The James D. Franz Challenge

Ray Comfort, I have a challenge for you. It is a challenge to prove the existence of a being. No, not God -- we've had that challenge to you open for many years now, and you haven't come through, so it's reasonable to assume you never will. No, this is a much easier challenge, a challenge to prove the existence of a mere human. Specifically, a human named (or pseudonymed) James D. Franz.

That is the name of the atheist who, I have learned through a little bit of research, wrote not only the letter you quoted in your latest spewing-forth, but in fact an entire series of letters to you, which were published in book form along with your responses. Just give me a) enough identifying information for me to verify that he exists, and b) a means of contacting him so that I can verify he is the same person who sent you that letter in the 1990s, and with whom you co-authored a book in 2006. This shouldn't be too difficult, particularly since this Franz person is described by at least one website as a "prominent" atheist -- despite the fact that I've never heard of the guy outside of his alleged correspondence with you.

The reason I put forth this challenge you can probably guess: I don't think James D. Franz exists. I think he is nothing more than a character you invented.

I don't claim to have hard evidence for this theory, only strong intuition. You see, like Clostridophile, I find it hard to believe that any atheist worth his intellectual salt would give you such a softball. I find it very easy to believe, however, that you would pull a stunt like this -- particularly given Paul's instruction to take on different personae and lie to people for the sake of Christian evangelism (1 Corinthians 9:22).

As I write this, it's July 24, 2008, a few minutes before midnight local time -- what the hell, let's call it July 25. I know you read this blog -- and have, in fact, quoted from the comments section on your own blog on at least one occasion. I'll be keeping count of the number of days you pretend this challenge doesn't exist. I suspect I'll be counting for the rest of my life. Fortunately, this being the information age (that's right, Ray -- in spite of your best efforts, human progress has continued forward), the counting process is easily automated. So it's up to you how long you want to be embarrassed by your own silence.

"Start the clock."