'boy who came back from Heaven' says he made up story MERGED

[FundieWatcher]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/sty ... publisher/

Link not broken because it is The Washington Post.

The book is not going to be published/sold any further. It seems to me, based on several different articles, it was his dad pushing the entire ordeal. I almost can't fault him (the father, the 6-yo is of course not at fault). Hey probably panicked when he thought about the expenses of caring for a paralyzed child. It most have seemed like an innocent scam.

[Mela99]

It is not lost on me that this guy's last name is Malarkey .

For a minute I thought it was that other book that got made into a movie. I can't remember the name of it, but the kid's name was Colin or Coltin and he had a really unfortunate last time - Belcho or Burpee or something.

[browncoatslytherin]

well, the last name IS malarkey...

eta: damnit! cross-posted with mela.

[doggie]

he made it all up. but he is still a devout christian even after his scam but hey don't let lying get in your way.

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/01/15 ... ade-it-up/

The author and subject of the book “The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven†now says that he never actually “went†to heaven, and wrote the story because he thought it would get him attention.

Upon its release in 2010, “The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven†marched up the best-sellers list, rivaling mega-hit (and now movie) “Heaven Is For Real†in sales. For its Christian audience, it represented proof that God exists, and that there is life after death. The story went that following a catastrophic car accident in 2004, six-year-old Alex Malarkey was left quadriplegic and in a 2-month long coma. After he woke up, and from some prodding from his (future co-author) father, Alex recounted his wonderful journey to Heaven where he met everyone from Jesus to a (somewhat theologically troubling) guest appearance from Satan.

Even at facevalue there were reasons to be suspicious of the story that Alex began spinning. Despite the supposed affirmation that God and Heaven exist, much of what the boy described sounded cartoonish and simplistic, even to people who really wanted it to be true. For example, here is how Alex described Satan as noted by the blog Pulpit and Pen:

“The devil’s mouth is funny looking, with only a few moldy teeth. And I’ve never noticed any ears. His body has a human form, with two bony arms and two bony legs. He has no flesh on his body, only some moldy stuff. His robes are torn and dirty. I don’t know about the color of the skin or robes—it’s all just too scary to concentrate on these things!â€

Rather than giving believers any insight into the fallen angel, Alex’s version sounds like what a kid would come up with – scary in a Disney-like way, moldy and bony.

But if you were ever labeled a “kill joy†for being skeptical of the book, now it appears you had every right to be. Alex, who is now a young man, has penned an open letter admitting that he invented the tale wholecloth because he felt it might get him attention.

Directing the letter at the Christian publishers who took the story and ran with it (making massive profits in the process), Alex recants his story:

[DGayle]

I believe that people who buy books that are supposed to be true, that end up not being true at all, should be legally entitled to refunds from the pockets of the scammers (sounds like the father, in this case). It's bait and switch.

[doggie]

I believe that people who buy books that are supposed to be true, that end up not being true at all, should be legally entitled to refunds from the pockets of the scammers. It's bait and switch.

for sure. but good luck on that. But I bet quite a few people will still believe it I mean it was a movie and all.

[Cleopatra7]

I can't say I'm surprised by this, but it seems like the boy is saying that he has wanted to recant the story for awhile. If so, that makes it even worse, with the father exploiting his son for profit.

[louisa05]

It is not lost on me that this guy's last name is Malarkey .

For a minute I thought it was that other book that got made into a movie. I can't remember the name of it, but the kid's name was Colin or Coltin and he had a really unfortunate last time - Belcho or Burpee or something.

"Heaven is for Real". Kid's name was Colton Burpo. That one was probably mostly the father's work, too. He is a pastor and he wrote the book. I wonder if someday when that kid is grown up, we'll hear a similar disclaimer.

[ADoyle90815]

I was also going to post something about his last name being Malarky.

[singsingsing]

Good for him for having the courage to come out and admit it, and shame on his father for promoting this against his wishes. The poor kid was only six. Six-year-olds make up stories. Most of their parents don't try to use them for profit, though.

[VVV]

The child was six. Six-year-olds want desperately to please their parents. They also make up stories. I don't blame the boy at all; one can only imagine the sorts of leading questions and subtle pressure from his father.

His father, OTOH, is scum of the earth.

[doggie]

Good for him for having the courage to come out and admit it, and shame on his father for promoting this against his wishes. The poor kid was only six. Six-year-olds make up stories. Most of their parents don't try to use them for profit, though.

Christians ripping off Christians as old as Christianity.

