Identity Theft and Woo-Woo

I recently took an unexpected trip to the San Francisco Bay Area. I had no computer access, so I spent a lot of time walking around thinking.

One of the things I thought about was identity theft.

How woo-woo is that? Well, plenty when you think abut it.

The more I read and listen to accounts of near-death experiences, the more I see real-world applications for this information, especially if scientific research ever comes closer to proving that consciousness survives bodily death and there’s a whole lot more to reality than what we’re taught in grade school. As research comes closer to proving that there is no death, the impact on crime could be enormous.

Identity thieves do their work on the sly, believing that no one is watching them. They are shielded by the comfort of the darkness of secrecy. They usually have no personal connection to the person whose identity they steal. They believe that he only real victim is the credit card company, that impersonal corporate entity the lives in a skyscraper in a big city.

I have been reading a lot about life reviews in different books on near-death experiences. In life reviews, not only do you step outside of time and relive everything you ever did, thought, and felt, you experience anything that anyone experienced as a result of your existence.

That identity thief who steals money under the wrap of secrecy will experience all the pain s/he caused.

The basis for the golden rule (do unto others as you would have them do unto you) turns out not to be just a religious precept; it’s great advice for the life review. If you want to have a pleasant life review, you’ll do good things. You’ll help and love people.

Contrary to what most of us automatically assume, life reviews are not intended to judge or punish us. They really just are, like gravity just is. It’s natural law, not a criminal trial. It is intended to lead to understanding, not to punishment—unlike our criminal justice system.

A substantial number of near-death experiencers come back to this plane and either privately or publicly share stories about their life review. A life review is a wake-up call about what the purpose is of life on earth. If a person has done bad, s/he is shown in a heightened empathy state why that wasn’t the best choice to make. The life review also informs the person what led to those choices. Most of us don’t make poor choices because we are delighted to pursue anti-social behavior. We do it often because that’s the only route we see.

Identity thieves, say the research, are frequently drug addicts. They do what they do because they feel trapped by their addictions.

I contend that this is not much different from a countless variety of corporate entities that with less than noble intentions manipulate people into spending money. Are those fast foods really healthy? Are those pharmaceuticals really as good for people as the press releases say? Do cigarette companies really have the best interests of humanity at heart? Do insurance companies really care about being there for people in need? Do religious leaders really have the good of the flock in mind?

All the phony baloney stuff comes out in the life review.

Another point of the life review is that every time you commit a crime against humanity, you’re also committing it against yourself. If people suffer as a result of what you do, you, in turn, feel all of their suffering as if it was your own—and it literally becomes your own in the spirit world.

As I scan the philosophical horizon, I see that there is an enormous force field that keeps our society from seriously investigating the near-death experience phenomenon. I can see why. If the composite picture that I get from reading about these experiences holds water, many social institutions would leak big time. Many of us are taught to resist change. We like the status quos, even when it makes us miserable. At least we know where we stand.

On the other hand, wouldn’t it create an interesting world if science really did prove that consciousness survives death—and as a result more people and corporations started behaving in a way they’d appreciate in some far-off life review?