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<p class="MsoNormal"><br>
In his blog at </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://sentientdevelopments.blogspot.com/2007/07/transvision-2007-good-bad-and-ugly.html">http://sentientdevelopments.blogspot.com/2007/07/transvision-2007-good-bad-and-ugly.html</a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">George Dvorsky commented:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Now don’t get me wrong – I love the diversity and
the representation.
But at what point does it become less about transhumanism, progress and
responsible foresight and more about spreading the word of Mormon or
some other
leeching meme?”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Others at TV07, and also in the Mormon community,
and
elsewhere are wondering if this is some kind of joke that might be
published in
some humorous onion article or something.<span style="">
</span>So I figured I should try to clarify my position and belief on
this.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">George Continued:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Or am I somehow wrong about all of this – that
there’s a
bigger picture to consider?”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I do believe there is a much bigger picture here.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I was raised in the tight nit Mormon community.<span
style=""> </span>All my family and most of my friends are very
strong theistic Mormon.<span style=""> </span>Then I became an
atheist.<span style=""> </span>Despite what all other atheists
seemed to be saying to me, I didn’t want to leave this wonderful
community and
my family.<span style=""> </span>I still consider myself a
“cultural” Mormon, and think that many Mormons are funer to be with
than many
atheists.<span style=""> </span>They will certainly do more to
help you than most atheists, even if Mormons do have the quid pro quo
that you
might listen to their missionaries and come to church with them when
they help
you.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I’ve been diligently attempting to pull Mormons to
see the
Transhumanist POV for well over 15 years with little success other than
possibly “planting seeds”.<span style=""> </span>Then 3 years
ago we relocated to SLC.<span style=""> </span>I was surprised
to find a group of SLC Transhumanists large and committed enough to
form a local
WTA chapter and was excited when many of them wanted to do precisely
this.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There were a few other local “atheists”
Transhumanists like
me, and I wanted to call the group the Utah Transhumanist Association”
or
something, knowing that some of the other atheists wouldn’t be involved
with
the word “Mormon” in the name.<span style=""> </span>And these
atheist Transhumanists had no interest in doing any organization work
and
didn’t even participate in the discussion of what to call the group.<span
style=""> </span>So, obviously, the many willing to do the
work, and participate, out voted us in the decision to call us Mormon
Tranhumanists.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">George, what would have been your advice to me,
after having
been outvoted?<span style=""> </span>Be like the other local
atheist Tranhumanists, and use this as an excuse not to do the work
required to
help the group and move the Tranhumanist Mem forward?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">What are we anyway?<span style=""> </span>I
don’t like to consider myself a Republican, I don’t like to consider
myself a
democrat.<span style=""> </span>If I am only a cultural
Mormon, must I never belong to any group of Mormons?<span style=""> </span>Primitive
people, with their lack of ability
to communicate, didn’t have much choice other than just to join some
party
line, and just ignore any other difference they may have had.<span
style=""> </span>But today this is very different.<span style=""> </span>I
want to be a member of, and take all the
good from, all groups – while helping them see the problems I believe
their
beliefs have.<span style=""> </span>My goal with the
canonizer.com is to do precisely this.<span style=""> </span>Precisely
document just what it is everyone believes, in a way that is easily
contrastable
to everyone else.<span style=""> </span>Rather than saying
someone is an atheist, Transhumanist, democrat, or whatever, they will
soon be
able to specify just what it is they believe on any and all issues.<span
style=""> </span>No longer will they need to be in some party
that is merely close to what they believe.<span style="">
</span>The day of the hierarchy party line is gone.<span style=""> </span>Now
is the time for the networked with
everyone, educated, and able to communicate individual.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Most proud Transhumanists demand: My way or the
highway!<span style=""> </span>There is no group that fits,
precisely, what they believe.<span style=""> </span>So they
refuse to affiliate with any of them.<span style="">
</span>Splitting up into ever smaller groups until everyone is
individuals that
can do nothing.<span style=""> </span>They work on destroying
any other group that doesn’t believe as they do for fear that doing
anything
else may “dilute” what they want and “spread the word” of anything they
don’t
want.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">At least one speaker at TV07 said something like
it is crazy
to keep on doing the same thing, and expecting different results.<span
style=""> </span>Now that the MTA is by far the fastest
growing, best organized, and most active Transhumanist group anywhere
(after
one year ~15 paying members [10% of the WTA paying members], ~40 total
members,
and 40,000+ page hits on their site last month), I realized I have been
crazy to do this the same old unsuccessful way for over 15 years now. I
have fully converted
and
repented of the desire to call us “Utah Transhumanists” and believe
that the name
Mormon Transhumanist is a critical reason for our success, along with
all the
great dedication of so many missionary minded Mormons.<span style=""> </span>Those
two words together just demand that
people pay attention and it ends up sucking them in, even if they
disagree at
first, in very powerful ways!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Most atheists don’t seem to want to do any work to
organize
or help there brother.<span style=""> </span>But Mormons, on
the other hand, will humbly do anything required.<span style=""> </span>And
as far as that goes, unlike so many other
Transhumanists, I am definitely a Mormon, and love to be affiliated
with them!<span style=""> </span>But just because a few other
Transhumanists
seem to feel different, doesn’t mean I no longer want to consider
myself a Transhumanist.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Alone we are nothing.<span style="">
</span>Together we can do it all.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Brent Allsop</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<pre wrap="">
</pre>
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