Tell us about the dinosaurs

[orogenicman]

First, those good theists are not the only ones. For example, atheist and skeptic Michael Shermer writes (1999), "What criteria for falsifiability could we establish to determine God's existence or nonexistence? Believers' claim that there is overwhelming evidence, or atheists' claim that there is no evidence, is not a test. If we want to make this a scientific question that can be decided by empirical evidence, the burden of proof is on both believers and nonbelievers to establish operational definitions and quantifiable criteria by which we can arrive at a testable conclusion. What is the operational definition of God and what quantifiable criteria should we use to accept or reject the null hypothesis of God's nonexistence?"

This is where I've seen religious folk, particularly Christians, recount all sorts of rubbish as evidence for the existence of their God. Anecdotal evidence is not scientific. As I pointed out to you before (and you brushed it aside), personal revelation, the very foundation of Christianity, is, by definition, first person. As such, no one is under any obligation to believe one man's persona, revelation over anothers. And as such, science doesn't rely on them as evidence of anything. 10 anecdotes are no better than one, and 100 no better than ten.

Secondly, this is also where I invariably hear Christians claim that God is outside of our physical realm, and as such, cannot be empircally tested. And if that is (rather conveniently) the case, then there is no emprical test that can be devised to prove this God's existence. And so the idea of testing for the existence of God is a non-starter. IN addition, if this deity is outside of the realm of reality in which we meet out our existence, then it seems to me that he could be defined as an alien. And so the question that comes to my mind is what vested interest does this alien being who doesn't reside in our world have IN our world? I have a hard enough time trusting my neighbor who I know lives in my world, much less some omnipotent critter from the 37th dimension.

If, on the other hand, God is not outside of our physical realm, then it's existence should be testable, measureable. In that case, the question that comes to mind is why, after over 500 years of serious scientific enquiry, is there no unambiguous evidence for this God's existence (remembering, that in science, anecdotal evidence is worthless)?