Originally Posted by
Garrette
It is reasonably certain that the shroud exists, though if it were claimed only by the Sindonologists I would doubt it.
Here is the entirety of the pro-authenticity argument, though it is dressed up impressively in sciency sounding terms and walls of text:
There is objective, unrefuted scientific proof that the shroud is a hoax as already demonstrated by the historical evidence. On the other hand, there is subjective speculation supported only by the biblical imaginings of a group of biased activists. Obviously, the speculation wins.
That's the point I was (badly) trying to highlight. The pro-camp haven't found or produced any new evidence about the shroud at all. Their contribution to human knowledge has been zero. It wouldn't be unreasonable to accept that if a group intensively investigated a subject they could find out something novel, but it appears that having a belief completely disrupts rational process. A similar effect is seen in other belief areas such as alt-med.