There is a current vogue for reincarnational beliefs, possibly because:
- Westerners love things that are foreign, strange, and exotic; Oriental teachings such as reincarnation fall into that category.
- While reincarnation really does not make sense (there’s a new “being” with a new mind, so what if anything is there to reincarnate?), it does sound “kinder” than going to Purgatory or Hell. “You keep coming back till you work off your karma.” Who or what the “you” would be remains clear as mud.
There has been a snowstorm of NDE accounts since 1977, with all manner of afterlife travelogues. In all likelihood, DO chose one that would have the most appeal to his audience (and where the NDEr was available to the show).
I for one don’t find NDE convincing precisely because there is so much divergence in the type of afterlife reported.
ICXC NIKA