Subject: [extropy-chat] TransColloquium Meeting: Dealing with New Pope's Campaign

From: Natasha Vita-More <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 25 Apr 2005 12:13:52 -0500

Friends,

Extropy Institute is calling for a meeting at the TransColloquium for 
Transhumanist organizations to discuss strategies for dealing with the 
potential for conflicts that might arise from the Pope's declaration 
concerning the moral relativism and the "cultural wars". This is a global 
issue for transhumanity.

ExI will be sending out an invitation later for a meeting in May. If your 
organization would like to suggest a meeting date and time, please let me 
know by Wednesday. It would be helpful if those of you who receive this 
message to forward it to other transhumanist organizations and groups.

Pope Benedict’s Campaign

NPR's Monday morning edition:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4618049

"Religion
Pope Benedict Warns Against Moral Relativism
  by Barbara Bradley Hagerty

Morning Edition, April 25, 2005 • The new leader of the Roman Catholic 
Church has denounced moral relativism, the idea that moral principles have 
no objective standards. Pope Benedict XVI has characterized it as the major 
evil facing the church. Some observers believe he is taking a stance in the 
tense cultural wars in the United States."

I hope you all will work us. It will be a first time that we have a global 
issue to work together on and plan a strategy. I think we can make headway 
as a culture and a meaningful contribution to our future.

I look forward to hearing from you,

Natasha Vita-More
Cultural Strategist

Extropy Institute, President
http://www.extropy.org

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extropy-chat mailing list
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From: Dirk Bruere <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 25 Apr 2005 18:26:38 +0100

Natasha Vita-More wrote:

> concerning the moral relativism and the "cultural wars". This is a 
> global issue for transhumanity.
>
> ExI will be sending out an invitation later for a meeting in May. If 
> your organization would like to suggest a meeting date and time, 
> please let me know by Wednesday. It would be helpful if those of you 
> who receive this message to forward it to other transhumanist 
> organizations and groups.

Would that be all the orgs we know of, or only the ones that the 
organisers feel politically comfortable with?

-- 
Dirk

The Consensus:-
The political party for the new millenium
http://www.theconsensus.org

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From: Giu1i0 Pri5c0 <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 25 Apr 2005 19:56:11 +0200

Should be soon enough to issue a statement in useful time, and I
recommend including a weekend (say, Fri to Mon) to give people more
time.
G.

On 4/25/05, Natasha Vita-More <[email-masked]> wrote:
>  Pope Benedict's Campaign

---

From: "scerir" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2005 00:13:35 +0200

From: "Natasha Vita-More"

Cardinal Ratziger wrote pages and even books
about "relativisms" (religious - as the central problem
for faith; moral; cultural; etc.).

"I would say that today relativism predominates. 
It seems that whoever is not a relativist is someone 
who is intolerant. To think that one can understand 
the essential truth is already seen as something 
intolerant."
- Ratzinger

(Are there "essential truths" in Transhumanism?)

Of course, according to Ratzinger, only God (as revealed 
by Christ) is the matrix, the source of both truth and life.
Ratzinger is well aware of the existence of different 
positions (like i.e. >H, but also Teilhard de C.) that he 
generally calls "anthropologisms".

s.

http://www.ewtn.com/library/CURIA/RATZRELA.HTM

---

From: Dirk Bruere <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 25 Apr 2005 23:23:26 +0100

>(Are there "essential truths" in Transhumanism?)
Yes.
That it's better to have the choice of being enhanced to PostHuman than not.
And screw what anyone else thinks who disagrees with that essential truth.

-- 
Dirk

The Consensus:-

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From: Samantha Atkins <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2005 03:17:24 -0700

Is there a text version?   Why is this a more reasonable target than 
the actually more politically connected and powerful Christian 
evangelicals increasingly in control of the world's one remaining 
superpower?  It seems like there are plenty of more obvious targets 
that are more of an immediate threat.  How is this the best opportunity 
right now?

- samantha

On Apr 25, 2005, at 10:13 AM, Natasha Vita-More wrote:

>  Morning Edition, April 25, 2005 • The new leader of the Roman 
> Catholic Church has denounced moral relativism, the idea that moral 
> principles have no objective standards. Pope Benedict XVI has 
> characterized it as the major evil facing the church. Some observers 
> believe he is taking a stance in the tense cultural wars in the United 
> States."
>
>  I hope you all will work us. It will be a first time that we have a 
> global issue to work together on and plan a strategy. I think we can 
> make headway as a culture and a meaningful contribution to our future.
>

---

From: "scerir" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2005 19:14:39 +0200

Samantha Atkins asked: 
Is there a text version?   

Dunno. Try the official e-Vatican page
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/elezione/index_en.htm