Off tomorrow to the annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion being held this year in Montreal. I’m presenting a paper at the Transhumanism and Religion Consultation titled “Image-bearing Cyborgs? Hybridity and Hope in the Landscapes of Transhumanism”.

I’m still trying to reduce my finished paper in size. Still too long, but if I talk to my paper rather than read it verbatim it should be fine. However, I’ll spend some time on the place highlighting what might be summarized and then print out a shorter version at the hotel.

I’ll know a few more people there this year – as opposed to last year when I knew no-one – so I’m hoping to catch up with some of them over the conference.

A bunch of links to religion (esp. Christianity) and transhumanism can be found at this recent posting on the Sentient Developments blog.

See Sentient Developments: J. Hughes: Radical Life Extension, Transhumanism and Catholicism.

If you follow (or are interested in) things transhumanist, then it might pay to drop by the h+ magazine web site and see what they’re writing about. Latest issue is out at h+ Magazine Spring 2009 Issue.

I love anthologies of science fiction short stories – a chance to read new stories by familiar authors, as well as the opportunity to find out about new authors to follow up at the library. Just reading "Year’s Best SF 11" by David G. Hartwell & Kathryn Cramer which was published back in 2006, and really enjoyed the following stories.

A Case of Consilience by Ken MacLeod intentionally picks up on James Blish’s pondering of religion in outer space in A Case of Conscience (See Greenflame: Books from Blogs). You can read it over here.

Secondly, David Langford’s New Hope for the Dead deals with the issue of transhumanist uploading – and more particularly who pays for that, a point I rarely/never see written about in their literature. Again, you can read the story over here at New Hope for the Dead.

Ebru TV have a couple of interesting episodes online as part of their Matter and Beyond series.

See

• Ebru.TV :: Science and Religion
• Ebru.TV :: Exploring Transhumanism

Hat tip to: http://www.sentientdevelopments.com/2009/02/matter-and-beyond-explores.html

Back in June (2008) I pointed out that Metanexus’ Global Spiral publication had a special issue on transhumanism – see Greenflame · Metanexus Global Spiral – Special Issue on Transhumanism.

Apparently this generated some pointed comment from the transhumanist community.

• Sentient Developments: Guest Blogger: Russell Blackford: How to avoid a spiral of nonsense; or, the transhumanists strike back.
• Sentient Developments: Transhumanists given opportunity to answer critics on The Global Spiral

Anyway, Global Spiral’s current issue has a series of responses from transhumanists. You can read them at Global Spiral :: H+:Transhumanism Answers Its Critics (Feb 2009).

Interview: Jason Silva on How Science Will Make You Live Forever looks at scientific ‘salvation’ stories.

Besides, by labeling death a problem, it shifts our complacent attitude about death and turns it into an engineering problem, one that we can solve, much as we have solved impossible problems in the past.

The film referred to in the article is available on YouTube at YouTube – THE IMMORTALISTS – a short film

Related films – YouTube – Quest for immortality (New Scientist) and Do You Want To Live Forever? (Channel 4).

See also: Greenflame · Death, bioethics and transhumanism

An article looking at the relationship between transhumanism and religion from the side of a transhumanist (and also an MP3 of the paper being delivered). See Sentient Developments: James Hughes: Transhumanism and Religion.

Related links:

• Religion and Transhumanism Special Issue (Volume 14 Issue 2)
• Program Information – Changesurfer Radio: Co-Creator Theology|A-Infos Radio Project

Interesting news article looking at Matrine Rothlatt’s perspective on digital immortality. See Virtual immortality — baltimoresun.com

Terasemfaith.org, the Internet home base for Terasem Movement Transreligion Inc., describes Rothblatt’s religion as one that believes “God emerges as technology becomes increasingly omnipresent, omniscient, omnificient and omnipotent,” and that “technology will soon enable joyful immortality.”

Related links – the film transbemanmovie: About TransBeMan which Rothlatt is involved in and Greenflame · Search results for immortality.

I really enjoyed the AAR session “Religion and Transhumanism” I was presenting at. They were four of us presenting (see below) and the three other presentations were really good. I especially appreciated Jennifer’s material critiquing biases relating to gender and disability in transhumanist literature. (You can see the full blurbs for the talks here – just scroll down to “A1-134 Transhumanism and Religion Consultation – Theme: Perspectives on Human Enhancement”)

Returning to Eden: Reflections on the Transhumanist Vision of Extended Life with Respect to the Ascetic Tradition in the Desert Fathers

Todd Daly, Urbana Theological Seminary

The Glorified Body?: Transhumanist Dualism and Theological Anthropology

Jennifer Thweatt-Bates, Princeton Theological Seminary

Brain Uploading: The Transhumanist Quest for Immortality

Philip Douglas, Michigan State University

Constructing a Theology of Technology in Response to Transhumanism

Stephen Garner, University of Auckland

Some good questions from people attending the session and it was good to meet others interested in the intersection of trans/post-humanism and religion.