A reader writes:
Your letter to a young atheist fails to address the big problem scientists have with the shroud. No one after all these years has the foggiest idea of how the image was formed. Ball admitted this in his comments in Nature. You lectured that young fella to follow the evidence and not the lack of evidence. Good advice. But you disingenuous because it is the lack of evidence that keeps so many people believing the Turin shroud is authentic.
It bothers me, too. By not addressing the unexplained images I was not trying to avoid the subject. It just didn’t seem pertinent for this particular posting. That said, I do try to avoid thinking this way. Even so, it is a tempting argument. All the fakery options seem to be exhausted, but I’m sure creative minds will find something yet to claim and hopefully test.
The evidence that keeps me believing it is real is primarily historical. It is not the lack of an image explanation.