Mormon Transhumanism: Keeping Mormonism Honest

Whether anyone likes it or not, people are going to be religious. People make up gods, place them on a mantle, and worship them through rituals and communion. There almost seems to be something embedded in our genetic code which requires us to make meaning out of our existence through religion, gods, and monsters. It’s just something humans do.

I am no exception. I happen to be religious. I thought I wasn’t religious because I didn’t go to church regularly, say my prayers in the proscribed manner, participate in communal rituals, or share in literalistic interpretations. I didn’t do these things as much as I used to and just assumed I was non-religious, despite still having deeply held religious beliefs. I was wrong.

The rituals I once participated in didn’t fulfill me. They felt like a series of well-meaning, but somewhat irrelevant commands. Eat this. Drink this. Make this covenant with these words. Put your hand in this position. Don’t drink that, or that, or that. Don’t have sex with that gender. Have sex with this gender. Pray this way. Close your eyes and bow your head. Wear this underwear. Wear these clothes. Make babies and raise children. Religion in many ways felt like a series of commands which left me dissatisfied. To be clear, there’s nothing wrong with following a religious social code which brings you meaning and happiness, but is there more to Mormonism than a series of do’s and don’ts?

Joseph Smith, founder of Mormonism, had similar struggles in his faith journey. His previous religious tradition left him dissatisfied. He yearned for something more. When Joseph Smith wanted to know which church he should join, he was instructed by two heavenly persons to not join any of them. [1]  Instead, he should wait to receive further revelation and would eventually establish a religion which would house roughly 500 different sects and captivate millions of members. 

Forgive me for sounding like Joseph Smith, but for me, none of the churches are true. At least not true enough. Strangely, like Joseph Smith, I sought to find my own purpose and meaning, and it too was predicated on my previous tradition. I found myself intellectually seduced by an idea strikingly parallel to my previous faith, and that idea was transhumanism. What I didn’t know at the time was that transhumanism was just the honest expression of my Mormonism―the authentic Mormonism that lay dormant under the surface. I was no longer interested in being a victim of the zeitgeist of do’s and don’ts, but a creator of the zeitgeist.

While some might consider transhumanism to be specifically a secular or naturalist movement free of religious influence, they would be mistaken. Functionally speaking, transhumanism is a lot like religion. While the names of the characters are different than those in Mormonism or Christianity, functionally the narrative is quite similar. It operates on faith just like any other religion in that transhumanists must believe in things which are not true but can be made true. Without the belief that mortality can be overcome, it makes it difficult, if not impossible, for mortality to actually be overcome. There are prophets, apostles, evangelists, and teachers, only transhumanists call them philosophers, technologists, futurists, and authors. The story’s theme is strikingly similar―salvation from everlasting death. However, in order to be saved we must work. After all, faith without works is dead.

Transhumanism is poised to radically change the course of spiritual religions, because it offers something other religions don’t―an intellectually plausible shot at immortality, resurrection, and miracles inside the natural world right here on earth. The results aren’t reserved for after death granted by a supernatural God in a metaphysical paradise. Results are right here, in this life, on this earth, with the natural elements of the universe.

My fellow Latter-day Saints might be scoffing at the paragraph above and thinking, “That’s not exclusive to transhumanism. My religion offers me the exact same thing. Salvation in the material world complete with immortality and resurrection without the metaphysical nonsense. In fact, we may not even need death. Have you heard of transfiguration? Have you heard of the three Nephites?”

If this is you, you would be right. Mormonism has the same guarantee. However, it’s strange that I need to say this, but temple work alone is not enough to fulfill these prophecies. Don’t get me wrong, sealings are beautiful and important to me. After all these years, I still treasure my sealing to my husband. This isn’t to say Mormonism, along with other myths and theologies, isn’t useful or catalysts in the process of heaven-making. It just means transhumanism keeps our prayers, rituals, and prophecies honest. Are we keeping our prayers honest with our works?[2] Are we keeping our prophets honest by ushering Christ into the world? Mormon transhumanism means keeping Mormonism honest.

Transhumanism is like other religions in that there are good guys and bad guys. In my religion there are multiple bad guys. Not just one, but many. Some of them are called hate, indifference, prejudice, racism, sexism, heterosexism, cissexism, speciesism, overconsumption, ignorance, slothfulness, greed, and oppression. Some of these bad guys target other populations more than others. However, there is one bad guy who rules over all the other bad guys.

