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The Afterlife: Heaven is for Real: Proof of Heaven: a Semi-personal Story

Michael Anthony

Heaven is for real proof of heavenA semi-personal story of a friend’s experience in a coma–And–reviews of the books: Heaven is for Real and Proof of Heaven.

What happens to us after we die?  The question has plagued many of the best, and worst, minds throughout history.  Some people believe that heaven is hanging out on white clouds, cherubs playing the harp, and friends and families surrounding them; others believe in being greeted by forty virgins; and others still, believe in nothing, that the end is the end.

Recently, I heard a story from a friend who, just this past summer, was in a month-long medically induced coma.  The story that he had to tell about his experiences, visions, hallucinations, what have you, while in the coma, fascinated me.  In fact, what he spoke about called to mind two memoirs that I had read recently: Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy’s Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back, a memoir written by Todd Burpo about his son’s alleged experiences with the afterlife while in a coma after a ruptured appendix.  The other book is Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon’s Journey into the Afterlife, a memoir written by Eben Alexander a neurosurgeon who claims that his coma, and the state his brain was in, and the fact that he had visions during his coma, prove that heaven is real!  (Now, I don’t want to make it seem as though I only read books about the afterlife, I tend to read several books a month, and these were just two that, through recommendations, made it into the fray.)

proof of the afterlife

                The previous mentioned books, Heaven is for Real, and Proof of Heaven, though well-written, and seemingly well-intentioned, I have a lot of problems with:


In Heaven is for Real, a child claims that while in a coma he hovered over his body, saw his family prayinproof that heaven is realg, and then went into heaven and met Jesus (the story is all narrated by his father).  They stories and claims are interesting and are what they are, but I had two main issues with the book: (1) At one point the child has done something wrong and is getting reprimanded by the father and the child says “Remember Jesus loves children,” and the father stops reprimanding him.  Although slight, that’s the first part of the book that kind of got my radar going (as if a child claiming to have met Jesus isn’t enough to get the radar going).  The child, who has met Jesus, is now using it as an excuse not to pick up his toys, etc.  (2) As I stated, the story is all narrated by the child’s father, but what’s also important to mention is that the child’s father is a pastor.  And coincidentally, when the child goes to heaven, what he sees, and experiences, lines up exactly, 100%, with what the father believes and teaches at his church.  To me, this seemed a little too obvious.  That out of all the thousands of religions in the world, one child claims to go to heaven, claims to meet Jesus, and his version of heaven, and Jesus, coincidentally matches up exactly with what his father teaches.  It just seems too…I don’t know, you get the idea.  It would have been fascinating if the child came back and had one thing, even one little thing, that rebutted something the father taught, but the child’s version of heaven matched what the father taught right down to the colors of the robes Jesus wore.


As fproof that heaven is realor Proof of Heaven: Although I enjoyed the book, and appreciate the fact that it was written by a man of science, after the book was released, a lot of claims were being made about the validity of the medical claims.  (The book’s main selling points are the medical claims—that the author, a respected doctor, actually has scientific proof that an afterlife exists).  So… both interesting reads, but, as always, I remain an interested skeptic (there were many good things about the books, too, but I’ll go further into those in a later post).

Now, onto the story of my friend:  Several months ago, a friend—we’ll call him Rich—was jumped by a couple of kids outside a club (Rich was drunk and the kids had been hitting on his girlfriend).  After talking trash back and forth the kids jumped Rich and knocked him out (the kids both had brass knuckles).  Rich fell to the ground and an ambulance was called.  The combination of brass knuckles and the fall to the ground led to Rich’s skull becoming fractured, and he had to be sent to the neurosurgery unit of a nearby hospital.  Following the incident Rich was put into a medical induced coma. His brain was swollen and the size of a basketball, and for weeks the swelling wouldn’t go down.  After a month, the doctor told his mother that he was “the worse patient in the hospital” and that she should prepare to say goodbye.  At that point, the mother, and a group of friend who were constantly in-and-out of Rich’s bedside, formed a prayer circle outside in the waiting room.  They all held hands and began to pray.  Within the hour Rich’s swelling finally began to go down—after it not moving at all for a month—and he was soon able to come out of the medically induced coma.

When Rich came out, not only was he all right, but he had such minimal brain damage that it fascinated the doctors (the only side effects are that he can no longer taste or smell; but the doctor’s say he might be able to get those back, and besides that there’s no significant brain damage, etc).  When Rich came out of his coma, though, he had quite the story to tell about what he experienced while in the coma.  (Before going on, I’d like to state that Rich is not trying to sell his story, he was not religious beforehand, in fact, he was pretty atheistic, and agnostic.)

what happens when we die?

                Rich’s claims:

(1)    Rich claims that he remembers hovering over his body and looking down at himself and all the people in the room praying for him.

(2)    While in a coma Rich claims that he saw his friend, Billy, who had died seven years earlier—Billy was also jumped by some kids and had died of almost the same EXACT injuries of Rich.

