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<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'>Broderick copied one of his
messages to me and so I checked out these postings. I am the professor
who sent the American Academy of Religion (AAR) call for papers out beyond AAR
and am the chair of the session in question. Mike and BillK on your list
had it about right, though I wouldn’t say “anything”
goes. We are a scholarly society and use critical method (e.g.
historical, literary) to ply our trade, so the society promotes rational
analysis of religious phenomenon. As noted in the postings, there are
plenty of atheists and agnostics in the AAR group, as well as plenty of
scholars of religions other than Christianity. As for the session in
question, as a steering committee we have no agenda for or against H+, and
varying views are held by individual members of the steering committee.
Our committee goal is to foster a thoughtful discussion about transhumanism and
religion. The “Transhumanism and Religion” session is one
year old and emerged out of two years of wildcard sessions that focused on
radical life extension and religion. I brought in Aubrey de Grey those
first two years to summarize a scientific perspective for the audience before
we moved into the papers on religion and radical life extension. I am
co-editing a book of original papers on the topic to be published in the fall
by Palgrave Macmillan. The book will contain papers from different
religions and Aubrey writes one of the scientific introductory chapters.
Some of the authors are for and some against extreme longevity programs.
There was no litmus test in choosing the authors. My goal in the AAR
session, the book, and other projects is to forward the conversation about
these issues among scholars of religion, and ultimately, among the faith
communities and have it done without the antiscience biases that I agree comes
with fundamentalist orientation. Oh yes, Spike, as for being a
“quiet infliltrator,” no need for that strategy in this
group. As a former Christian fundamentalist now converted to atheism,
you’d be most welcome and you’d be hard pressed to find a
fundamentalist around anywhere if you attend the AAR meetings. And
Keith’s paper on “would H+ mean the end of religion” would be
evaluated in a blind review process like all proposals, and if it is
well-argued would be as well-received as any other I think.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:black'>Calvin Mercer, Ph.D.</span></b><span style='color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:black'>Co-Director, Religious Studies Program</span></b><span
style='color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:black'>East Carolina University</span></b><span style='color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:black'>Greenville, NC 27858 USA</span></b><span
style='color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:black'>252 328 4310 (off & vm)</span></b><span style='color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:black'>252 328 6301 (fax)</span></b><span style='color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:black'><a href="mailto:mercerc@ecu.edu"><b><span style='color:blue'>mercerc@ecu.edu</span></b></a></span><span
style='color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";
color:black'><a href="http://www.ecu.edu/religionprogram"><b><span
style='color:blue'>www.ecu.edu/religionprogram</span></b></a></span><span
style='color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
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