What do you think about NDE? Life after death?

by Mowgliandbalu 13 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Mowgliandbalu

  Hello together! Please forgive if my English is a bit crooked :-) At least I understand quite well and I thank everyone here in the forum very much! You were a big help for me within the last months. I'm a born-in from Germany, mid50, was 20 years elder, woke up a few years ago. Meanwhile I would call myself an agnostic atheist.

  What I appreciate most is my newfound freedom to think out of the box. For example, to think about the possibility of life after death. As a Jdub a no-no, although funnily enough that's how it's supposed to go with the anointed. Well. Coincidentally, I recently came across this topic on YouTube and listened to a few accounts from people who have e.g.experienced NDE (near death experiences). I also came across this event from the University of Virginia from 2017:

  https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0AtTM9hgCDw

  Since i know, there are a lot of smart minds and wisdom here on the forum, I want to ask: What's your opinion on the subject? Especially to the sober skeptics, agnostics and atheists among you: Have you ever dealt with such reports? What is your opinion about it?

  Of course I know the explanation of the org, e.g. release of hormones during oxygen deficiency and so on. And Lazarus didn't tell after his resurection...

  In any case, I am somewhat unsure what to make of it. Using the search function, I have only found threads that are now several years old. Do any of you have any new findings? Many thanks in advance for your comments.
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  truth_b_known

  I am not sure what to make of NDEs. On one hand I have found that only people living or exposed to Western cultures have NDEs with "going towards the light" and Judeo-Christian themes. Conversely I have read that there are cases where a person's consciousness continues for a couple of days after the dying.

  There are those who claim our consciousness produced by our brain. Then there are those who claim that our brain just filters consciousness such as our eyes pick up photons and ears vibration. It makes sense since energy cannot be destroyed, only altered.

  https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/think-well/201906/does-consciousness-exist-outside-the-brain
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  carla

  Here is an interesting site on nde's, all different experiences. True or not? guess we will all find out one day.

  https://www.nderf.org/Archives/exceptional.html
  
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  waton

  Mgb: love to hear your accent.

  Dying is a highly personal experience, and I have been near death several times. I do not recall any euphoric moments. but also no pain, when I should have. so:

  i take that to mean, that animals that according to Peter are meant to be caught, killed, sacrificed, eaten, have a less horrible death experience, than we imagine, except in slaughterhouses

  I am 10 years away from a natural death, so wish me well. .
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  Sea Breeze

  IMO, It is evidence in favor of an immortal soul like Jesus said, "cannot kill the soul". If true, then we will always be conscious somewhere - forever. This is of course potentially a far, far more frightening outcome than simply dying at Armageddon as a worse case scenario that the Wt. teaches. There is simply no comparison between the two.... even without a literal hellfire, think "cast into outer darkness"... alone in cold deep space forever.

  The Wt. position on consciousness after death is identical to the atheist view. So, there is not much to adjust when moving from a JW to an atheist worldview. The Wt. also allows for millions and billions of years before and during the "creative days" so, not much change there either. Agnostic / atheism is a natural progression when exiting the Wt.
  
  Have you researched "terminal lucidity" ? I believe this is even stronger circumstantial evidence of a soul (consciousness apart from the body) than NDE's.
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  truth_b_known

  Immortal = eternal = no beginning or end

  If we have a consciousness that is immortal, we have no beginning. Memories are illusions created by the brain which also create the illusion of past and future. Memories may be separate from consciousness. Our true Self is more like an observer of the eternal present.
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  Disillusioned JW

  The key thing to remember about NDE is the "N" - for "Near". They are called "Near Death Experiences" - not "After Death Experiences". Though many of the people were clinically dead for a period of time, it has not been proven (at least not to my satisfaction) that any of them were completely brain dead before reporting their experiences.

  Hey Sea Breeze, another thing similar to the WT religion and atheistic naturalism is that when the WT writes about whether miracles (of a supernaturally caused nature, rather than being merely an amazingly rare happy event) happen in our time they usually (or maybe always??) say they do not happen in our time. At least, regarding gifts of the holy spirit they say that no longer takes place - including healing miracles. But the WT does say that demonic activity happens in our time. Now isn't that odd?
  
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  waton

  But the WT does say that demonic activity happens in our time. Now isn't that odd? DJ

  that fits in with the wt's 1914 doctrine, that the wicked spirits are now only here on earth, the focal point of their attention. which should fire a few neurons in distress.
  
  
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  waton

  University of Illinois at Chicago. "'Zombie' genes? Research shows some genes come to life in the brain after death: Post-mortem changes may shed light on important brain studies." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 23 March 2021. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/03/210323131230.htm>.
  
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  a watcher

  I think NDEs are just hallucinations caused by an oxygen starved brain.