Wonder

I recently read a manifesto of a new atheist "church" out of England. It was the usual stuff about atheists needing a congregation of like-minded folks. And, of course, at the head of the congregation would be the predictable hierarchy, two comics in this case. Yes, a church indeed. 

One of the aspects of this non-religion was what they called "wonder". "Wonder" is one of those words like "shock" and "awe", which George Bush liked to throw around while massacring civilians in Iraq. "wonder" is a word likely to be found in the Christian Bible. It is often associated, in my recollection, with blind "faith". This is bogus in our scientific age. 

Curiosity and skepticism are the hallmarks of science when coupled with hard work. Wonder is for the ignorant and the passive. It is the shoulder-shrug of those who call themselves "spiritual". Mysticism is easier than doing hard scientific investigation. 

My wonder is the wondering why any intelligent atheist would need to sit around with other atheists and wonder. They would do better to use the time to read an informative book on what it is they are wondering about or to do the research to write one.