Perhaps I'm in the minority here but I think Alex gave Robert a really hard time here but he (Robert) came out admirably.
Here we have an organisation making a scientific study of a phenomena which does not choose to manifest according to one's belief - although I have always suspected folks' beliefs may influence what they experience or simply their interpretation of it.
How scientific is it to pick and choose between the experiencers based on opinions about the spiritual path they've chosen?
Would Alex prefer that IANDS keeps a list of NDE experiencers NOT to study based on their religions, so as not to 'taint' the science?
To do that you'd have to define 'respectable' religions, which in my opinion are few if indeed any.
I have known people who have been into Eckankar who probably knew nothing of its alleged dodgy background but simply liked its emphasis on consciousness and astral travel.
I see no reason, if they happened to have an NDE, why their experience would not be as valid to study as that of a Christian, Mormon, Satanist, Scientologist or even - to use a category bizarrely inserted by Alex - a Holocaust denier
If science studies wildlife it doesn't pick and choose between nice and nasty animals - and NDE science shouldn't do similarly with experiencers, be they Eckankar followers or criminals.
The evidence is, as was mentioned in this interview, that meeting recognised religious figures in NDEs is a minority experience - possibly linked to the religious beliefs of the participants.
But how would we ever know that, if we had excluded experiencers because we disagree with their belief system which we think might be 'culty' or dangerous.
In my opinion most religions preaching separation and a hell for non-believers, are dangerous!
Where the line must be drawn, I do agree, is that IANDS should never be used as a platform to preach religious dogma. If that has been done, as some posters have claimed above, then it is wrong.
But Robert Mays in the interview denied this.
It's a pity if this has been happening thaconventionst Alex didn't challenge him with it giving specific examples.