Saturday, November 20, 2010

Can near-death experiences really exist?

The idea that some form of consciousness may survive death has been lent credence by reports of near-death experiences (NDEs). People who have been clinically dead and been revived have described what occurred while they were dead. Science has sometimes sought to explain these experiences. A Dutch study of 344 patients who were revived following death from cardiac arrest found that 18 percent had near-death experiences. Interestingly, most of these experiences could be categorized into common themes like an awareness of being dead, positive emotions and the presence of boundaries the individual couldn't pass

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Can science be rectified with religion?

Schools of thought differ on whether science and religion can peacefully co-exist in both the mind of a person and within the larger society. One school of thought suggests that the beliefs associated with both science and religion are too fundamentally at odds with one another to co-exist. This idea is based on the 19th-century "conflict thesis." You could find more examples of harmony between religion and science within the individual. A 1996 poll found that 40 percent of working scientists believed in a Biblical-type omniscient God. This underscores the other school of thought that allows the reconciliation of the two institutions; that the Big Bang created the universe, but a creator God gave rise to the Big Bang.

Can prayer heal?

The idea that the prayers of one person can help another individual is common among world religions. This type of prayer is called intercessory prayer because one person intercedes on another's behalf to a higher power. In 1988, San Francisco physician Randolph Byrd conducted a scientific experiment of 393 patients admitted to a hospital for cardiac treatment. Byrd enlisted groups of religious people who'd never met the patients to pray for these individuals' swift and uncomplicated recovery. He divided the patients into groups who were prayed for and those who weren't. Byrd found that 85 percent of those who received intercessory prayer had speedy recoveries, compared to 73 percent among the group who didn't receive prayer. Replications of Byrd's study have found mixed results.

Conflicting questions? Can anyone answer

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