The Rapture of the Nerds

Newsfeed society Gabriel Rothblatt, a pastor at Terasem, photographed at the Terasem ashram in Melbourne Beach, Florida April 7, 2014 Bob Croslin for TIME

In the backyard of a cottage here overlooking the water, two poles with metal slats shaped like ribcages jut out from the ground. They look indistinguishable from heat lamps or fancy light fixtures.

These are satellite dishes, but they arent for TV. Theyre meant for dispatching mindfiles, the memories, thoughts and feelings of people who wish to create digital copies of themselves and fling them into space with the belief that theyll eventually reach some benevolent alien species.

Welcome to the future. Hope you dont mind E.T. leafing through your diary.

The beach house and the backyard and the memory satellites are managed by 31-year-old Gabriel Rothblatt, a pastor of Terasem, a new sort of religion seeking answers to very old kinds of questions, all with an abiding faith in the transformative power of technology.

Technology does feel and smell and look and act like a God.Beneath the cottage is a basement office where the mindfile operation is headquartered. Next door is an ashram, an airy glass building with walls that slide away to reveal a backyard home to a telescope for stargazing and a space to practice yoga. Tucked behind a shroud of greenery, most neighbors dont even know this house of worship exists.

The name Terasem comes from the Greek word for Earthseed, which is also the name for the futuristic religion found in the Octavia Butler sci-fi novel Parable of the Sower that helped inspire Gabriels parents, Bina and Martine Rothblatt, to start their new faith. Martine founded the successful satellite radio company Sirius XM in 1990. (Martine was originally known as Martin. She had sex reassignment surgery 20 years ago.)

Organized around four core tenetslife is purposeful, death is optional, God is technological and love is essentialTerasem is a transreligion, meaning that you dont have to give up being Christian or Jewish or Muslim to join. In fact, many believers embrace traditional positions held by mainstream religionsincluding the omnipotence of God and the existence of an afterlifebut say these are made possible by increasing advancements in science and technology.

Einstein said science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind, Martine Rothblatt tells TIME. Bina and I were inspired to find a way for people to believe in God consistent with science and technology so people would have faith in the future.

Sure, its easy to dismiss people who think they can somehow cheat death with a laptop. But Terasem is a potent symbol of a modern way of life where the digital world and the emotional one have become increasingly entwined. It is also a sign, if one from the fringe, of the always evolving relationship between technology and faith. Survey after survey has shown the number of Americans calling themselves religious has declined despite the fact that many still identify as spiritual. People are searching, and no longer do they look to technology to provide mere order for their lives. They also want meaning. Maybe, its time to hack our souls.

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The Rapture of the Nerds