The Church of Perpetual Life: the people who believe they can cheat death forever

WHAT if you were told you could be immortal? Welcome to the Church of Perpetual Life, whose members believe they will literally cheat death forever.

’I refuse to accept death is inevitable’

WHAT if you were told that you could live forever?

That if humans continued to make a concentrated effort in science and medicine, you could rapidly increase your life expectancy rate, and one day be totally immortal?

It may sound crazy, but this radical idea is the basis of The Church of Perpetual Life, an organisation based in Florida.

They’re part of the growing “transhumanist” movement, which believes that advancements in science and technology are the key to permanently extending human life.

They also think technology could one day see our consciousness digitised into computers, basically turning us from biological humans into robots.

Members of this church believe in immortality. Credit: Motherboard

Monthly meetings are held in a large church hall, which adherents describe as a “celebration of life”. Alphaville’s Forever Young plays over the loudspeaker, and members give impassioned speeches on their determination to live.

“Who says I have to die?” asks one speaker. “Death is horror. It shouldn’t happen to anybody. It’s not natural to die.”

Another woman — so convinced of her immortality — has even told her children not to expect an inheritance from her. “I tell them, ‘I’m not dying, you’re not getting one.’”

Transhumanists also believe in cryonics — the process of freezing the body after death to be brought back to life when science can achieve it.

One member even shows the cryonic preservation box he has set up for his cat’s body to remain in when it dies, with the hopes that science will one day have the efficiency to bring it back to life.

It all comes back to this: humans are terrified of death, and some of us will do anything we damn well can to avoid it.

WHO’S BEHIND THE CHURCH?

The Church of Perpetual Life was founded in 2013 by Bill Faloon, a well-known transhumanist personality whose unconventional career choice has made him a multi-millionaire.

Faloon freely admits he is terrified of death.

“I fear not being alive, and since ageing and death get in the way of that, I can say I fear that too,” he said.

“Not being here, to me, should be the greatest fear that people have.”

He says the purpose of the church is to motivate people to realise how good life is, and enlighten them to the apparent possibility of living forever.

Bill Faloon genuinely believes that humans can live forever. Credit: Motherboard

Faloon’s greatest asset is his natural charisma. He speaks with passion to the church’s followers about the prospect of immortality.

“What they’re finding now, using animal studies, is that the brains of older animals can be rejuvenated, and brought back into a more youthful, functional and structural condition. This is earth-shattering!” His words are met with applause all around.

Faloon’s controversial history dates back to the 1980s. In 1982, he set up a tax-exempt charity called the Life Extension Foundation, spreading knowledge about “science-based supplements” and vitamins that can extend life. Through this, Faloon has become incredibly wealthy.

Perhaps the greatest irony of the church is that it’s almost aggressively atheist, fully based around science and rejecting of any notion of a spiritual afterlife.

The fact that churches can claim tax-exempt status will immediately grab a sceptic’s attention, but Faloon swears no financial dealings are conducted through it.

However, he did say the church funds about $10 million a year in scientific research projects.

But why all the money? Why all the effort? “Because,” he says, “I refuse to accept the concept of involuntary death.”

IS IMMORTALITY REALLY SUCH A CRAZY IDEA?

Humans have been obsessed with death and immortality since the beginning of time.

Take the Fountain of Youth, the mythical spring said to restore the youth of anyone who bathes in it. For centuries people have searched for it, and writings on it go back as far as 5th century BC.

An artistic depiction of the ‘Fountain of Youth’.

While such a thing may not exist, here’s some food for thought: according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, the average life expectancy of men and women in the late 1800s was 47 and 51, respectively.

Today, a male can expect to live to about 80, and a female can expect to live to about 84. And that’s nothing compared to what scientists hope to achieve.

The average human life span has doubled over the past century. Source: AIWH.

According to the National Institute of Ageing in America, the global number of centenarians is projected to increase 10-fold between 2010 and 2050.

Why does this matter? Because advancements in science and medicine made it possible. Our increased livelihood is thanks to the fact that people have been immunised against smallpox, polio, and major childhood killers like measles.

Considering what the human race has done, and what the future of the human race will be capable of, is it so crazy to expect that humans might one day be able to use science to cheat death? Not according to the transhumanist movement.

WHAT DO OTHER EXPERTS SAY?

Doctor Dipnarine Maharaj is a scientist at the South Florida Stem Cell Transplant Institute. His work effectively uses young people’s stem cells to rejuvenate the immune systems of older patients.

“We are born with 20,000 stem cells,” he says. “The stem cells are the fountain of youth. If we can maintain the 20,000, we can live indefinitely.”

Aubrey de Grey, Chief Science Officer of the SENS Research Foundation, has spent decades arguing that we can extend our youth if we get rid of the junk that accumulates in those stem cells of ours.

He believes this junk causes ageing, and it’s his goal to free our bodies of these buildups.

“I think we’re looking at the 1st generation of rejuvenation biotechnology,” Grey said in a documentary. “Technology we can give to middle-age people and fix them up well enough that they won’t feel like they’re 60 or 70 again until 30 years later.”

Aubrey de Grey speaking at TEDxSalford.

In a controversial TED talk, Grey said that the first human beings who will live to 1,000 years old have already been born.

Yep, that’s you. If you’re 50 years old or younger, Grey believes there’s a chance you’ll exist to “start becoming biologically younger” through science, both physically and mentally, and in terms of your risk of death from age-related causes.

“It’s a repair and maintenance approach to extending the functional life span of a human body,” he told The Washington Post. “It’s just like maintaining the functional life span of a classic car, or a house.”

WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES?

In this future, says Grey, there will no longer be “frail elderly people”, which will revolutionise health care.

He also says the concept of retirement will change completely, and become “periodic” — you might work one job for 40 years, take a 20-year break, and then want to get back into it. Because age will no longer be a boundary, you’ll be able to.

So basically, as long as you get yourself regular check-ups, he says our bodies can defy death for hundreds of years.

Here’s a fun fact: back in 2005, the MIT Technology Review challenged scientists to disprove de Grey’s claims about immortality. They offered a $20,000 prize to anyone who could do so.

Not one scientist was able to prove him wrong.

The challenge remains open.

You can watch the full documentary on The Church of Perpetual Life here.