Filling in the Gaps: God or the Multiverse?

/ kevingdrendel / 1 Comment
Betag Ocean Sunset

Photo by Larry Betag

Theists are accused of committing a “God of the gaps” fallacy, which is to assume (insert) God (into the gaps in our understanding). Atheists say that this assumption (faith) is irrational and wholly unsupportable by science or reason. They say they would rather rely on science and reason, and conclude there is no scientific or rational support of the proposition that God exists.

Atheists tend to be materialists, meaning that they believe that the “world” (all that exists) is material, only. They tend not to accept that anything other than the material world exists.

An exploration of these contentions will show that the material world is not all that exists and that atheists who subscribe to the modern view of the multiverse, which is used to explain problems for which science has no answers if only one universe exists, is a resort to the same kind of fallacious thinking pinned on theists. The God of the gaps argument against faith and belief in God conflates science and reason, and a materialist worldview conflates scientific knowledge with all possible knowledge of the world.

Continue reading →

Flushing Out the Bias in Confirmation Bias

/ kevingdrendel / Leave a comment

10155326_10207795520144498_6949969917862816019_n

Confirmation bias is a phrase that has been become a popular way of challenging people who disagree with us.  It might be used as a shield or a weapon in uncomfortable conversations… you know what I mean.

Once the confirmation bias phrase is deployed, the substance of any conversation is effectively deflected down the rabbit hole of who is or is not personally biased.

The funny thing is – we all have them. Biases I mean. We tend to be very aware of them, but not necessarily in ourselves. Most likely we aware of the biases (or what we think are biases) in others. Perhaps, less stridently, we are aware of our own.

Continue reading →

From Across the Dressing Room A Different Story May be Emerging

/ kevingdrendel / Leave a comment

African American Woman on TransgenderI wrote the piece in the midst of the Bruce Jenner public metamorphosis into Caitlin Jenner that I am reblogging because it continues to be relevant, if not swept aside. I was reminded of the article as I finished reading An African American Woman Reflects on the Transgender Movement. She says things beautifully that I did not even consider.

She also says some things I could not say with the same integrity.

I am confident that we come from the same, human, place and have the same concerns for what we, as a society, are doing to people who need our compassion. Having compassion is only a start. Compassion misguided can be just as damaging as a lack of compassion. Misguided compassion is even more insidious, as it sells false hope. Worse than a harmless but benign huckster’s elixir, the compassion that offers a remedy that may be more like opium in a toothpaste may just do more harm than good.

kevingdrendel's avatarPerspective

canstockphoto12364737

I am not sure why I am entering into this transgender discussion. I do not want to be seen as phobic, unloving or not accepting of people with differences. We all have our issues and we have choices to make. The freedoms that protect me and my choices should be extended to others to make their own choices – as long as they are not hurting other people.

View original post 1,129 more words

The Nuance of Choice

/ kevingdrendel / 6 Comments
12672100_10207626820641361_7243333033530675299_o

Photo by Randy Schoof

Before there was Richard Dawkins or Christopher Hitchens, there was Anthony Flew. For most of his career, Flew was a strong advocate of atheism …. But then he changed his mind.

He did not have any spiritual or near death experience. The decision for him was not an emotional one. It was a rational one based on the weight of the evidence.

Continue reading →

The Secret to a Happy Healthy Life

/ kevingdrendel / Leave a comment

kevingdrendel's avatarNavigating by Faith

IMG_20130825_060248

I recently read this entry in a local paper that allows readers to call in and leave anonymous messages of current and political import. Excuse the length of the following entry that I am reproducing here. I think it is important enough to reproduce in its entirety, and bears some comment:

My parents had four daughters. We are all in our 60s now. Three of us earned master’s degrees. The happiest daughter is the daughter who spent a short time in college and married young. She has a wonderful husband and children and grandchildren. The other three are without husbands and can be very crabby. I know because I am one of them…. The three single sisters are all working because we have to work. Our married sister has a job, by choice, and loves her life. To all the 20-something girls out there… You cannot hug a diploma. A…

View original post 1,095 more words

A Priori Materialism

/ kevingdrendel / 1 Comment
Photo by Beth Drendel

Photo by Beth Drendel

Materialism is defined in in the Mirriam-Webster Dictionary as “a theory that physical matter is the only or fundamental reality and that all being and processes and phenomena can be explained as manifestations or results of matter.” Science is the study of the material world, so it may come as no surprise that many (most?) scientists are materialists.

If materialism is reality (nothing exists but matter), then science is the study of everything that exists or cold possibly exist. In fact, that is what the scientific community, generally, claims, and many in the academic community have accepted that claim. But is that claim something that is proven by science?

Continue reading →