Debunking the Pseudo-Skeptics and Debunkers of NDEs
Copied from: http://www.near-death.com/experiences/skeptic09.html
Many people who refer to themselves as skeptics of near-death experiences are actually pseudo-skeptics. A true skeptic, as defined by the philosophers of ancient Greece, is a nonbeliever - a person who does not make conclusions based on evidence that is inconclusive.
Critics of near-death experiencers who assert negative claims but call themselves skeptics often think they have no burden of proof. Such critics who take this stance think it is only necessary to present a case for a counter-claim based upon the plausibility of evidence rather than empirical evidence. Such pseudo-skeptics are actually believers that the survival of consciousness after death is impossible.
What Pseudo-Skeptics Do
Pseudo-skeptics of near-death experiences have done the following:
(1) Claim that science already knows everything, and since it doesn't include the reality of an afterlife, it can't exist. This is referred to as scientism.
(2) Claim that the assumptions underlying consciousness and death are empirical facts that science has already proven.
(3) Have already decided that an afterlife is impossible, even though evidence has not ruled it out, and they are not interested in participating in a debate anyway.
(4) Make claims such as "Consciousness cannot survive death" and they base it on scientific expertise they don't have.
(5) Are skeptical only about near-death experiences instead of applying their skepticism equally to normal and paranormal claims, and even to their own skepticism.
(6) Respond to claims that were not made, such as: "Since near-death experiences have a brain chemical connection, there is no afterlife."
(7) Argue that an afterlife contradicts established theories of nature, and because all other alternative explanations of near-death experiences have been exhausted, claims of the existence of an afterlife are fraud.
(Firmly believe that an afterlife is impossible regardless of any evidence.
(9) Refuse to see the entire body of circumstantial evidence supporting the existence of an afterlife by claiming that near-death experiences are just a hallucination.
(10) Debunk near-death experiences by associating them with something else such as: "If we suppose that an afterlife exists, then we might just as well suppose werewolves exist."
(11) Resort to personal attacks, such as, "These people are nuts!" instead of focusing on the issue at hand.
By this definition, pseudo-skeptics are not true skeptics because they have already made up their minds that near-death experiences are nothing more than chemical reactions in a dying brain which produces hallucinations from a dying brain. Such pseudo-skeptics make these claims without a shred scientific evidence.
But a true skeptic of the theory that consciousness survives death will keep an open mind and not take a position in favor nor take a position against it until it is proven either true or false.
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