(3)    Rich claimed that Billy was with him the whole time and that they had several conversations.

  1. In their conversations they talked about: how Rich was the only one of Billy’s friends who still talked to his mom.  How Billy had been planning on having a kid with his girlfriend before he died, but how Rich had ending up having one with his girlfriend instead so after his passing.  Billy told Rich that he was going to be all right, that he was going to get out of the coma fine.  At one point, Billy even told Rich “They’re going to be doing some surgery on you now, but it’s all right, because it will help you to wake up when you do…”  At one point Billy even said to him (referencing the way Billy had died) “Did you learn nothing from me, man!?”  Billy also told Rich to tell his mother that he was, “doing all right.”

(4)    After Rich was out of the hospital he went to see Billy’s mother and before he could say anything she said, “You don’t have to say anything.  I know Billy was there with you.”

(5)    After I told him one of the stories I had read in the book Heaven is for Real, he said that his whole body started tingling.

Normally, I’m a hard-lined skeptic, and I still am, but it’s fascinating to hear a story directly from the horse’s mouth, from someone I know, someone who’s not trying to make a dime off his story and has no vested interest in sharing it.  I don’t know if his claims are real.  Nothing that he said was mind-shattering, he made no predictions for the future, he didn’t meet Jesus, he didn’t claim to have scientific proof that heaven exists, but it’s interesting, something I just thought I’d share.

Edit:  In a comment below I was informed that the story regarding the debunking of the memoir Proof of Heaven, has been debunked itself.  So, his account holds true–or, at least, it hasn’t been debunked as previously claimed.

Picture: Flickr/angelofsweetbitter2009By: angelofsweetbitter2009

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Check out: Warrior Writers

Michael Anthony

All you vets out there need to go check out Warrior Writers.

I don’t think I’ve actually ever wrote about them on here before.  Well here goes.  They’re a great organization that helps veterans write about their wartime experiences.  For an Interdisciplinary Studies (I.S.) part of my grad program at Lesley University last semester I had the opportunity to intern for Warrior Writers.  And now as I start my next semester it’s occurred to me that I’ve never written about them.  Well, there’s not much to say besides that they’re a great organization.  Here’s their website where you can read about some of the great things they’re doing and upcoming events in your area.

Warrior Writers Website Click Here

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The Vegan Comedian – A Follow Up

Michael Anthony

Go Vegan CartoonSeveral months ago I released a series of “Vegan Comedian…” videos on YouTube, and in these videos I did what could only be correlated to as “Standup comedy.”

The so called “jokes” that I came up with were meant to poke fun at vegans and meat-eaters alike:  “Vegan Alcoholics,” “Vegan Abortions,” and “Rotten Meat,” all the videos addressed awkward, and bizarre conversations that I’ve had over the years.  (None of them by choice.) The idea behind the videos was to lampoon the dynamics between vegans and meat-eaters—and I thought a corny, try-hard, hack, standup comedian would be a fun medium to use.  I added in the fake lack track to make it more fun, and I timed it just a second off just to add to the cringe-factor.  It was all in good spirits.

In the description of the video I had a little paragraph stating that it was filmed with a laugh track and that it was just for satire purposes, and then I added in a list of real comedians who also happen to be vegan.  Originally, the videos were titled “Live Performance – The Vegan Comedian…” but combined with the laugh track, it became too obvious, and there were other versions were I really hammed it up for the camera, but those didn’t work either.

I am a vegan; however, I am not a “Live out Loud,” vegan.  I do write articles, and post videos, about veganism, but in real life I often don’t talk about veganism.  None of my friends even knew I was vegan until several months afterward.  In fact, the majority of the time that I do talk about vegan/vegetarian/pescetarianism is when I’m talking to vets about how a healthy diet can help with PTSD—other times are when I’m specifically asked, or when I think someone’s experiencing a problem that a vegan/vegetarian diet could address (cue research on diabetes, heart disease, etc).   But over the years, as stated, conversations have happened—as they do to every vegan, and meat-eater, alike—that I thought would be fun to talk about and parody.

Anyways…people are watching the videos and thinking they’re real—that I’m some guy really trying to be a comedian, and that I added in the laugh track to pull one over on people.  The intent was to create this type of ‘try-hard, hack comedian’ but I figured that people would watch the videos, maybe think a little about the meat-eater/vegan dynamics (from both sides); laugh a little; cringe a little, then read the description and be in on the joke.  The videos came out exactly as planned; the only thing I didn’t plan on was that so few people would read the video descriptions.  One video has gone viral on Reddit (twice) and the three videos combined have been shared over 3,000 times and have gotten over 150,000 views.  Go figure.  People think they’re real—or created with real standup comedy intent.

