Some religious people claim to have direct contact with their favorite gods. They argue, even a skeptic would HAVE to believe if they saw with their own eyes. Too many skeptics assume the same thing--that they would have to convert to a religion if that religion's god "proved" its existence. I would not.
Why would I doubt the gods even if I saw them with my own eyes? Because there can never be any "proof" of any religion's claims, simply because the existence of ANY creatures or forces that can manipulate our senses means that there is no such thing as a "fact". Science and reason would be useless for determining what is real. This would apply not only to using our eyes and ears, but also to claims of direct communication from powerful aliens (=gods), since such powerful beings could manipulate your mind to experience anything they wish--true or not.
This is why "doubting Thomas" should have kept doubting--and why you should not trust burning bushes, angels, spirit guides, New Age visions or even those voices in your head. Even if the being that Thomas questioned looked like Jesus and bled like Jesus, that is not proof that it was Jesus.
Imagine that Jesus appeared before you. Time to get down and pray, right? But how would you know it was not Zeus disguised as Jesus? How would you know it was not Coyote the Trickster disguised as Jesus? How would you know it was not Q from "Star Trek" disguised as Jesus? How would you know the whole event was not an illusion generated by the Black Monolith from "2001"? Even the Greys could have used their superior technology to clone a Jesus look-alike and stage a few special-effects "miracles". Anyone who has seen the movie "The Matrix" should take a moment to try and prove they are not, right now, in a deceptive virtual world controlled by a powerful Artificial Intelligence.
The point is, any one of these creatures would have the power to fool your senses. If you believe that you could tell the difference between one god and another, you are deluding yourself. In the face of an entity powerful enough to manipulate what you see, hear, feel, and even the firing of neurons in your brain, all you have left is a choice: trust that creature, or refuse to trust it. In a supernatural world it takes a leap of faith just to believe your eyes.
You might argue, isn't it more likely that you are seeing the truth, and not any kind of deception? The answer is obvious: how would you know the probability of each scenario? Are all "gods" honest? Most religions claim the world is filled with demons with the will to trick you. To me it seems more likely that the creature which was nailed to the cross 2000 years ago was Satan pretending to be a false messiah. Certainly the Christian church has done most of _his_ work ever since.
Very few of us have made plans for what we would do if gravity ceased to exist, or if water suddenly became a poison, or if everyone else in the world were replaced by identical alien clones. Well, maybe some people out there have...but I'll bet you decided you needed to plug in that computer before you turned it on. If planning for any if these possibilities sounds insane to you, maybe you should think hard about what you would do when your favorite god starts giving you orders. Just because IT says you are doing the right thing by brainwashing kids or murdering infidels, does not mean you are. As for me, if some Genocidal Omnipotent Dictator wants my praise and worship, He'll have to reconnect a bunch of axons and dendrites in my brain. Not that I can prevent that...but then, why waste time worrying about it?
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