[djmcmath]

Many people have died for things that they knew nothing about. For example, if Muhammed -- the only Muslim who had any access to Muslim deity -- had died at swordpoint, having been given the opportunity to recant, his beliefs would carry some weight. If Joseph Smith -- the only individual who had the vision of the angel who gave him his revelation -- had died at gunpoint, having been offered the opportunity to recant, his writing would carry some weight. Had any of the fanatical followers of (insert name of arbitrary fanatical leader -- Muhammed works as well as Hitler) actually had some firsthand eyewitness reason for their death, then the analogy would fit. Even so, if only one single individual claims to have some divine insight, they can be written off as lunatics, quite frankly.

The ones I'm pointing to are specifically the ones who had seen Jesus alive after he had been crucified. Those people had everything to lose, nothing to gain, and they knew from personal experience what the truth was. They did not trust someone else's words, they were not misled or drugged into some wild fanatical state. They died for testifying about what they had seen personally with their own two eyes, having been given the opportunity to recant.

That carries some weight.