intellectually believing in Him as my father, so the impact never lasted long. It didn't make me choose right, although it did likely foster feelings of shame. The shame of being watched really hit home when I thought about the spirits of my Mormon ancestors and children to be floating around and caring about my welfare. It was always presented that way -- they were cheering me on to make good choices -- but it was a whole lot more emotional to imagine them watching me as I obsessed over a lingerie catalog, and I couldn't help but make the connection.

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I was very sad when I heard of the terrorist attack against the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo on January 7. I have been in the Middle East many times, and I only had good experiences with Muslims, but it seems that the Western and Islamic civilizations are on a violent collision course, and nothing good can come from that.

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I love windy days. They remind me to have faith in the beauty of things I can’t see. Though the wind is intangible I can feel it all around me, and though I can’t see it I can see continual evidence of its presence. I believe the same is true of God.

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The Mormon Transhumanist Association is pleased to announce that it has appointed Dorothy Deasy to serve as Chief Humanitarian Officer. Dorothy will continue to serve in her positions as board member and secretary of the board. Humanitarian managers, Hank Pellissier and Roger Hansen, will also continue to serve in their positions.

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Two board members of the Mormon Transhumanist Association, Christopher Bradford and Dorothy Deasy, will present papers at Samford University’s Transhumanism and the Church conference. The conference will take place on September 24-26 in Birmingham, Alabama. Bradford’s talk is titled “Transhumanism as Grace: God's Hand in the Radical Remaking of Human Nature.” Deasy’s presentation is titled “The Narrow Gate: Vulnerability in a Transhuman Age.” The conference is open to those who wish to attend. More information on the conference may be found here:

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One day we’ll know how our universe came into existence, and how such complexity was accomplished with such basic materials over so vast a space-time. We may even be able to recreate such complexity. We have made tiny accomplishments towards that end, making small simulated environments that are very well defined and static (as in CGI movies), and making other amazingly vast dynamic worlds with extremely simple rendering (such as Minecraft). At some point on this car ride to Creator status, we’ll start asking, “Are we there yet?” Well, we can start asking now. And the answer may be that we are almost there. Case in point: No Man’s Sky.

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So much angst in debates either for or against religion comes from pitting a dogmatic pre-secular attitude towards religion against reductive secular-only world-views. Often both see no possible way forward. And if religion can only ever be pre-secular and if secularly-informed world views can only ever be secular-reductive then perhaps that might be the case. But between these two extremes there lies a faith which delights in the truths gained through honest secular endeavors but that still acknowledges the reality and power of God.

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At almost any minute of any day, your life could change drastically. Our bodies are fragile, our destinies determined second-by-second. Snap your fingers. That’s how suddenly what you have come to expect for yourself, or a member of your family, could change as the result of an illness or accident. What would it mean in terms of work, mobility, relationship, identity? How quickly or slowly would you adapt to a drastically new state of reality?

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Pilate asked, "What is truth?"

At the time of writing, The Transfigurist didn’t have a comment system yet, but the essays published had been shared on various social networks and stimulated interesting discussions. I found a comment from a respected friend to my essay “Religion Fiction Inspires Real Religion” very interesting, and worth replying to in detail.

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A Thoughtful Faith podcast interviewed Lincoln Cannon on Mormon Transhumanism and becoming one in the body of Christ.

A Thoughtful Faith features the stories and perspectives of intelligent, thoughtful believers who maintain a strong faith in Mormonism despite their awareness of and/or struggles with common challenges and issues. Its hope is to model potential paths for individuals in faith transition or crisis that allow them to maintain faith, as well as provide resources for thoughtful believers everywhere.