Carl Sagan famously declared that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. This profound truth is a key that frees us from religion’s shackles, since each faith lacks the requisite evidence to substantiate its fantastical claims. Sagan’s oft-quoted observation is self-evident, given humankind’s abundant, demonstrable fallibility. With that in mind, ten simple requests for the Christian faithful follow.

1. Present extraordinary evidence for Jesus' bodily resurrection.

2. Present extraordinary evidence that Jesus was born asexually (of a virgin).

3. Present extraordinary evidence that some Biblical characters, such as Adam and Noah, lived in excess of 900 years.

Why is personal experience, especially for God and supernatural/religion issues, bad and how does it differ from any other types of personal experience (which is based on our senses).

I though this might be a good discussion since it’s one of the most common arguments for God. Usually when all other arguments have failed theists revert to the personal experience argument since personal experiences are inherently subjective.

Here a recent example from a theist:

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[i]Really now, a theist's belief derives from his experiences with God. To ignore that person's experiences is to ignore that PERSON. You're cutting off the very thing which makes him a human: his ability to EXPERIENCE the world around him. That ain't cool, amigo. That ain't cool.

So you think this is about Jesus?

He is also on YouTube.

As a "newbie" here, I really find it funny when posters - on both sides of the issue - toss around words like "proof" (as if we were discussing an episode of CSI.!).

If I have 3 apples and I add another 4 apples to my collection, I have 7 apples. That's a point we can all agree on.

I'm a Catholic - but if somebody challenged me to prove my belief in God, I couldn't. You're self-professed athiests - could you prove that you don't believe in God..??

I'm a father of 3 young daughters - do I love my daughters ?? Yes - of course, I do - but could I prove it..??

Of course not.

Here are some quotes. He was likely a deist or atheist.
[i]
“The Christian God is a being of terrific character – cruel, vindictive, capricious and unjust.”

"Christianity is the most perverted system that ever shone on man."

"History I believe furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government. This marks the lowest grade of ignorance, of which their political as well as religious leaders will always avail themselves for their own purpose. " – Thomas Jefferson to Baron von Humboldt, 1813

"I have examined all the known superstitions of the world, and I do not find in our particular superstition of Christianity one redeeming feature. They are all alike founded on fables and mythology. Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned. What has been the effect of this coercion? To make one half the world fools and the other half hypocrites; to support roguery and error all over the earth." –Thomas Jefferson, Notes on Virginia, 1782.

http://www.alternet.org/story/46494/

Naomi is a listener and she just sent this my way:

Direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arX8QqgMxw0

This website really focuses on Christian bashing. While that is nice because it gives me something to laugh about at the end of my day, meaning the Rational Response Squad in general, there really are other religions out there and other gods. Disprovinging Christianity is one thing but what about Buddhism, Confucianisn, Hinduism, Islam? I was just wondering if it was just Christianity because you fell threatened when your told to live a moral life. Maybe I'm wrong, prove it by arguing about other religions, not just one.

I am an amateur ghost hunter. Only I don't like that term, I prefer spiritual conversation, as hunting them doesn't equate to the attack factor of that word. we seek them out, and converse with them.

Yeah, I know, you think I'm crazy. I do too. The thing is, there are literally spirits all around us, particularly concentrated in areas of mass tragic death, like the battlefields that litter my area. I get them on tape. Digital recorder, actually. I was a skeptic the first time i went until I reviewed the audio. We were walking up a slave built staircase, and the style of the staircase changed halfway up it. we stopped a sec, and said "Oh, look this is where they must have got pissed and killed the slaves and got new one's" right after, and I mean RIGHT after, there is a supernatural voice on the tape that says "we call them blacks". Interested, I looked it up, and sure enough, this particular area was black friendly when it came to slaves. Guys, the voice was there saying that, and that wasn't said that night, and no one else was around. Later on in the tape, another voice caught my interest. We were in "prostitute alley" and I made another joke. The whole thing was a joke to me while I was there. I said "Did the ghosts just fuck here, or did they at least go somewhere else". Again, after that, another supernatural voice says "ghosts don't fuck". I didn't even realize that they only fucked when they were alive. duh.

...why the hell does he need YOU to defend him?