(November 19, 2017 at 10:20 am)LadyForCamus Wrote: I wasn't quite sure where to put this.A testimony is not evidence, testimonies only help tell the story of the evidence. Testimony should not be taken as evidence because anyone could lie, or be crazy, or remember something wrong. Testimony isn't evidence.
In light of everything going on in the county right now with powerful men and sexual assault/harassment, it got me thinking about our past discussions regarding testimony as evidence. Though there were some nuanced differences of opinion among the atheists who participated in those discussions, on the whole it seems most of us hold the position that testimony is not evidence, and that quantity speaks nothing of quality. Are we being hypocritical then, in accepting these allegations at face value? If we're being true to our stated position, then we're either:
1. Accepting a serious claim as true a despite total lack of evidence
Or
2. Accepting the testimony as evidence
To be clear, I'm not suggesting that we shouldn't believe these women. I'm also not conceding that the Bible qualifies as eye-witness testimony. I'm just wondering if we've been unfairly rigid to our theists in these debates regarding the nature of evidence.
Thoughts?
The bugle sounds as the charge begins
But on this battlefield no one wins
But on this battlefield no one wins
- Iron Maiden, The Trooper