X-Message-Number: 16372
Date: Mon, 28 May 2001 11:59:51 -0400 (EDT)
From: Charles Platt <>
Subject: Religious Faith

> From: "John de Rivaz" <>

> There is a difference - a church merely stands by whilst God (or Jesus) does
> the reanimation.

Yes, John, precisely my point! Most people who sign up for cryonics do
nothing (other than pay their membership tithe) while assuming that nice
authority figures in white coats will handle the reanimation at some time
in the future. The religious analogy is perfect. Instead of gods with
super powers, we have mysterious future scientists with super powers.
Either way, supposedly they will bring us eternal life just because they
like us and we deserve it.

As for the folks today who actually administer medical procedures to the
patient, it is customary in many religions for the priesthood (not the
gods themselves) to perform quite elaborate rituals to make sure that the
dead person is properly taken care of. The Egyptions took a lot more
trouble over their patients than cryonics organizations can afford to.
Much better storage facilities, too.

> Whereas I can't agree with Charles Platt's comparison, I wonder whether
> anyone has actually costed membership of a church - any church.

While some require a fixed percentage of your income (a business model
that cryonics organizations should try to copy, in my opinion), most
require voluntary donations. There is no doubt that religion can be
cheaper than cryonics, depending which church you join.

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