Thanks Dan, I appreciate the clarification. My question is why would wishful thinking be a replacement for materialism? Holding a view that there is something more, a spiritual realm, or even God has not hindered scientific investigation. Consider that the majority of Nobel laureates have a belief in some form of transcendence, and that the scientific revolution initiated and took great leaps in a Christian milieu. Further, there are examples of fruitful scientific research coming out of specific theistic beliefs, such as the discovery that "junk DNA," often used as an argument against design, has been shown to have some important functions. I hope you respond as I think it is an important question and would appreciate your thinking on it.