Jeffrey P. Long and Jody A. Long seem to be the people
behind the Near Death Experience Research Foundation, together with Reverend
John Price – and that last participant kinda gives the game away, doesn’t it?
You can see a discussion of one of their productions here.
Basically, the “organization” takes the impossibility of explaining near death experiences as axiomatic (at least they offer no even remotely plausible support for the
claim), and argues NDEs prove the existence of God. The argument is, of course,
trivially valid,
since the existence of God is also one of the premises; indeed it is part of
their definition of NDEs. According to the Longs, an NDE is “a co-created
experience with the person and the divine,” which seems to mean that “this
world is an illusion. We are not our physical body at all.” It all has
something to do with the “soul’s purpose”, summed up by Jody Long here.
Diagnosis: Christian fundamentalism combined with new age
drivel often yields fascinating results, and no less so here. Reality and
evidence stand no chance when facing such onslaughts of religious bias and
wishful thinking.
I don't think that you have spent too much time on their site. Jeff and Jody are not Christian Fundamentalists. And, John Price (a former Episcopal Priest from Houston) has a lot more qualifications to talk about NDE's than you ever will.
ReplyDeletePrice is more of a liberal Christian, not some fire and brimstone fundy. He has had a lot of experience with NDE's from people in his flock, and through his work with an Episcopal Hospital in Houston.
Price even addressed a fundy who wrote into NDERF about 12 years ago, telling them not to be judgmental of gays:
Price's Dialogue with a Fundamentalist
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