Man, Attacked by Lion-Saved by Bear

              Mr. Biggs, the man who claimed he was saved by a mother bear from an attacking mountain lion, provided his backpack to the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) for testing (See previous blog: Extraordinary Claims Demand Extraordinary Evidence).  Kirsten Macintyre, DFG spokesperson released the results of the testing which showed no evidence of any bear or mountain lion, not even a single hair.  Furthermore, the backpack had only one small tear of approximately a half inch.  According to Macintyre,  had Biggs been attacked by a lion, the backpack would have more damage to it. There also would have been hair and saliva on the pack Biggs provided DFG.  "All of the evidence -- the lab results, a study of the scratches on Mr. Biggs' arm and a thorough investigation at the scene -- is inconsistent with a mountain lion attack.”

                Thus, there is no empirical evidence that Mr. Biggs was attacked by a mountain lion or saved by a bear.  Does this mean that this proves 100% that the attack did not happen?  No.  All things are possible through God.  No.  It's impossible to prove a negative.  No.  It simply means that there is no particular reason why anyone should believe that it happened unless one has extraordinary faith in Mr. Biggs.  In this respect, Mr. Biggs’s claim is parallel to Joseph Smith’s claim about the golden tablets and Muslim’s claims about their prophet’s horseback ride to heaven, hell, and the Jerusalem mosque.  There exists no empirical evidence; nevertheless millions of Mormons and Muslims have extraordinary “faith” in these extraordinary claims.  And after decades or centuries of snowballing faith, it’s doubtful that faithful believers, full of faith, could be persuaded to doubt their religious traditions.  They’ve been told that the devil is tempting them to doubt, that they will be eternally lost if they doubt, and typically they would become ostracized from their families and local communities should they express doubt.

                Maybe Mr. Biggs really was attacked by a mountain lion and saved by a bear; he just has not accumulated a body of believers to perpetuate this semi-miraculous story and make it a respectable tall-tale.