X-Message-Number: 29141
From: "John de Rivaz" <>
Subject: churches again
Date: Thu, 15 Feb 2007 10:54:44 -0000

There are differences between churches and cryonics.

The main one is that if you join a church all you have to do is to attend 
rituals and give them a little or a lot of money depending on your choice. 
Also you are interacting with people with similar aims and beliefs.

With cryonics, you have to spend a lot of money (even if in easy 
instalments) and the many of the people you interact with to set up your 
arrangements do not have the same beliefs and indeed may be hostile or 
dismissive. I suspect that cryonics would recruit more if they could do all 
the will writing, insurance and other arrangements and so on in house, but 
there are sound reasons why they can't do this.

Things are getting better with people like Rudi Hoffman helping, and it may 
be possible eventually to get more professionals on side.

But this does not alter the fundamental difference -- cryonics is a service 
which costs money. Religious services can be attended for nothing. (Although 
you are made to feel bad if you put to little in the collection bag.)

The other one is that cryonics is more honest than religion -- it doesn't 
offer sure and certain belief that it will "work".

To be fair and logical, if there is an afterlife it would be through some 
property of the universe as yet undiscovered in any repeatably measurable 
manner and whether you are religious or not you would still experience it.

Incidentally, those who saw Aubrey de Grey's latest TV programme, "Do you 
really want to live forever" may have noticed that his publicist is also a 
Jehovah's Witness and sees no conflict between his religion and life 
extension. Dr de Grey's projects have managed to accrete quite a lot of 
money.

-- 
Sincerely, John de Rivaz:  http://John.deRivaz.com for websites including
Cryonics Europe, Longevity Report, The Venturists, Porthtowan, Alec Harley
Reeves - inventor, Arthur Bowker - potter, de Rivaz genealogy,  Nomad .. and
more 

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