Testimony: Are we being hypocritical?

[Edwardo Piet]

The thing is LFC, if you believe these women's testimony just cause they say so, then you'd be wrong. In this case there are a whole bunch of other factors supporting their case and that's why I believe them. An unverified testimony is nothing more than a claim.

Yes, this exactly what I'm trying to say (and apparently doing a poor job of it, lol).  Context matters.  Facts about the people involved matter.  Every detail helps paint a little bit of the big picture so that we can draw reasonable conclusions.  But, I think I've asserted otherwise in the past. I just want to make sure I'm being intellectually honest on the subject. Perhaps I'm making a mistake in thinking that an accusation of rape is more than mundane.  I suppose rape is mundane in that we know it happens, and it happens all the time.

So I think the conclusion is that testimony in and of itself is not evidence. Because you believe the testimony of these women not simply because they made allegations but for more than that.