No, I don’t think I do hold to the statement that onlyempirical evidence can be used as evidence that something exists. I think we can use statistical evidence to prove the existence of something that we cannot observe directly, though you may still consider that to be empirical evidence. If we take empirical in this context to mean capable of being verified or disproved by observation or experiment then maybe you would consider statistical evidence to be empirical. As an aside, whenever the efficacy of intercessory prayer has been examined statistically in well-controlled trials, it has been found to be ineffective. It’s the result we would expect to see if there was nothing at the other end of the phone. Though, I would say that we should have at least some sound, objective evidence that something exists before we leap to the conclusion that it does. Otherwise, there would be nothing to stop you believing that everything imaginable actually exists. Why, you could even believe that unicorns exist.
However, I asked you to give me some examples of things I believe exist or events I believe occurred that are not supported by sound evidence or refuted by sound evidence. These are the sorts of unwarranted beliefs that religious believers hold. I gave some examples in [post=53972735]this[/post] post. You know, beliefs in nonsense such as the universe, the Earth and life were created in six literal days or a man can come back to life after being dead for days, which are refuted by sound evidence. Or unsubstantiated beliefs such as the belief that your God is real or that you will have eternal life, for which there is zero sound, objective evidence. Can you give me some examples of beliefs I hold that are as unwarranted as those? If you can, I will relinquish them promptly. Would you relinquish beliefs that are unsubstantiated or have been shown to be false? I suspect you would be reluctant to do that.
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