PHIL:Extropianism and Theology

Delvieron@aol.com
Mon, 1 Mar 1999 21:58:18 EST

Adrian,

Thanks again. Let me see if the points you have made fit my concept of an Extropian friendly theology...

  1. Cosmic Chain of Being...not sure what you mean by this, so please elaborate.
  2. This point is stated as dogma as opposed to theory. I believe it would be more of an Extropian statement with much the same substance if it were worded in this way: It is possible that at some point in the future our progeny will develop understanding and control of biology, matter, energy, space and time; in effect become omniscient. If so, these descendents might then become God, a God capable of existing throughout time.
  3. Evil = Violent Crime, Bad = Property Crime, Good = Everything Else. Are you using crime in the legal sense? Well, I would say that in spirit this does not contradict the Extropian Principles, but I would recommend expanding on this point to make clearer what you define as Good, Evil, and Bad. Also, what is meant by Removal from Society?
  4. Again, I think you are being positivist in your tone. Just "will" to "might". By the way, what is the CME?
  5. "We are all equal before God, but we are each unique." Okay, this is a nice statement, but does it contradict your previous statement of removal of those who commit evil from society? Then they would not be equal.

Moral Laws:
Your moral laws seem not unreasonable from the perspective of the Extropian principles assuming that they are adopted by concensus as opposed to being imposed on the basis of some authority. Although, punishment of the Bad should in some respect have an extropic end, such as discouraging the imposition of entropy upon others. And by the defeat of Evil, do you mean the ending of Evil actions, or of those who have committed Evil? The most extropian of your Moral Laws I would say is the one which states, "Since we can only see what we're looking at, we must respect others' points of view." This statement I believe upholds the Extropian Principles of Open Society, Self-Direction, and Rational Thinking.

Sacred Duties:
I don't know that Extropianism is compatible with imposed duties. I believe you could endorse all the duties listed as things you find desirable and would encourage others to do, but do not believe it would be in keeping with the Extropian Principles to list them as Duties.

Other Religions:

I think as written this statement on other Religions is not supported. You need to show through Rational Thinking that Religions are indeed vital, and why it would be of value to recreate their concepts of the Afterlife. It would be better to state that you would attempt to resurrect everyone who has lived and allow them to use future technology to create those Afterlifes for themselves if that is what they so wish. Don't know that many will want to recreate Hell if the only people in it are there voluntarily.

Now, these are simply critiques based on my understanding of what you have written and my understanding of the Extropian Principles as written. I am certain that there are others who would interpret both differently, but I hope that you find my thoughts useful. Basically, I would recommend a less dogmatic presentation, as opposed to any particular changes in substance. If you do that, you might just have a (but by no means the only) theology compatible with Extropy.

Glen Finney