The "Really" File - (Terasem "Faith")

For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.

1 Corinthians 3:19

"The latest New Age religion claims we can digitally record our thoughts and feelings, store them in a “mindfile” and one day use them to assemble a digital copy of ourselves for future use.....this new trans-religion, which is how New Agers refer to any of their religions that can be practiced alongside a person’s own beliefs (even though the founder has an ashram and statue of Buddha in his backyard where yoga is practiced).

Called the Terasem Faith, its followers are dedicated to studying and raising awareness about “personal cyberconsciousness” – or the creation of “mindfiles.”

These files are made by writing down or recording a video of a thought, memory or feeling with great detail, then uploading it to the Terasem website where the files are stored on servers located in their two headquarters in Vermont and Florida. Terasem promises to protect the files for long-term future use by a software program that has yet to be created that will make it possible to upload them into an artificial body 500 years from now.

No, I’m not making this up – and yes, people are actually buying this service – 32,000 so far (or so the creators say).

The idea is the brainchild of Bina and Martine Rothblatt who were inspired by the Octavia Butler sci-

fi novel “Parable of the Sower” which was about a new religion called by the Greek name Terasem which means “earthseed”.

Martine, a transsexual businesswoman who came into the world as Martin, founded the successful satellite radio company Sirius XM in 1990.

Their new faith is organized around four core tenets:
*life is purposeful;
*death is optional;
*God is technological;
*and love is essential.

The Rothblatts have turned over the reins of their new church to their son, Gabriel, who was managing a local pizza restaurant until his appointment as pastor in 2011.

Terasem also has rituals which they say are important to keep the movement going “until all of consciousness is connected and all the cosmos is controlled.”

These include setting aside one day a week for “Reading, Exercise, Sensuality and Transcendental Meditation.”

When TIME visited Rothblatt’s headquarters in Melbourne Beach, Florida, they found the church’s mindfile operation to be housed in the basement of a cottage with two strange looking satellite dishes in the backyard. They were told the dishes were meant to transport mindfiles 

From the "Really" File

into space with the belief that they might one day reach an alien species that actually wants them.

Lori Rhodes, who helps run Terasem Movement Inc., said her sister warned her not to get involved with the organization because it looked like a cult, but she decided to over-ride her.
” . . .(A)ny religion starts with just a few members,” she said. “And I guess organized religions is cultish. Some people call it the rapture of the nerds.”
SBrinkmann

REALLY?