This is a pretty strained analogy. I consider it likely that smarter-than-human (*more capable of achieving goals) AI will at some point become possible and cau

This is a pretty strained analogy. I consider it likely that smarter-than-human (*more capable of achieving goals) AI will at some point become possible and cause very unpredictable but hopefully directable results. So presumably that makes me a secular-religious nut by your estimation, but I don't observe any of the religious customs you specify above. Perhaps the first, if you use a wide definition. It would be more interesting if the criticism of transhumanist ideas explained why these ideas are unlikely or impossible, rather than dismiss them with the quasi-ad hominem of comparing them to religious ideas that are either outright wrong, or completely outdated in their real-world impact.