NDE recanted

Andrew Paquette

Administrator
I just saw this on the news about the book "The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven". According to the paraplegic boy and his mother, it is a fabrication or exaggeration, depending on who you listen to. Here is the link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...-from-heaven-going-back-to-publisher/?hpid=z5
My impression was that it was a bit hokey-sounding to make it more Christian, but I'm not sure whether I buy this recantation either. It could easily be the case that the 6-year old told his parents of a genuine NDE, his dad writes the book, then the mom sees criticism from other Christians. She reads that it is not consistent with scripture, then pressures her quadriplegic son to recant. Meanwhile, the book is raking in the money, so dad doesn't want to do anything.

It is hardly unusual for Christians to push their dogma in the face of conflicting evidence, even to the point of getting a person to lie. Many won't do this, but I've seen some who would and I think Alex had at least one on his show here--the Australian box jellyfish guy.

AP
 
I just saw this on the news about the book "The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven". According to the paraplegic boy and his mother, it is a fabrication or exaggeration, depending on who you listen to. Here is the link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...-from-heaven-going-back-to-publisher/?hpid=z5
My impression was that it was a bit hokey-sounding to make it more Christian, but I'm not sure whether I buy this recantation either. It could easily be the case that the 6-year old told his parents of a genuine NDE, his dad writes the book, then the mom sees criticism from other Christians. She reads that it is not consistent with scripture, then pressures her quadriplegic son to recant. Meanwhile, the book is raking in the money, so dad doesn't want to do anything.

It is hardly unusual for Christians to push their dogma in the face of conflicting evidence, even to the point of getting a person to lie. Many won't do this, but I've seen some who would and I think Alex had at least one on his show here--the Australian box jellyfish guy.

AP

Yes, I saw this through Mike Heiser's twitter feed a few days ago, but it was a retweet of a secondhand account, so I wasn't sure about it. I'm very disappointed in the young man, because there are few books out there which can open up evangelicals to the paranormal-as-we-know-it, and this was one of the cornerstones. This will also further divide science from PAWKI from religion, as we know the debunkers will land on this like sumo wrestlers. Sigh. The worst part for the young man is that if he did have a BDE, it will be decades before anyone ever believes him.
 
Wow. It's one thing for a kid to grow up and say "hey, my dad manufactured the whole thing for money" but quite another to recant because it doesn't follow the bible. Fishy all the way around. I mostly just feel sorry for the kid.

Am I the only one who finds it hilariously ironic that their last name is Malarkey?
 
Wow. It's one thing for a kid to grow up and say "hey, my dad manufactured the whole thing for money" but quite another to recant because it doesn't follow the bible. Fishy all the way around. I mostly just feel sorry for the kid.

Am I the only one who finds it hilariously ironic that their last name is Malarkey?

You would think that having seen and spoken with the actual Jesus and Satan, and having entered Heaven, the Bible would seem cliche because he talked with the inspiration! Apparently, Bible > Talking with Jesus in Heaven and sitting on his lap after having met Satan and noticing the clear difference.

No, if he's going to throw away his encounter with Almighty God for the books from whom they were inspired, I'm inclined to believe that he never had such an experience. He's created far more damage than he realizes.
 
Yes, indeed, he has added fuel to an inferno.

I remember first hearing about this and thinking it was a total crock to begin with, but I was also steeping nicely in my materialistic atheist stew. I never have changed my mind on this story though. A child had an unfortunate incident in his life and the dad saw a way to capitalize on it.
 
He's created far more damage than he realizes.
Well, I don't think the boy/young man was the driving force behind the publication of the book, so he may not be to blame. But what sort of damage might be done? Perhaps mainly this can be seen as infighting within a Christian community.
 
I'll butt in here, whether I'm wanted or not, and assume he was insinuating that the skeptical community would seize on this in a very child-like, "na na nana na we told you so" fashion.

And claim it settles once and for all that all NDE's are phoney baloney.
 
Well, I don't think the boy/young man was the driving force behind the publication of the book, so he may not be to blame. But what sort of damage might be done? Perhaps mainly this can be seen as infighting within a Christian community.

You have a point, the publishing contract was in the father's name, the boy may be blameless. That being said, there is very likely big repercussions from this coming, starting with Christian book publishers, who will probably stay away from anything to do with BDEs for at least a year. Then, you'll have the conservative Christian bloggers and ministers denouncing the entirety of BDEs using this book as the face of it, ironically stepping to the same beat as debunkers like Dr. Coyne, who's been secretly praying for this day since "Proof of Heaven" came out. This will filter down to their legions of followers, who will raise "that Malarkey book" anytime someone mentions what we discuss on tho forum. As this is a very hot piece, many people who could've become open-minded skeptics will be exposed to this rotten cabbage, and their minds will instead close.
 
As I see it, some people are so focussed on either attacking or defending Christianity that will never be able to look at the entirety of the evidence in an unbiased way. I don't see this event as changing that situation one way or the other.

In the larger picture, I can't help but be optimistic. There's a lot of emphasis on high-profile cases, but in the longer term, I think it will be the growing number of NDE accounts from ordinary people which never make the news, which will have the greater impact.
 
You have a point, the publishing contract was in the father's name, the boy may be blameless. That being said, there is very likely big repercussions from this coming, starting with Christian book publishers, who will probably stay away from anything to do with BDEs for at least a year. Then, you'll have the conservative Christian bloggers and ministers denouncing the entirety of BDEs using this book as the face of it, ironically stepping to the same beat as debunkers like Dr. Coyne, who's been secretly praying for this day since "Proof of Heaven" came out. This will filter down to their legions of followers, who will raise "that Malarkey book" anytime someone mentions what we discuss on tho forum. As this is a very hot piece, many people who could've become open-minded skeptics will be exposed to this rotten cabbage, and their minds will instead close.

"Open minded sceptics" who close their minds because one more supposedly evidential example turns out not to be so, were never going to look into the subject seriously anyway. I can't see how anyone can seriously reach a firm position about the evidence without being prepared to do a lot of work/research. They may be "put off" but I'd say that's because they're not really interested in the first place.
 
Raymond moody mentioned a man that created a lot of fake hellish NDE accounts to reinforce the fear christianity usually tries to. I guess some of them just get too deep into their religion
 
Raymond moody mentioned a man that created a lot of fake hellish NDE accounts to reinforce the fear christianity usually tries to. I guess some of them just get too deep into their religion

Kevin Williams of near-death.com did a point-by-point takedown of such a tale by Mary Baxter, IIRC. It's a good point for reference.
 
Kevin Williams of near-death.com did a point-by-point takedown of such a tale by Mary Baxter, IIRC. It's a good point for reference.

It's rather illogical for a skeptic to conclude all NDEs being fake based on one apparently being recanted (I read the boys reasons and I dunno, I'm a little skeptical.) there have been a number of fake fossils created but it doesn't disprove dinosaurs
 
It's rather illogical for a skeptic to conclude all NDEs being fake based on one apparently being recanted (I read the boys reasons and I dunno, I'm a little skeptical.) there have been a number of fake fossils created but it doesn't disprove dinosaurs

Well, that's true, if you think James Randi, Dr. Coyne, Dr. Dawkins, and their drones follow logic. These are the folks who said there isn't a single shred of evidence that psi, BDEs, the afterlife, or anything like that are real, remember?
 
Back
Top