The following article was written by Zoltan Istvan, founder and a former presidential candidate for the Transhumanist Party.^[1]http://www.zoltanistvan.com/TranshumanistParty.html It was published in Vice last April 13, 2015.

In this article, Istvan, an atheist who believes in that technology is the only way forward for humanity, discusses why religion is no longer necessary in a fully digital world. He says, “humans are just material machines striving to create other machines that mirror ourselves and desires”.

Istvan believes that though atheists do not believe in God, they are “deeply spiritual creatures, seeking for answers, trying to do good upon the universe, and pondering the mysteries of the universe.” He adds, “Atheists see no God and believe unconscious universal forces and humans will be responsible for the shape of the world. It’s that shape of the world that I care about”.

He believes that through technology, humans will be able to escape the “baggage culture” that plagues society, which he says, is due to the control and manipulation of religion. He says, “…as people begin uploading themselves, they’ll also be hacking and writing improved code for their new digital selves—resulting in ‘real-time evolution’ for individuals and the species. It’s likely this influx of better code will eliminate lots of things that, historically speaking, religion has attempted to protect people from—namely stupidity and social evil”.

Editor’s Note: While this article was written in 2015, it is has become even more relevant as the technology that will allow humans to create a virtual version of themselves is already here [see META IS MAKING A MONSTER SUPERCOMPUTER FOR THE METAVERSE, WEF LAUNCHES METAVERSE, PREDICTS DIGITAL LIVES WILL BECOME MORE MEANINGFUL THAN PHYSICAL LIVES].

What kind of role will humans have in the future? What is the place of religion and spirituality in the future of societies and humankind?

We are now at a point of reckoning. We must answer these important questions regarding human existence on this planet. Failure to do so could lead to our own extinction.

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