Boy who claimed to have gone to heaven, and whose story became a best selling book, admits he made the whole thing up. Gee, really?

Courtesy of The Washington Post:  

Tyndale House, a major Christian publisher, has announced that it will stop selling “The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven,” by Alex Malarkey and his father, Kevin Malarkey. 

The best-selling book, first published in 2010, purports to describe what Alex experienced while he lay in a coma after a car accident when he was 6 years old. The coma lasted two months, and his injuries left him paralyzed, but the subsequent spiritual memoir — with its assuring description of “Miracles, Angels, and Life beyond This World” — became part of a popular genre of “heavenly tourism.” 

Earlier this week, Alex recanted his testimony about the afterlife. In an open letter to Christian bookstores posted on the Pulpit and Pen Web site, Alex states flatly: “I did not die. I did not go to Heaven.”

Here is Alex's letter:  

“An Open Letter to Lifeway and Other Sellers, Buyers, and Marketers of Heaven Tourism, by the Boy Who Did Not Come Back From Heaven.” 

Please forgive the brevity, but because of my limitations I have to keep this short.

 I did not die. I did not go to Heaven. 

I said I went to heaven because I thought it would get me attention. When I made the claims that I did, I had never read the Bible. People have profited from lies, and continue to. They should read the Bible, which is enough. The Bible is the only source of truth. Anything written by man cannot be infallible. 

It is only through repentance of your sins and a belief in Jesus as the Son of God, who died for your sins (even though he committed none of his own) so that you can be forgiven may you learn of Heaven outside of what is written in the Bible…not by reading a work of man. I want the whole world to know that the Bible is sufficient. Those who market these materials must be called to repent and hold the Bible as enough. 

In Christ, 
Alex Malarkey.”

Okay his last name is "Malarkey" and STILL people bought his book?

Well I have some bad news for Alex when it comes to placing his faith in the Bible. He is certainly not the first person to lie about God and Heaven in a bestselling book.

I have to admit that I have little sympathy for the morons who buy into this near death bullshit by the way.

First off science has essentially explained why it happens.

And secondly the very idea of heaven is so incredibly ridiculous that I find myself having a hard time respecting anybody who still clings to that fantasy. (Sorry if that hurts anybody's feelings, but it's true.)

However for those who are still desperately hanging onto the idea that heaven is not only possible, but that people have actually paid a visit, there is still at least one young man who has yet to recant his story.

And good news for racists, he says that Jesus has blue eyes.

New research may hold key to explain near death experiences. Spoiler alert: Neither God nor Heaven related.

Courtesy of Discovery News: 

There may be a scientific explanation for the vivid near-death experiences, such as seeing a shining light, that some people report after surviving a heart attack, US scientists said Monday. 

Apparently, the brain keeps on working for up to 30 seconds after blood flow stops, according to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.  

University of Michigan scientists did their research on nine lab rats that were anesthetized and then subjected to induced cardiac arrest as part of the experiment. 

In the first 30 seconds after their hearts were stopped, they all showed a surge of brain activity, observed in electroencephalograms (EEGs) that indicated highly aroused mental states. 

"We were surprised by the high levels of activity," said senior author George Mashour, professor of anesthesiology and neurosurgery at the University of Michigan. 

"In fact, at near-death, many known electrical signatures of consciousness exceeded levels found in the waking state, suggesting that the brain is capable of well-organized electrical activity during the early stage of clinical death."

This comes as no surprise to those of us who count ourselves as Atheists but the questions surrounding these near death experiences have provided fodder for numerous religious debates, and have been used by the faithful to undercut the non-believers argument.

Personally I always trusted that in time science would answer this question beyond a reasonable doubt and it looks like it may have done just that.

However as we know that will do nothing to dissuade the faithful among us from clinging to the idea that books like this confirm what they so desperately want to believe.

However day by day, study by study, we are coming ever closer to proving Neil deGrasse Tyson right when he said,  “God is an ever-receding pocket of scientific ignorance that's getting smaller and smaller and smaller as time moves on.”

The question is, how much smaller does that pocket have to become before it is too small to hold people's faith?