A correction to the ‘Dry Mormon’ story

ExtraNewsfeed has a nice story on the Mormon Transhumanist Association, titled “Heard of a ‘dry Mormon?’ Turns out, there were quite a few ‘dry Mormon’… transhumanists.” I wish to make one little correction.

I had to google “dry Mormon,” which seems to mean “A person who acts like a Mormon (hangs out with Mormons, has the lifestyle and values of a Mormon) but is not a Mormon. This type of person is usually part of a different sect of Christianity and believes in things like not consuming drugs that affect the body (i.e. alcohol, caffeine), abstaining from premarital sex, and being an active part of his/her community.”

The story mentions me as one who “came out” as a believer in Catholicism, the faith of his youth, while keynoting the 2012 MTA conference.

But I didn’t say that.

I said that I believe in God, which is not the same thing. In fact, I don’t really identify as a Catholic as opposed to, for example, a Mormon or a member of “a different sect of Christianity.”

Also, I don’t care for the petty lifestyle prescriptions found in the Catholic Church, the Mormon Church, and most religions that I’m aware of.

I do consume drugs that affect my body. Caffeine, for sure. Alcohol, not that much these days, but I am (God forbid) a filthy and unrepentant smoker, of all things. I didn’t use to abstain from premarital sex either.

According to the definition above, I guess that makes me a “wet Christian.”

My religion in a nutshell: I am persuaded that we will go to the stars and find Gods, build Gods, become Gods, and resurrect the dead from the past with advanced science, space-time engineering and “time magic.” I see God emerging from the community of advanced forms of life and civilizations in the universe, and able to influence space-time events anywhere, anytime, perhaps even here and now. I also expect God to elevate love and compassion to the status of fundamental forces, key drivers for the evolution of the universe.

But my God is not interested in the petty details of our daily life, as long as we act with love and compassion. My God has no interest in what you do with your genitals, or with whom, as long as you act with compassion and love. My God has no interest in what and when I eat, or drink, or smoke, or inhale, as long as I act with love and compassion. My God has no preference for one or another nation, religion, ethnic group, gender, or sport team. My God is very, very, very far above these things.

The passages above are from my essay “Cosmology is not geography,” written at the 2014 MTA conference. I appreciate theology, religious metaphysics and eschatology, the quest for cosmic sense of wonder, meaning, and God. I call all that “cosmology” as opposed to “geography.”

But many religions have really petty, extremely provincial “geographical” aspects related to what and when one should eat or drink or what sex is allowed and with whom. I don’t care for that stuff at all. It isn’t even geography — it’s local zoning norms, often questionable, sometimes ugly.

I am frustrated by seeing that so many people seem more interested in geography than cosmology. Please read “Cosmology is not geography,” and let me know where you stand.

In the picture I am with a group of Mormon/Christian transhumanists at a recent MTA conference.