The Mormon Transhumanist Association will sponsor a presentation of "The New God Argument" at the Sunstone Symposium on Saturday 9 August 8:45AM at the Sheraton Hotel in Salt Lake City. LINCOLN CANNON, M.B.A., founding member, director, and president of the Mormon Transhumanist Association; information technology specialist, primarily working in systems management JOSEPH WEST JR., founding member, director, and secretary of the Mormon Transhumanist Association; begins graduate study in sociology this fall at the University of Arizona In this session, we will present The New God Argument. Most philosophical arguments for God's existence have been aimed at justifying traditional Christian theology. However, Mormon theology, particularly as advocated by Joseph Smith near the end of his life, diverges from tradition to posit emergent gods that organize worlds from existing matter according to existing laws. Aiming at justifying Mormon theology, we have formulated a new argument for God's existence. The argument is based on assumptions widely shared among both secular and religious persons, is consistent with modern science and technological trends, and concludes that we should trust that our world probably is created by advanced life forms more benevolent than we are. We invite philosophers, theologians, scientists, technologists, and anyone interested in such matters to come with your most critical eyes and ears. We are very interested in feedback, and a good portion of this session will be devoted to questions and criticisms. Session Sponsor -- Mormon Transhumanist Association

The technology division of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has announced a program whose purpose is to publicly and formally celebrate the technical achievements of those who are sharing their skills with the Church. They want to ensure that those individuals who use their technical talents as a tremendous expression of their faith are acknowledged and encouraged. Learn more and nominate someone who you think has made a significant contribution to the LDS technical community by visiting [http://tech.lds.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=308&Itemid=5].

The July edition of the Mormon Transhumanist Association's monthly roundtable discussion has been cancelled. The Mormon Transhumanist Association will be hosting the next in their series of monthly round table discussions on 16 August 2008. Subsequent discussions will be held on the third Saturday of each month. August's discussion will be focused on The WNYC Radiolab podcast entitled "Morality." The podcast can be downloaded here. Andrew West, Director of the Mormon Transhumanist Association, will moderate the discussion. The event will be held in the conference hall of the Arnell-West building located at 3441 S 2200 W, Salt Lake City, Utah, just southeast of the E-Center. The discussion will begin at 7:00 PM Mountain Time. Light refreshments will be served.

On July 20 Philippe Van Nedervelde, Executive Director of the European Foresight Institute and a Founding Member and Architect of the Order of Cosmic Engineers, will give a talk in Second Life on “Awaken The Universe—Introducing the Order of Cosmic Engineers” at the Terasem 4th Annual Workshop on Geoethical Nanotechnology. The workshop will explore what geoethical management, if any, is appropriate for the nanotechnology necessary for cryonic revival and embodiment of downloaded cyber-consciousness. Reconstitution of human consciousness through cryonic revival or downloading cyber-consciousness into bio-nano bodies and similar vessels comes with its technological issues and problems. In addition to these technological issues, there are legal and oversight concerns related to the use of these yet-to-be defined technologies. The level of management and oversight required for these technologies are the focus of these sessions. This virtual workshop will be held July 20th on Terasem Island in Second Life, an on-line virtual community, beginning at 1:00 PM and concluding at 4:00 PM EST. All workshop proceedings are open to the public via real-time webcasting and are subsequently archived online for free public access. The public is invited to attend. Click here for the Second Life teleport location. In the picture above, the 4 statues representing the 4 NBIC convergence pillars and the golden infinity sign on the Terasem island. Speakers: Doug Mulhall - What Happened to the Committee on Advances in Technology and the Prevention of the Application to Next Generation Bioterrorism and Biowarfare Threats?; Philippe Van Nedervelde - Awaken The Universe—Introducing the Order of Cosmic Engineers; Catherine Baldwin - Lawyers, Guns and Money: Lessons for Cryonics from the Military and Pharmaceutical Industrial Complexes in Technology Development and Distribution; Martine Rothblatt - Geoethics for Cryonic Revival Nanotech & BioNano Sleeves. Each workshop presentation will last 15-20 minutes followed by a 20 minute formal question and answer period during which questions from the worldwide audience will be addressed.

The Mormon Transhumanist Association will be hosting the next in their series of monthly round table discussions on 21 June 2008.

The Future of Religions/Religions of the Future is a two-day conference (4-5 June) examining how two of the 21st Century's driving forces, religion and technology, will continue to re-shape each other and, in the process, re-cast our understanding of "humanity" in the Third Millennium. Centered on, but not limited to, virtual worlds and social networking technologies, speakers and panelists will also examine changes precipitated by the biotechnology revolution, cognitive science, information technologies and robotics.

The Future of Religions/Religions of the Future is a two-day conference (4-5 June) examining how two of the 21st Century's driving forces, religion and technology, will continue to re-shape each other and, in the process, re-cast our understanding of "humanity" in the Third Millennium. Centered on, but not limited to, virtual worlds and social networking technologies, speakers and panelists will also examine changes precipitated by the biotechnology revolution, cognitive science, information technologies and robotics.

The Mormon Transhumanist Association has established a presence in the virtual world of Second Life to facilitate interaction among its worldwide membership. The association's conference center is located in the dome of a space station orbiting above the Inspired Technologies office tower on the Mormon island of Adam ondi Ahman [Jan 2008: Our Second Life conference center location has since changed.]. Please visit any time, and look forward to announcements about association events in Second Life!

The Mormon Transhumanist Association will be hosting the next in their series of monthly round table discussions on 17 May 2008. Subsequent discussions will be held on the third Saturday of each month. This month's discussion will be focused on "Beyond the Atheism-Religion Divide", Krista Tippets' "Speaking of Faith" inteview with Author, Harvey Cox. The podcast can be downloaded here. Andrew West, Director of the Mormon Transhumanist Association, will moderate the discussion. The event will be held in the conference hall of the Arnell-West building located at 3441 S 2200 W, Salt Lake City, Utah, just southeast of the E-Center. The discussion will begin at 7:00 PM Mountain Time. Light refreshments will be served.

The Mormon Transhumanist Association will be hosting the next in their series of monthly round table discussions on 19 April 2008. Subsequent discussions will be held on the third Saturday of each month. This month's discussion will be focused on the film Lorenzo's Oil, which we will be screening as a part of the event. Andrew West, Director of the Mormon Transhumanist Association, will moderate the discussion. The event will be held in the conference hall of the Arnell-West building located at 3441 S 2200 W, Salt Lake City, Utah, just southeast of the E-Center. The film will begin at 7:00 PM Mountain Time with discussion immediately following. Light refreshments will be served.