How Do Near-Death Experiences Help the Mopologists?
Posted: Thu Apr 08, 2021 4:04 am
I think it's common knowledge by now that one of the obsessions of the Mopologists at "SeN" is the idea of near-death experiences. You've probably heard about these, or seen them depicted in movies like the 1990 Joel Schumacher flick, Flatliners. Basically, the idea is that there are some people who've been close to death--perhaps they were in a coma, or a vegetative state--but then they wake up, and say that they "saw" things during the ordeal.
There are, of course, multiple ways to interpreter these. More naturalistic explanations have to do with brain function, and the bizarre things that the human mind can do when stressed or out-of-whack. But the explanation that fascinates the Mopologists is the religious explanation: people are seeing these things because there is a real afterlife. And the Mopologists very frankly and openly believe that there is an afterlife: they've said so many times, such as when reminiscing about departed loved ones, or when Midgley complains about his "probation." Appropriately, Dean Robbers has mocked them for this: "this is the whole enchilada," he once said.
But I wonder how valuable NDEs are to the Mopologists. What's the point here, really? Let's say that NDEs are "real," and that they prove there's an afterlife. Is it not a problem that they merely show *an* afterlife--i.e., an afterlife in general? How does that demonstrate that the LDS Church is true? And even if it is a point in their favor, it also means that there are *real* three-tier kingdoms, and that there really is a "spirit prison," and "outer darkness," and real, actual human beings will go there. So, who will be sent to outer darkness? John Dehlin? Jeremy Runnells? Is Gerald Bradford in "spirit prison"? Hitler? Pol Pot? If the Mopologists sincerely believe that NDEs prove their theology, then they should be able to answer--or at least speculate on--these questions.
The alternative is the more general notion--i.e., that, yes, there is an afterlife, but they aren't sure how it looks, exactly. I.e., they are unwilling to positively affirm that NDEs prove that Mormon theology is correct. (I, for one, would applaud an Interpreter article that laid out the ways that Added Upon lines up with LDS scripture--sort of like how, re: the LGT, Brant Gardner or whoever shows how the Book of Mormon lines up with actual Yucatan geography, or how chiasmus can be found in both the Book of Mormon and in ancient texts.) And if they truly do believe this--i.e., they think that, yes, NDEs prove an afterlife, but, no, it's not 100% positive that this also proves that LDS theology is correct. This means that there could be a very real version of Hell, per other denominations, or that things work out in a very different sense--e.g., there is reincarnation, and Dr. Midgley will come back in the next life a sailor's wooden peg leg.
So, I have to ask: How do the Mopologists benefit from NDEs? Is this little more than pandering to the lowest of the lowest common denominator of Chapel Mormons who turn up on the "Comments" section? I would dismiss this all as Gemli-bait, except that Dr. Peterson, Kiwi, and the others seem to genuinely believe that the NDEs are real, and that they are faith-promoting.
There are, of course, multiple ways to interpreter these. More naturalistic explanations have to do with brain function, and the bizarre things that the human mind can do when stressed or out-of-whack. But the explanation that fascinates the Mopologists is the religious explanation: people are seeing these things because there is a real afterlife. And the Mopologists very frankly and openly believe that there is an afterlife: they've said so many times, such as when reminiscing about departed loved ones, or when Midgley complains about his "probation." Appropriately, Dean Robbers has mocked them for this: "this is the whole enchilada," he once said.
But I wonder how valuable NDEs are to the Mopologists. What's the point here, really? Let's say that NDEs are "real," and that they prove there's an afterlife. Is it not a problem that they merely show *an* afterlife--i.e., an afterlife in general? How does that demonstrate that the LDS Church is true? And even if it is a point in their favor, it also means that there are *real* three-tier kingdoms, and that there really is a "spirit prison," and "outer darkness," and real, actual human beings will go there. So, who will be sent to outer darkness? John Dehlin? Jeremy Runnells? Is Gerald Bradford in "spirit prison"? Hitler? Pol Pot? If the Mopologists sincerely believe that NDEs prove their theology, then they should be able to answer--or at least speculate on--these questions.
The alternative is the more general notion--i.e., that, yes, there is an afterlife, but they aren't sure how it looks, exactly. I.e., they are unwilling to positively affirm that NDEs prove that Mormon theology is correct. (I, for one, would applaud an Interpreter article that laid out the ways that Added Upon lines up with LDS scripture--sort of like how, re: the LGT, Brant Gardner or whoever shows how the Book of Mormon lines up with actual Yucatan geography, or how chiasmus can be found in both the Book of Mormon and in ancient texts.) And if they truly do believe this--i.e., they think that, yes, NDEs prove an afterlife, but, no, it's not 100% positive that this also proves that LDS theology is correct. This means that there could be a very real version of Hell, per other denominations, or that things work out in a very different sense--e.g., there is reincarnation, and Dr. Midgley will come back in the next life a sailor's wooden peg leg.
So, I have to ask: How do the Mopologists benefit from NDEs? Is this little more than pandering to the lowest of the lowest common denominator of Chapel Mormons who turn up on the "Comments" section? I would dismiss this all as Gemli-bait, except that Dr. Peterson, Kiwi, and the others seem to genuinely believe that the NDEs are real, and that they are faith-promoting.