From: suzych@swcp.com   
      
   > atheists commonly write   
   > off the validity of NDE's by claiming that NDE's are hallucinations, or   
   > in   
   > other words, the mind "playing tricks". I believe that it is logical to   
   > assume that if NDE's do exist, their sphere of influence would not   
   > differentiate on the basis of one's spiritual beliefs. The irony here is   
   > that those who are the most dogmatic about the non-existence of NDE's are   
   > the ones who will likely be the most affected if/when they do happen,   
   > because such an event would represent a total contradiction to their   
   > belief system.   
      
   Ah; I think I see now what you were after.  I misunderstood the   
   direction of your comments, clearly, and therefore addressed unintended   
   content that came from me, not from you.  Apologies.   
      
   > if an atheist was to   
   > experience an NDE, whould that person admit to it, or would there be   
   > overriding factors, such as an unwillingness to finally admit that "real"   
   > is no longer real? Such an admission could be more traumatic for the   
   > individual than the experience itself.   
      
   Interesting; how to devise a test for this hypothesis?  in the accounts   
   that I've read, there are indeed some NDE experiencers who claim to be   
   unaffected or who just don't want to talk about it at all, thankyou very   
   much, which might be interpreted as being unable to admit to the scope,   
   impact, and philosophical effect of the eent. But whether these persons   
   went into the experience as atheists is not always clear, so this type   
   of result doesn't seem to be solid evidence of the response that you   
   describe.   
      
   I would imagine (although I cannot prove) that, since atheists come in   
   many varieties just as religious do (in terms of general mindset,   
   responsiveness, passionate attachment to ideas, etc.), some would   
   respond as you suppose while others would come out of the NDE feeling   
   anywhere from completely confused by it to suddenly convinced of the   
   reality f "God" and determined to announce their new convictions at the   
   tops of their lungs.   
      
   Different strokes.   
   --   
   Crow   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)