[Burris]

I believe in some sort of afterlife. (Maybe it's a form of wish-fulfillment; that justice really does exist and really will be done to correct the balance - if not now, obviously, then later.)

When I read synopses of both the books under discussion, I couldn't bring myself to spend any money on them: However much I believe some people have experiences they cannot explain, these two tales seem so contrived.

This kind of reminds me of when I read James Frey's book, A Million Little Pieces. I hated it on a purely aesthetic level; the writing was laughably bad. I understand 'voice' - that each writer, regardless of experience, has a unique style. That doesn't forgive the utter shit James Frey vomited.

I no longer have the book, so I've mined the 'net for a few choice quotes:

If an individual is fat but wants to be thin, it is not a genetic disease. If someone is stupid, but wants to be smart, it is not a genetic disease. If a drunk is a drunk, but doesn’t want to be a drunk anymore, it is not a genetic disease. Addiction is a decision.

The oversimplification of complex problems - problems it turns out Frey had not experienced himself - made his book not only dumb and poorly written, but dangerous to those who saw him as some kind of addiction-guru as a result of his appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show.

The one other thing that stood out in beyond the poor writing and the need to simplify and condemn was Frey's account of visiting the dentist.

Even when I accepted most of the book was autobiographical, I found that part - as well as another incident where Frey was on a plane - impossible to believe: I couldn't understand how a dental freezing agent could injure an addict such that he would need to undergo a root canal without freezing - or that any reputable dentist would require/allow something like that. Bear in mind, if a patient jerks of moves while the dentist is working, both parties would be in for a lot of pain. (Among the many dentists who took offense to Frey's account, here is one that explains in some detail how and why the story was not merely unbelievable but harmful in that it increases dental anxiety in other people.)

Now back to Kevin Malarkey. His condemnation of other people for how they react to grief, based on his apparently extensive knowledge of superhuman suffering, is this - a quote from the now debunked book he forced his son to write:

“Self-pity imprisons us in the walls of our own self-absorption. The whole world shrinks down to the size of our problem, and the more we dwell on it, the smaller we are and the larger the problem seems to grow. Awareness of others is a healthy antidote to this self-focus.â€

The cruel hoax Kevin Malarkey perpetrated hurt no one so much as his son:

“The vertebrae were completely detached. The tendon sheath around the spinal column was severed near the base of his brain. The injury was so severe and so high on the spinal column, it is simply incredible that Alex survived.â€

That is a really significant injury; a life-altering trauma. And Alex would have had a much easier time in dealing with it had he not been expected to play the role of God's own mouthpiece to friends, family, reporters, fans, and even critics.

That his father pushed him into this may very well destroy what faith Alex might otherwise have had, and so now he faces this hard world with his catastrophic injuries and is forced to wonder if any uplifting story he hears - a story that might have otherwise helped in some way - is true, or merely a cynical attempt to collect money.

From the Christianity Today article, we learn that Kevin Malarkey chose to serve mammon:

In April 2014, Alex’s mom, Beth, who has since divorced Kevin and is Alex’s primary caregiver, wrote a blog post claiming that Alex’s name and identity were being used against his wishes.

'It is both puzzling and painful to watch the book The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven to not only continue to sell, but to continue, for the most part, to not be questioned,' she wrote. 'I could post facts and try to dispel many of the things contained within the pages of that book (have done a bit of that), I could continue to try to point out how biblically off the book is (a few strategically placed Scriptures does not make a book biblically sound) and how it leads people away from the Bible not to it.'

Alex has not received any money from the sales of the book, she said.

(Emphasis mine.)

There's enough cruelty in the world already without some cynical huckster selling false hope to hurting people - people who may have lost loved ones and clung to that book is proof they are not alone; people who now have to face, again, the grief.

[singsingsing]

Christians ripping off Christians as old as Christianity.

Humans ripping off humans, as old as humanity.

[doggie]

Humans ripping off humans, as old as humanity.

true but there is more irony when a christian does it. as they tend according to most surveys feel they are moral compared to atheists.

[DGayle]

I can't say I'm surprised by this, but it seems like the boy is saying that he has wanted to recant the story for awhile. If so, that makes it even worse, with the father exploiting his son for profit.

The mom also tried getting the book pulled for a long time.

