Journal of
eISSN: 2373-6445
Submit manuscript...
Opinion Authors String Book Reviews - VI
Book Review of Life After Death the Evidence
Samuel A Nigro M D
Verify Captcha
Regret for the inconvenience: we are taking measures to prevent fraudulent form submissions by extractors and page crawlers. Please type the correct Captcha word to see email ID.
Verify Captcha
Regret for the inconvenience: we are taking measures to prevent fraudulent form submissions by extractors and page crawlers. Please type the correct Captcha word to see email ID.
Retired, Assistant Clinical Professor Psychiatry, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, USA
Correspondence: Dr. Samuel A Nigro M.D., Retired, Assistant Clinical Professor Psychiatry, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, 2517 Guilford Road, Cleveland Heights, Ohio 44118, USA, Tel 216 932-0575
Received: October 15, 2015 | Published: January 27, 2016
Citation: Nigro SA (2016) Book Review of Life After Death the Evidence. J Psychol Clin Psychiatry 5(3): 00260. DOI: 10.15406/jpcpy.2016.05.00260
Opinion
Book review
Life After Death the Evidence by Dinesh D’Souza (2009) Regnory, Washington, D.C., USA, pp. 269.
In my New York debate on “Is Christianity the Problem?” with Christopher Hitchens, a lively affair, against a resourceful opponent - one of the most interesting questions came from a man from the island nation on Tonga. For centuries, the man said, Tonga suffered terrible vendettas, tribal wars, and even cannibalism. Then the missionaries came with their doctrines of God, universal brotherhood and the afterlife. Today, the man said, Tonga is a much more peaceful and happy place. Then, turning to Hitchens he said, “You have given us some interesting theories, but what do you have to offer us?” Hitchens was momentarily speechless (Pg. 185).
This, of course, raises two questions: “Does atheism have anything to offer?” and “Is there life after atheism?” Well, both of those questions are rendered meaningless by this book as it details comprehensively and then rebuts all the anti-cultural psychopathic depressing offerings of one atheist after another. Life After Death details by Thomistic erudition how the obsessional empirical rationalism of atheists is wrong and intellectually embarrassing. The scientism of atheists is shown to subvert truth and tradition as reasoned arguments are censored and distorted. The science of atheists does not ennoble mankind nor does it improve our understanding of ourselves even if it superficially improves satisfaction in this earthly life. The principle of uncertainty proves how the empirical fragmentation and mathematical specialization of atheistic science destroys all it studies because it reduces the being of its subjects as it studies them. Without transcendental interpretation and activation, science, with the arrogant pretentious satisfaction of anti-transcendental “creation,” creates non-being (which is a valid definition of “evil” in which atheists cannot believe without becoming spiritual). D’Souza makes us realize that it is more rational to act believing and knowing that there is life after death.
D’Souza’s review of near death experiences proves a fascinating topic deserving continued attention. The chapters on the laws of physics, the big bang, and the anthropic principle provide an understandable scientific basis for belief while the description of the wild bizarre zero-probability theories of a Multiverse (page 86) demonstrate to this reader the laughable God-phobic trivialities to which atheists flee.
The chapter, “Undeniable Teleology: The Plot of Evolution,” is great fun especially for those of us who are agnostics about evolution after having been “believers” of evolution for most of our lives. Consistent with D’Souza, we will not deny the teleology, but we will deny Darwinian evolution.1 (Easy to do once one understands (1) the “pheromone problem” in that sub-human animals with biochemical certitude effectively only mate with their own kind, and thus there are no hybrids in nature; and (2) the “sterile hybrid problem” in that animal hybrids, when forcefully created by humans, cannot reproduce—Both facts absolutely prevent the major genetic transfers required by evolution as currently advertised). D’Souza presents evolution in a very gentle way –too gentle for me as I again loudly proclaim my discovering Richard Dawkins to be a bold scheming liar deserving no credibility—The suppression and censorship of my findings by the liberal press (as usual guiltless and without conscience) and scientists (as usual guiltless and without conscience) is an outrage (My criticisms of Dawkins and other loud atheists are available from me at Sam@DocNigro.com).
Chapter Seven, “The Spiritual Brain--Finding the Soul within the Body,” analyzes the neurological, psychophysiological, electrophysiological and computer aspects of mind-material-brain. This chapter is worth the price of the whole book, and it renders at least “plausible” that there is life after death.
The best evidence of contemporary neuroscience is that the mind cannot be equated with the brain, and while the deterioration of the brain might impede the operation of the mind, the two are separate, which makes it possible that our immaterial minds and consciousness might survive the termination of our physical frames (Pg. 125).
D’Souza’s analysis of consciousness, free will and immaterial self are adequate and nicely supplemented by my Theogeocalculus of Life.2 His chapter on philosophy of reason, phenomena, subjectivity/objectivity, is transcendentalizing. He quotes atheist Schopenhauer: “Your real being knows neither time, nor beginning, nor end….Your immortal part is indestructible” (Pg. 162). Thus, the first modern atheist proves his Theophobia as he proclaims immortality—Schopenhauer, like them all, cannot bring himself to say “God,” and the psychology of unbelief can be seen as a mental disorder more delusional than any accusations or book by Richard Dawkins.
It is the atheists who are afflicted by Wunchtrum – wishful thinking. It is so thoughtless and easy to be a café atheist just mouthing off about that which is not known or believed. Like Freud,3 the reaction formation to their childhood religiosity is overwhelmingly pathological.
So what do atheists bring except a denatured Christianity anyway? All their real goodness is a shadow of their latent and unconscious but denied Christianity. A real catastrophe would be an atheistic world. In fact, we’ve been there. While studying the Christian creation of America,4 I found myself telling atheists to create their own country. Then I realized they did. It was called the Soviet Union. Godless materialism is all the Soviets offered – almost identical to what is now being offered today by those I call “soviets” (nee “liberals”)–it fits, except todays’ soviets do not have the overt militaristic expansion capability or forced unfree compliance yet, although the European Union does so more and more (The EU should be known more accurately as the European Soviet).
The significance of the book is that only those who act will win. Believers cannot sit on their hands. One must provoke to gain respect and receptivity from the man from Tonga and all others. One would be deaf, dumb and blind not to see the nothingness of what atheists believe and the contrary transcendental cornucopia of a life after death. The book made me reread the recommended book by Anthony Rizzi, The Science Before Science.5
Atheism is the prevention of evolution – it is the stagnating prevention of the human spirit. It is a polluting regression into non-being. It is soviet. D’Souza has defeated them all. One must read the book and embrace the exhaustive deep case D’Souza makes for Life after Death.
Acknowledgments
None.
Conflicts of interest
The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.
References
- Nigro SA. “Charles Darwin’s Bicentenary: Time for celebration of an inquest? Social Justice Review. 2008:p. 72-76.
- The Theo GeoCalculus of Life or Linacre Quarterly. 2006.
- Nigro SA. “What you should know about Sigmund Freud,” Social Justice Review. 2006. p. 71-76.
- Nigro SA Book Review of The Crhistian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States by William Morris, American Vision, Georgia, USA; 2007. 1060 p.
- Rizzi A The Science before Science: A Guide to Thinking in the 21st Century, Bloomington, Ind., Press of Institute for Advanced Physics, 2004. 390 p.
©2016 Nigro. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and build upon your work non-commercially.