In the last week I’ve gotten a dozen emails from angry people (actually a majority of angry comedians) saying things like: “You suck.  You’ll never make it as a comedian using a fake laugh track.”  And let’s not forget All-Captials-Guy: “I’VE BEEN DOING COMEDY FOR SIX YEARS.  YOU’RE A HACK AND YOUR STUPID VIDEO HAS MORE VIEWS THAN ALL OF MINE COMBINED.  WE ALL CAN TELL THAT YOUR [sic] USING A LAUGH TRACK NO ONE’S BUYING THAT IT WAS A REAL AUDIENCE.  WE’RE LAUGHING AT YOU NOT WITH YOU.  FUCK YOURSELF YOU STUPID VEGAN.”

And then of course there are the other comedians who tried to ‘trip me up’ or ‘catch me in a lie.’  I got three emails from comedians asking questions like, “Great audience, bro.  Where were you?  I’ve been doing standup for years and haven’t had a crowd like that.  Who was head-lining, bro?”   Obviously they think I created the videos for real and they’re trying to catch me admitting to using a laugh track (With these emails I had fun and typically answered back something like: “Wow.  Thanks for the email, bro.  You’re right the crowd was awesome that night.  I can’t believe the great response…” you get the idea).

I did get a couple of emails from people who had originally commented angrily on Reddit, then had read the video description and sent me an email:  “Hey, I posted an angry comment on reddit about your video (I never comment but your video got me so angry) but I read the description after I had shown it to a few friends and I’ve got to say you got me.  I total bought it.  Part of me wants to comment on reddit and let everyone know and part of me wants to just keep it going.  Great job…”

Anyways… it’s a fun joke, people are responding to it in funny and interesting ways, the only reason I’m even mentioning anything now is because of the emails I’ve gotten regarding it.  I get dozens of emails every week from veterans and family members of veterans looking for help and when I have to take time out of answering those emails to answer these, that’s where I draw the line with the joke.

Lesson learned:  People don’t read video descriptions.

Videos

Rotten Meat Joke

Vegan Abortions Joke

Vegan

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Shit People Say About Women in Combat – Videos

Michael Anthony

I got an email from the creator of the funny Youtube video “Shit Civilians Say to Veterans,” informing me that he just posted some new videos about “Shit People Say about Women in Combat,” I thought I’d sure here for all who haven’t already seen them.

Shit People Say about Women in Combat

[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k27imgQl3xQ&feature=youtu.be[/tube]

Women in Combat: What Is Not Going to Happen?

[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1j3y2qx0l5k&feature=youtu.be[/tube]

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Best Online Original Series

Michael Anthony

564694_276002369142975_1284886853_nIt seems as though, lately, everyone’s been coming out with their own original online series.  I’m always curious about them, just to see what’s out there; but not many of them seem to amount to anything worthwhile.  BUT… recently I came across a new series called First Dates With Toby Harris…and I love it.  It’s a great, quick comedy that leaves you wanting more:

“First Dates With  Toby Harris is a journey of ill-fated first dates with the lovable (sometimes deplorable) and always single Toby Harris. Love him or hate him, a date with Toby is one you’ll always remember.”

Just thought I’d share for anyone out there looking for a distraction for a few minutes.

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What to do if your Yahoo Email Account Gets Hacked!

Michael Anthony

yahoo account's been hackedRecently my Yahoo email account was hacked (sorry for anyone who got a spam email) it’s been happening more and more lately to friends and now it’s finally happened to me.  It’s an awful feeling to know that you’ve been hacked and all your contacts–business, and friends–have been sent links to porn sites (funny story about that in a second).

Here’s the steps to take if anyone else out there gets hacked by these bastards.

1)  Log into your account–if you still can.

2) Go to drop down bar and click on Account Info.

3) First, check your contact information.  This should be where you’ve put in an alternate email account and/or your phone number.  Hackers often change these to alternate email addresses, too.  Check those and make sure they’re still the ones you had placed there.

4) Then click on the link that says “change your password” and change your password.

5) Then click on “update password-reset info,” follow the steps.

6) Then click on “set up your second sign-in verification,” (this is supposed to make it hard for you to ever get hacked again–if you, or anyone else, tries to log onto your email account from an unknown computer then they won’t be able to.)

7) Click on “view your recent sign-in activity,” this will show you where you’ve been hacked from (I was hacked from Romania).

8) Send an apology email to all those on your list and let them know that you’ve been hacked.

And here’s the funny story.  A friend of mine, let’s call her Brittney, had just broken up with her long term boyfriend.  They had been together for almost seven years, and a week after they had broken up Brittney’s email had gotten hacked.  Well, this hacker sent out emails, but only to a handful of people in Brittney’s email list… but one of those people happened to be her ex-boyfriend.  And what do you think the spam email was for…. Penis Enlargement pills.  That’s right, a week after breaking up, Brittney’s ex-boyfriend received an email that said, “Here I think you need these…” and then there was a link to Penis Enlargement pills (and for those of you who think Brittney had done this as a joke and hadn’t really gotten hacked, the email also had gone to her uncle and a few other people too).

Anyways, hackers and spammers suck.