By Christopher B. Daly
I am struck by by the powerful publishing trend of books written by people who say they died (or nearly died) and came back to tell the tale. I even read one of these, Proof of Heaven, by a neurosurgeon. These are presented as non-fiction narratives, but I have my doubts.
From what I can gather, all these accounts are pretty similar. They feature the same themes (even when they are fraudulent):
–a powerful light
–a feeling of calm
–an ambivalence about returning to real life.
But why don’t we ever hear about near-death experiences involving a sojourn in Hell?
You-know-who,
by Wm. Blake
Why no images of Satan?
Could it be that when we die, we “see” and “experience” what we want to?
(To his credit, one of the writers on the list above — Dante — describes Paradiso only after his memorable passage through the Inferno.)
Could it be that Heaven’s Gate is really a revolving door?
Could it be that no one ever gets out of Hell?
Or if they do, do they have to sign a non-disclosure/non-disparagement form?
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