Weekly Newsletter from Christian Vegetarian Association CVA - November 3, 2021
From Christian Vegetarian Association (CVA)

  1. Activist Outreach
  2. Education, Continued – Scientific Method
  3. All-Creatures.Org Ministry

1. Activist Outreach

Rick Hershey, who recently leafleted at the Franklin Graham Route 66 tour in Oklahoma City, said that he and Chip handed out 1080 CVA booklets.

We will need volunteers to leaflet at Winter Jam events in 2022: Winter Jam · Cities & Dates. We’ve found the crowds at Winter Jam events to be a very receptive. By leafleting, we show our brothers and sisters in Christ that a plant-based diet is good for God’s Creation. When you volunteer for the CVA, the CVA donates $25/hr. for up to 3 hours for leafleting to the veg. or animal protection group of your choice. Contact Lorena at lorenavalenziveg@gmail.com if you can help.

2. Education, Continued - Scientific Method

The next subject I want to highlight as part of every student’s curriculum is the scientific method. Often, science education involves learning scientific facts or, better, participating in demonstrations that illustrate these facts. It is important to make science fun, but at the end of the day it is crucial that students understand the scientific method.

Specifically, they need to understand how scientists derive and then test hypotheses. They need to appreciate the difference between demonstrations and experiments, which can look alike. They need to know the strengths and limitations of various kinds of evidence, including anecdotal evidence. Perhaps most importantly, they need to be able to gauge when it is reasonable to trust a scientific claim and when to be skeptical.

Most of what we believe to be truth is based not on personal experience but rather trust in authorities. Scientific literacy is essential in protecting ourselves against those who might try to exploit our ignorance or inexperience to make choices that are bad for ourselves or for the world-at-large. Features that should raise “red flags” include:

Misleading representations of data. There are many tricks to make weak or non-existent relationships appear strong and relevant, and those who use these tricks should not be trusted.

Unnecessary use of technical terms that most people don’t understand.

Use of vague or misleading terms. For example, “significant” could mean statistically significant (95% probability that the finding is not due to chance) or clinically significant (dramatic change in the status of one or more individuals)

Identification of an association to give the false impression that there is causation.

Appeals to dubious authorities, such as an unknown person who claims expertise or reference to polls.

Encouraging disregard for opposing views on ad hominem grounds, particularly claims that people are not believable because they have a possible or real conflict of interest. We should be skeptical when there is a conflict of interest, but we should not be dismissive.

Much of the confusion related to science derives from the Internet. I will discuss Internet literacy next.

Stephen R. Kaufman, M.D.

3. From All-Creatures.Org Ministry

Here are our recent All-Creatures Newsletter, which we hope you like and share with others to help stop the exploitation and killing of animals.

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