Okla Elliott, on atheism/agnosticism and the wonder of the world around us

My friend, Okla Elliott wrote this amazing piece on atheism/agnosticism and it reminded me so thoroughly of something I would write (only he writes infinitely better than I can). I will stipulate that I probably wouldn't have written misconception #2 because I can't comprehend a situation in which I would be shown something that's proof of a deity. Perhaps that makes me close-minded (I'm assured it does), but that possibility is out of the realm of my imagination. Regardless, it is a beautifully written piece that succinctly narrates some common misconceptions about atheists and has the added benefit of being full of even more amazing quotes from some of the best thinkers of the past.

This struck me in particular:

We are the ones willing to admit our limits without having to fabricate deities to patch over the holes in our all-too-fallible human reason and capacity for knowledge. And I don’t want to speak for anyone else here, but I myself am filled with existential awe at the universe and all its mysteries and am overjoyed at the fraction of it I’ve been able to experience and partially understand. I would never want all this mystery and unknowing taken away by some deity. This is part of what makes being human so expansively interesting, to my mind anyway.

Exactly.  One of the arguments I find myself in frequently revolves around the missing gaps in what science can or cannot tell us right now. I am in constant awe of the massive amounts of information and knowledge we've amassed in just the few short centuries since "enlightened" thinking began. Criticizing non-believers for not knowing everything today seems ridiculous. When I think about all of that scientific information (DNA, how to cure disease, how the body works, the solar system, the oceans, dinosaurs), I just want to take it all in my arms and not let go. Everything is not perfect and it doesn't have to be. It's the journey of discovery that makes us human and constantly increases our richness as a species, marveling at the world inside us and around us.