Hi, I wanted to know if you guys believe this experience:

[manga]

http://www.precious-testimonies.com/BornAgain/L-N/LaFondT.htm

[Recusant]

  No.

[manga]

why, how do you think an electrocution could have possibly given someone visions of hell?

[Recusant]

The brain is capable of really marvelous things.

On the other hand, that story is full of complete bullshit.

Interestingly…I still had a lot of electricity in me for four to five months after the electrocution. I found that out the first time I kissed my wife. We would shock each other when we touched! And it hurt! Now can you imagine - every time you reach for your wife, you were shocked again! We got so we would touch each other’s hands first at the same time to lessen the shock before kissing.

People are not Leyden jars that magically recharge themselves because they've been in contact at some point in the past with electrical current.

[manga]

do you think then that it is possible that he did in fact hallucinate?

[Arturo]

do you think then that it is possible that he did in fact hallucinate?

It's a lie. Everything about it is a lie.

[manga]

if you found out the guy wasn't lying, would you believe it, or would you still think his brain caused the experience?

[solidsquid]

Points to consider:

1. This is a random story written by someone on the internet by some guy claiming to be a reverend.

2. His own personal history tells a story of being raised in a Catholic household and went to Catholic school - conditioning from an early age and the establishment of pertinent schematic organization of sensory information.

3. Admitted history of alcoholism and drug use including various psychadelics.

4. Admitted problematic behavior associate with the substance use - a disorder and possibly linked to the traits for addiction.

5. Suffered trauma with neurological issues including memory loss - a field ripe for the formation of false memories.

6. There's a paypal donation button at the bottom of the page asking for donations. May simply be an online marketing tactic for someone's ministry.

Conclusion:  All these points would, from a skeptical standpoint, raise question about such a story. There's many reasons to doubt the veracity of such a sensational story.  And there is no way to verify a subjective experience such as that. If the events are in fact true as told (in the author's perspective), at least the guy is no longer choke slamming his mother from being strung out on acid.

[manga]

those are some good points, it is also possible that he was high when the experience took place, one never knows. I saw a video of him and he was crying as he told the story, so I'm guessing he believes it occurred. It could also be that others helped him to interpret it.

[Papasito Bruno]

I say the bastard deserves to go to hell for eating the fucking marshmallows.

I saw my very first sin committed at the age of five. It was the sin of disobedience - not honoring my mother and my father. My mother said, "I don't want you boys to eat those marshmallows. We are going to roast them over the fire in the backyard with the family tonight."  My mother caught my brother, Cliff and I, hiding behind a stump in our backyard in Farmington, Michigan, eating those marshmallows.

For all we know he took the graham crackers and chocolate for the S'mores as well...eternal damnation indeed!

[Icarus]

 Solidsquid has described the situation neatly.  The guys head was twisted, either by drugs or by religion.....or both.

[Velma]

do you think then that it is possible that he did in fact hallucinate?

All kinds of things can trigger hallucinations. Severe blood loss caused me to see giant children's toys when I was about six. When I was around 8, a very high fever caused me to see Tribbles. Pain, low blood sugar, alcohol, drugs (legal and illegal), dehydration, and anything else that throws some part of your body's systems out of whack can cause hallucinations. Give me a few minutes and I can throw myself into a trance state. Let me keep myself there long enough and who knows what I'll see.

[manga]

do you think then that it is possible that he did in fact hallucinate?

All kinds of things can trigger hallucinations. Severe blood loss caused me to see giant children's toys when I was about six. When I was around 8, a very high fever caused me to see Tribbles. Pain, low blood sugar, alcohol, drugs (legal and illegal), dehydration, and anything else that throws some part of your body's systems out of whack can cause hallucinations. Give me a few minutes and I can throw myself into a trance state. Let me keep myself there long enough and who knows what I'll see.

Thank you Velma, I think your answer sounds very logical. I would like to ask you what you think the odds are that hell actually exists, and even if it does, that this man really saw it. Would you say less than 5%?

[Papasito Bruno]

do you think then that it is possible that he did in fact hallucinate?

All kinds of things can trigger hallucinations. Severe blood loss caused me to see giant children's toys when I was about six. When I was around 8, a very high fever caused me to see Tribbles. Pain, low blood sugar, alcohol, drugs (legal and illegal), dehydration, and anything else that throws some part of your body's systems out of whack can cause hallucinations. Give me a few minutes and I can throw myself into a trance state. Let me keep myself there long enough and who knows what I'll see.

Thank you Velma, I think your answer sounds very logical. I would like to ask you what you think the odds are that hell actually exists, and even if it does, that this man really saw it. Would you say less than 5%?

Here it comes,  get ready and brace yourself...Argument from Coercion.

Even if you think the possibility of hell existing is less than 5 percent isn't that's enough to not take a chance with your salvation?
You must believe in God/Jesus. It's your only hope for salvation. You  are all doomed if you don't accept Jesus as our personal savior. It says so in the Bible. If you want to live forever and avoid suffering, you must accept God.

[Guardian85]

Smells like a scam to me. For all the reasons mentioned by squid.
And people being electrocuted to the point of their muscles locking up are simply not able to scream. At all. Much less scream in recognizable words. Screaming requires you to have control of your muscles. Electrocuted people only scream in bad movies.

All in all, I rate this a 9.4 on the bullsit-o-meter.