Quote from: Walter Rothbard on October 17, 2014, 08:08:45 PM

Quote from: BitChick on October 17, 2014, 04:36:27 PM

@OP.

My husband and I are very devout Christians. My husband is even a Biblical scholar. He enjoys reading the Bible in Greek just to make sure he is understanding it correctly. I met him at a Christian college. I am even going on a mission trip to India in a few weeks to work with an organization called Harvest India. I am also well known on this forum as being a very vocal Christian. All that said, I am very for Bitcoin.

Sure there are people involved that are not Christian. We are "in the world not of the world" right? And yes, I think that Bitcoin could certainly be the "one world currency" that is talked about in the Bible (all the more proof of it's success). However, in scripture it is not the "one world currency" that is evil. It is the control of the people by putting a mark on hands to buy and sell by the antichrist, whoever that ends up being (perhaps Satoshi if at some point he comes out of hiding to "save" the world from fianacial ruin?) that is the problem. I believe it is incredibly important that Christians purchase as much Bitcoin as they possibly can. Bitcoin is not owned by any government and it is peer-to-peer and it just might give Christians the flexibility needed to make choices when the day comes that we are being told we have to have a mark to buy and sell. Having some coins that are not within reach of governments might be the only thing we can access before being put to death or in jail. Just something to think about.

It kind of reminds me of how so many Christians were against movies when Hollywood started out. If anything, it would have so much better if Christians had just embraced movies and came out with more wholesome movies at that point. Instead they feared it and because of that the industry has now swayed generations of people in less wholesome directions.

We need to be "cunning as serpents and innocent as doves." Using Bitcoin for God's purpose is where my heart is at and I would encourage your uncle to at least pray about it more seriously and read him my comments as well.

Edit: As for your uncle's concern of Bitcoin's early adopters having some deep rooted connections with transhumanism and having extroprian roots, this just seems to be the pride that comes with most people I encounter that are drunk in their own intelligence and is just typical of the scientific community today. I had a biology teacher that had me read Adolf Huxley's Brave New World in high school. (this was 20 years ago) I read the book and thought it was completely ridiculous and a fantasy at best. I was shocked to learn that he seriously believed that it was a brilliant look into what the future should be, but it was a cold and loveless world in my eyes. This was my first insight into how the "intelligent" minds perceive things. Now I see people that think they know more than God. They don't need God and they even want to find a way to "outsmart" God if that was even possible (but of course they don't even believe God exists anyways.) So the cryogenics and transhumanism is just an extension of this sort of thought. Perhaps they are the early Bitcoin developers because they are highly intelligent? The more intelligent minds are drawn to these sorts of things? I am not entirely sure. It doesn't mean that Bitcoin isn't brilliant though and a intelligently designed work (designed by those whom God gave the intelligence to begin with Wink

)

I find it fascinating that you commented that Christians shouldn't have dismissed movies when they came out, and should not dismiss Bitcoin now - but then you imply cryonics and transhumanism are incompatible with Christianity. If cryonics should prove successful, then it is nothing more than reviving someone from an extremely long-term and extremely unusual coma (that is mistakenly classified as legal death), and it has no more theological implications than reviving someone from a coma. We have instances now in the medical history where a person has gone into hypothermia and entered a state that would legally or clinically be called "death" but the person has recovered and been fine. To my knowledge these instances do not pose any theological problem for Christians, and the desire of a medical practitioner to rescue a person in such a state is not considered a problem by Christians and is not considered to be "outsmarting God" - doctors attempting these revival efforts might very well be Christian. Cryonics is a much more destructive injury but at this point in time I don't think it's possible to rule out the possibility that medical science might one day create a cure for this injury and make revival possible.

Looking through pages on the Alcor Life Extension Foundation site you'll find that there have been a number of Christians involved in cryonics. As you are urging Christians to purchase Bitcoin, you might also consider the possibility that if cryonics works it gives Christians many more years to engage in evangelistic work. Some might consider it the same as a doctor treating and reviving a missionary who was thought to be fatally ill or wounded but who instead makes a complete recovery.

I suppose cryogenics are only a problem depending on what the motive is. I can understand the curiosity and desire to study this and there could definitely be some medical benefits to consider. But I think the goal for many is to find a way to "eternal life" on our own strength and that is the main conflict with Christianity.