The James Randi Foundation continues to offer its $1 million reward for any verifiable proof of the supernatural. And they don't ask anyone to put up any money, just prove their claims. Randi has been offering this reward in growing amounts since 1964. Few takers, no winners yet.
Yeah, plus the fact that in terms of logic, the onus is on the person who asserts a thing to be true...
In a criminal trial, the onus is on the prosecution to prove Col. Mustard killed Miss Scarlet with the Candlestick in the Conservatory. The defense then tries to poke holes in the prosecution's logic so as to cast doubt upon the theory. But the defense doesn't necessarily need to prove that Col. Mustard did not kill Miss Scarlet.
In science, the onus is to prove that some element exists or that some process works according to a certain law. Opposing scientists then critique the paper that supposedly proves the theory. They just have to show flaws in the theory, they don't have to prove the exact opposite of the theory.
So by framing the question so as to prove that Genesis
isn't true, he's trying to load the dice.
At the end of the classic grade Z scifi-horror film 'Plan 9 From Outer Space,' the psychic Crisswell provides a spoken epilogue for the incredible events, and challenges the audience with this line: 'Can you prove it
didn't happen?!?!'
I think of that every time a theist uses that tactic.