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"Death is nothing to be feared; it
is merely a stage of
transition. But life without hope, that’s living hell."
(The X-Files)
Today's world is one of black and white: right or
wrong;
republican and democrat; believer and skeptic. As the proverbial line
in the sand widens, those who attempt to keep one foot on each side
find it harder and harder to maintain balance between the extremes. On
the topic of science VS religion, the competition between both factions
has evolved into a ravenous machine of its own. So great has the rift
become that those content to explore more than one possibility are
often sucked into the gaping chasm below, forever falling between the
cracks. Meanwhile, their boastful counterparts fling scripture and
scientific notation at one another, raging and railing in a flurry of
fur, hissing, spitting and invincible ignorance that only a nuclear
holocaust could interrupt..
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To this, I must look to one of our scientific giants: Albert Einstein.
"Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind."
(Einstein 1-4) A literal analysis states that science and religion are
not
complete without one another. My directive, however, is not to prove
Einstein's
point, but rather to rely on it.
When asked about life's
greatest
mystery, the first thing that comes to mind
(for most) is the concept of death. According to popular opinion, this
is
a frontier that science has yet to cross. Or has it? Recent studies
suggest
otherwise, that science is not necessarily moving away from the
spiritual
realm, but closer to it. The afterlife (our great beyond) proves a
lucrative
staging area for this concept—that science and spirituality can not
only coexist, but can compliment one another. The ultimate question?
where
to begin.
Accounts of near-death experiences
date back to ancient times.
In 300 B.C., Greek philosopher Plato wrote what many consider the first
account
of a near-death experience. A Greek soldier by the name of Er had
perished
in battle and his body lay beside deceased comrades for ten days. After
locating
the body, Er's relatives brought their fallen kin home for burial.
However,
when Er's body was placed upon the funeral pyre he awoke and gave a
personal
account of his experience in the afterlife.
In today's world, the
near-death
experience has more depth than ever before.
Through my research, I have uncovered three main facets of this
ever-changing
gem: personal testimony, the impact a near-death experiences has
on
an individual, and startling physiological evidence which demands
intelligent
consideration. For the skeptic, can science overcome these ideas? or
simply
move beyond our collective doubts and walk hand-in-hand with our
misbegotten
beliefs?
Perhaps we should start at the
beginning, or in this case, the end. Though
accounts of the afterlife are hardly construed as scientific evidence
in
the "show me" age of proof, they do hold an important key to the
definition
of a near-death experience and why this phenomenon has engaged our
curiousity.
[ Testimony &
Accounts ]