near death experiences are a good reason not to be atheist

Again, let us cut straight to it:1. "almost no one who is an atheist comes back [from a NDE] still an atheist. they might have a bigger or different conception of God than what is normally talked about, but atheist they are not. " I stated last round, Pro’s assertion was unsupported. She has dropped this point upon which her entire case is built. On this alone, the decision of the voters should be simple. However, in the interest of providing a thorough case, I will respond to Pro’s rebuttals. 2. "it might be a personal experience, but it looks like the experience has to do with us all. this means we should listen even to the personal experiences of those people. " NDE’s are an inherently subjective experience. If we were to consider anecdotes as evidence, then they would be a weak standard of evidence indeed. These stories rely on the interpretation of one person – an interpretation that cannot be verified or corroborated in any objective way. At best, it would be evidence for one person, and anyone else would be required to take their word for it. 3. "it's more than just a life changing event. they go from not believing, to 'knowing' God exists. " There is many things wrong with this statement. First and foremost, these individuals gain a new perspective on how fragile life is. That alone is enough for a person to re-examine their life and views - NDE or not. I will address the ‘knowledge’ claim in the next section since it will be tied to her statement there. 4. "people overwhelmingly experience God. very few if any experience people like Zeus Buddha or Mohammad. on a related note, an overwheling number experience Jesus, or at least a being of light, but my main point is they overwhelmingly expereince God. " Pro suggests that NDEs provides “knowledge” of God. As a non-believer, I find this statement interesting and perplexing. It seems by Pro's logic, NDE’s provide ‘knowledge’ of any gods ever experienced, including ancient gods that are generally accepted as myths now. Either we accept all gods experienced in NDEs as myth or we accept them all as true. We know NDEs were known by Plato 2500 years ago [3]. Would Pro have us believe the Greek gods are not myths? I discussed last round that NDEs were not consistent and were strongly correlated to pre-existing beliefs. It is much more reasonable to conclude these experiences build upon information, beliefs, and fears already possessed in the dying brains rather than to jump to the dubious conclusion that ‘knowledge’ is gained from an immaterial realm beyond this one. Lastly, Pro asserts “people overwhelmingly experience God” – This is an unsupported assertion. Not to mention, I have already provided evidence to the contrary by way of Sam Parnia (director of resuscitation research at Stony Brook University School of Medicine in New York) in the last round. In summary: 1. Pro has devoted her energy to refuting my arguments, and in doing so, has completely neglected her positive case. This is sufficient for a Con win. 2. Subjective experience is only good for the ‘subject’ (individual). 3. Realizing life is fragile is likely to cause re-evaluation – No NDE is necessary. 4. NDEs are all different and the possible deities can be linked to the pre-existing beliefs in the individual and/or culture whether the experience occurred in ancient or modern times. No supernatural explanation is needed. **I thank Pro for the opportunity to debate this subject, and the reader for hanging with us. **[3] . http://www.near-death.com...