Gamma Pi <gammapi@newsguy.com>,
Yes! Of what you said you think exactly like me! I too would be interrested in other material on this topic. Here are some more of my ideas along these lines that you haven't yet mentioned.
Our creator isn't God, but instead our ancestors. Our ancestors become a sacrificial "Christ" like figure. They each lived their life to make the world a bit better place than it was when they came into the world which eventually gave their children immortal bodies and a glorious heaven to live in.
So, we more or less worship our ancestors as our creators that gave their life that we might have an immortal life. None of us could escape from the guilt such would logically imply of us being in their debt for what they did for us. They gave us our lives and so the only way to repay them and relieve this logically necessary guilt would be to find some way to do perfect history sufficient enough to bring them all back or resurrect them.
One good scientific source for such ideas is Tipplers: "The Physics of Immortality". He recognizes the necessary desire future people must have to try to bring them all back some way or another. He describes some possible ways it might be done. Sure, it appears impossible to recover an "information theoretically" (i.e. non cryonically preserved) dead person today but we can hope that some day such could be achieved by some future God some way or another, to save us from eternal loneliness and guilt right?
To me, this is really the one true religion. Personally, I wish there was much more than just the Extropy Institute pushing this. I think we should have a real church, missionaries, worship services and everything. Our goal would be to save everyone (first via converting others to choosing cryonic preservation and helping all get the funds required should they desire it, like Christians try to get people baptized...) and to achieve all things and simply never give up until we had accomplished getting everyone everything they really wanted.
Anyway, I love this kind of stuff. Please include me in on any such discussions along these lines.
Brent Allsop