Barbara Rommer, MD, has published Blessing in Disguise: Another Side of the Near Death Experience recounting four years studying over 500 people who had near death experiences.
Many people met dead friends or relatives, guardian angels, spiritual beings or other entities based on their belief systems.
Some met what they called a master being of light that 10 percent reported facilitated a detailed panoramic review of their lives including not only their own actions but also the feelings and reactions of every other person impacted by those actions.
The encounter was free of judgment. "We judge ourselves. That really is the message."
Upon returning to life, some experienced depression while others had dramatic changes in their attitude about life and its meaning.
One man said what a fool he had been "spending time accumulating things." Others changed jobs in order to do "something with more spiritual significance." At least seven hospice nurses had changed careers after their near death experience in order to do "something more meaningful."
Many become "more spiritual, but they don't become active in organized religion." Atheists and agnostics grew to believe "there is a higher energy source."
Some medical professionals feel the experience is due to hallucinations, low oxygen to the brain or chemical reaction.
Professional debunker James Randi, survivor of two near death experiences, thinks it's the physiological response of a relaxed nervous system and relates to shared DNA patterns.
Conventional church leaders are "guarded in their attitude toward the phenomenon," which means they aren't sure what to think since it's not addressed in the Bible.
Not everyone felt love and peace from the experience. 25 percent reported hellish scenarios that they feared to talk about because of possible societal judgment that they might be "bad people." Rommer points out that everyone has done and said things they regret. (South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 3-20-02)
Intelligent design, the suggestion that "some form of intelligence purposely designed nature" has recently appeared before Ohio's Board of Education.
Some want it taught along side Darwinian evolution, not as curriculum but as an example of disagreement with Darwin. Darwinian evolution teaches life emerged spontaneously and all life forms result from "undirected natural selection."
Intelligent design, wrongly associated with "creationism," focuses on everything from the finely-tuned universe of modern physics to information encoded in DNA to support their point.
Critics fear bringing "religion" into biology class but advocates, who come from a wide range of faiths and the non-religious, avoid naming the "intelligence" they see behind the universe. (Associated Press, 4-02)
Religious history is rife with "schism, heresies, strained relationships and lesser theological sprains and bruises." Every faith has had "an ideal of unity" shattered, often more than once. At issue is usually core authority: who gets to make the rules or even more specifically, "whose rules are closer to eternal truth." (The Dallas Morning News, 3-15-02)
During the last 10 years, the number of people not belonging to any specific religion has doubled. This group would be the third largest denomination in the US. Says one survey respondent, "I look inside, where we're all God ... We are divine in our own right." Said a sociologist. "".... people don't connect God under a brand label."
This is not to say atheism is rising. Recently 90 percent of Americans claimed belief in God. Instead, they are "sprinting away from the perceived problems and rigidity of organized religion." Commonly heard, "I'm not religious; I'm spiritual" with religion viewed as "cold and emotionless" while spirituality is "warm."
Other comments: "I do unto others as I would have them do unto me. I think God wants us happy." And, "I have Christian values but I prefer to look within myself than go to church. Those who don't label themselves are more apt to appreciate others." (Knight Ridder Newspa¬pers, 4-12-02)
Catholic priest Joseph Girzone wrote Joshua twenty years ago thinking serious health problems would soon end his life. He poured out his feelings about the Jesus known to everyday people in a parable in which Jesus returns to a wood working shop in small town America.
Girzone wanted his character to focus on where his church had gone wrong. Girzone asks, "What if Christ returned and started prying into the affairs of the Catholic Church and other flocks as well? Said Girzone, "If Jesus came back today, I think he would be very critical of those who abuse their teaching authority."
Joshua has recently become a movie using Catholic characters but also targets evangelical Protestants. The difficulty was portraying "someone who is gentle and loving, yet powerful and prophetic. Being unoffensive is not the same as being holy." The theme Girzone considers at the heart of all churches' struggles is "Love must not be confused with law."
Joshua, confronting Vatican inquisitors, says, "Religion is beautiful only when it is free and flows from the heart. That is why you should guide and inspire, not legislate behavior. And to threaten God's displeasure when people do not follow your rules is being a moral bully and does no service to God. You are shepherds and guides, but not the ultimate judges of human behavior. That belongs only to God." (The Morning News, 4-5-02)