[DomWackTroll]

Tim Bayly calls out his wife's family for publishing it in the first place:

“In this case, we're not talking about a magazine piece, but a book which has been on bestseller lists for years and has sold over a million copies. Published by Tyndale House Publishers (my in-laws privately held corporation), for quite some time the boy and his mother have been trying to pull back the story of death and Heaven, but Tyndale House has declined to take action without a meeting with the boy, his father, and his mother. His father is the co-author of the book, the father and mother have been divorced for some time, and it's reported the father collects all the royalties with the son, a paraplegic, getting none.â€

His brother-in-law Mark is now apparently in charge over there now:

tyndale.com/50_Company/dr_taylor_story.php

I wonder if they are even on speaking terms.

[Coldwinterskies]

This book's popularity is just a sad example of how people will latch onto something if it tells them what they want to hear. :(

[FJismyheadship]

I remember reading that book back when Heaven Is For Real came out. It was on the shelves at WalMart next to Heaven Is For Real, along with another book about a man meeting God and getting to see Heaven and Hell. I sat in the book isle and read them all. I could tell just by reading it it was made up. I couldn't put my finger on it. My dad told me I couldn't really say it wasn't real, because you don't know what kind of stuff people actually experience. (He wasn't telling me I was right or wrong, or that the author was right or wrong, just telling me that you can't discredit someone elses experiences without proof) I told him it was interesting the mans last name was Malarkey. He laughed at that. Malarkey also happens to be one of my dads favorite words, so I picked up on the mans last name very quickly.

I decided maybe the mans last name colored my opinion on the story and moved on with life, not really thinking about it again until I saw this story. Now I am laughing because I was right lol

[lilwriter85]

"Heaven is for Real". Kid's name was Colton Burpo. That one was probably mostly the father's work, too. He is a pastor and he wrote the book. I wonder if someday when that kid is grown up, we'll hear a similar disclaimer.

Yep, many have suspected that about Todd Burpo for a long time.

[lilwriter85]

Colton Burpo has released a statement in light of the Malarkey boy's story.

http://www.inquisitr.com/1763420/heaven ... the-truth/

He is sticking by his story. Heaven Is For Real is trending on Yahoo now and I was checking something there and saw it trending.

USA Today is running an article on whether heaven stories will come under scrutiny. They will and I recall the neurosurgeon who came out with a book, was questioned by an atheist organization.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/book ... /21874087/

[Mela99]

I spotted TBHCBFH at my local library and I snapped it up. I've been reading it in bits and pieces because, honestly, it's insufferable.

It's screamingly obvious the dad had "religious dreams" for his son long before the accident - telling people he'd be a pastor, the next Billy Graham, etc . . . so I don't blame the boy as much, I have the feeling he was pushed into it.

I'llupdate more if/when I finish it...

[whoviana]

We saw this in a movie, I'm sure it's the same thing. The movie was like something out of the Hallmark channel. It said "based on true events". I was sure that the kid was lying and I also thought that some details, like him watching himself from the ceiling were probably added by the parents.

The thing that bugged me wasn't the fact that kids make up stories after traumatic events where pain killers are involved, too, so heaven knows how they perceived the whole event, and the line between real life and dreams were definitely blurred. It could have been just a story that the kid cooked up, it's something that kids do all the time, cook up fairytale stories.

But the fact that adults twisted a minor's words, turned it into a story and trying to sell it to people in the name of religion, fame and money, made me sick. I feel sorry for the kid, but I'm happy he was truthful enough to confess. The father of his is a deplorable human being.

[louisa05]

We saw this in a movie, I'm sure it's the same thing. The movie was like something out of the Hallmark channel. It said "based on true events". I was sure that the kid was lying and I also thought that some details, like him watching himself from the ceiling were probably added by the parents.

The thing that bugged me wasn't the fact that kids make up stories after traumatic events where pain killers are involved, too, so heaven knows how they perceived the whole event, and the line between real life and dreams were definitely blurred. It could have been just a story that the kid cooked up, it's something that kids do all the time, cook up fairytale stories.

But the fact that adults twisted a minor's words, turned it into a story and trying to sell it to people in the name of religion, fame and money, made me sick. I feel sorry for the kid, but I'm happy he was truthful enough to confess. The father of his is a deplorable human being.

The movie was based on the book "Heaven is for Real" by Colton Burpo and his pastor father. That kid has not withdrawn the story and has, in fact, doubled down on it being true.

The kid who came out to say it was made up was the subject of the book "The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven" which predated the Burpo book and movie.

[Trynn]

Isn't Butpo still a minor though? I mean, if he's still a child, of course he's gonna stick to his story. If he still sticks to it as an adult, then I will have different feelings.