If my religion were a video game, the boss level bad guy would be Death. Death is the ultimate oppressor. A considerable amount of my work is aimed at dismantling systems of oppression, and Death is unlike any other oppressor. Death is the oppressor everyone is running from. Death is an oppressor who doesn’t eat, sleep, or drink. It doesn’t stop to catch its breath. It doesn’t love or hate you. It doesn’t care about vengeance or mercy. Death has one objective―to exterminate and consume Life. Death comes for all of us. Death may come to white people later than people of color. Death may come for a rich business tycoon later than the starved and destitute. Death may come by LGBTQ+ suicide or simply the slow decay of our aging bodies, but eventually, Death has its way with us whether we like it or not. We all know this.

Transhumanists are often accused of being death-deniers, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Transhumanists aren’t denying the bad guy is chasing after us. Transhumanists are the ones who dared to turn around, look at Death in the eyes and say, “No.” We’re not denying Death. We’re denying Death’s unchecked tyranny over our minds and bodies―not simply through myth, but action. There’s a difference.

This is one reason why so many religious folks love Jesus. He beat the bad guy(!)―the legendary, boss-level, no-stops bad guy! Jesus, a Jewish armed with love and divine nature, beat Death. Enthusiasts were ready to worship Jesus and take his example to new heights. They called themselves Christians. Jesus didn’t just beat Death for himself, but for everyone else too. A savior was provided to show us the way. Those who believed in him will have eternal life[3], but not only that, those who join him in the body of Christ are called to do the works he did and accomplish works even greater than his.[4] Jesus is literally inviting us to raise Lazarus from the dead with him.[5] Jesus called himself and us “gods”[6] and I don’t think that label should be taken lightly. To defeat a boss-level bad guy, we need a boss-level good guy. Jesus is the boss-level good guy who showed us the way and promised us the impossible could be achieved.

Even though Jesus was half-human and half-God, he didn’t use a cheat code to get to the boss-level. No. He went through every level of progression just like we must, and suffered every pain imaginable.[7] We don’t get to just pray our way to salvation or hope that someone else will impinge on our agency and save ourselves and our planet from our own slothfulness,[8] ignorance,[9] and procrastination.[10] Jesus beat the game and he didn’t use cheat code. Neither can we. We must actually work, atone with one another, and become Christs ourselves.

Jesus is the example, and though we are only human, we also have the seeds of divinity within us. We are not doing this work alone. This is the promise of our prophets. We come from and are destined for divinity. If we sincerely believe in our prophets, myths, legends, religions, and theology we must take the necessary steps into making it a reality―not simply by temple ritual alone but saving our loved ones’ from Death’s grip. God and Jesus aren’t going to save us from religious arrogance,[11] apathy toward Death,[12] or ignorance.[13] Whose test did you think this was? Are we keeping Mormonism honest?

This life wasn’t given to us to procrastinate the day of our salvation[14] into another life. Yes, we have been counseled to prepare for eternity, but don’t forget eternity is now. Eternity is yesterday, today, and tomorrow. This life, right here and now, is all part of this abstract concept of eternity. Yet there are still too many who mistakenly preach the falsity that eternity begins after death. Those who suggest that death is the gateway to their salvation are not so different from those who chant, “Eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die.” They delight in worshiping Death because they mistake Death as their salvation and path to eternity. It is the “it will all be fixed after we die” attitude that truly could be the death of us all.

Let us rise to divinity. Our glory and deification is a path of our own choosing.[15] We are free agents.[16] The degree of glory we receive depends on us. [17] I like the way Elder Uchtdorf put it in his conference talk, “There is too much at stake for us as individuals, as families, and as Christ’s Church to give only a halfhearted effort to this sacred work. Being a disciple of Jesus Christ is not an effort of once a week or once a day. It is an effort of once and for all.” [18]

Let us keep our prophecies honest. Let’s keep our scriptures honest. Let’s keep our prayers and rituals honest. Mostly, let’s keep Mormonism honest. Mormonism is far more than a mundane series of do’s and don’ts. Mormonism is a guide to our destined divinity if we so choose.

NOTES AND CITATIONS

[1] Joseph Smith History 1:26

[2] Proverbs 10:4

[3] John 3:16

[4] John 14:12

[5] John 11

[6] John 10: 34-37

[7] Luke 16:10

[8] Proverbs 14:23

[9] Doctrine and Covenants 131:6

[10] Alma 34:33-35

[11] Luke 11:14

[12] Isaiah 22: 12-15

[13] Doctrine and Covenants 131:6

[14] Alma 34:33-35

[15] 2 Nephi 2:27

[16] Moses 7:32

[17] Doctrine and Covenants 137:9

[18] Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “Are you Sleeping Through the Restoration?,” April 2014