"On the other hand much more human thought and effort have gone into the study of religion than all of science combined. Is it wise to dismiss all of the findings of these people because you do not understand or like the methods."

>>>This is a completely unsupportable statement.

The above was a statement and a question. The statement is easily, easily supported. 1.2 Billion Christians in the world, a billion Muslims, hundreds of millions of Hindus, Buddhists, and others. All of them being taught their faiths, all of them comparing what they have been taught to their daily lives. Compared to that, how many taught the scientific method? About 20-25% of my well-equiped, Canadian, high school if that is any indication, I'm sure that the percentage is lower in the USA where I live now and see it deliberately avoided by many.

Then there are the theologists, sociologists, anthropologists, philosophers, novelists, mythologists, Jungian psychologists, Storytellers, song writers, oral historians, who have studied religion. Then there are the scientists who have given it serious thought.

Again, Is it wise to dismiss the findings of billions of people?

The most compelling case for religion is that it works. It is the glue that holds successful societies together. Is there a "God" as defined by Moses, or Jesus, or Buddha? I agree that there is no way to test with a simple experiment. But to anyone with even the most basic knowledge of social science, it is very clear that there is a very powerful force in human society and that most human beings call that force "God" or "The Gods."

Steve,

You chose to ignore my other point. That social sciences cannot meet the burden of proof that you want to put on religion. That you cannot make reproducible experiments in fields such as Economics, Sociology, Anthropology, even to some parts of psychology and biology. I ask you again. Are you proposing that we throw Economics in the same trash can that we throw religion.

Steve,

People get their prayers answered every day. We can argue about the mechanism until the cows come home or until some philosopher can tell us exactly how many angels can dance on a pinhead. But an answered prayer, is a useful proof to those that have had a prayer answered. Just because you cannot reproduce it does not diminish that.