Wonder is not only beautiful and inspiring, it is also essential to true natural progress. Wonder causes us to ask questions which causes us to discover and to learn. The knowledge we gain by learning enables us to make advances in every field known to humanity. Those advances, if governed by our innate reason and innate conscience, improves our lives and improves humanity as a whole.
When we objectively look at nature and the universe, they seem designed to inspire constant wonder, awe and inspiration. They are teeming with fascinating and wonderful designs that promote life and beauty. From the creative intelligence-based workings of DNA to beautiful sunrises and sunsets to galaxy clusters, wonder is found in us and wonder is found all around us. This inspiration to wonder and awe is the basis of science. It inspires some people to work diligently to discover the how and why regarding these natural wonders. This, for example, is what caused Marie Curie, who was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and the first person to win two Noble Prizes, one in physics and one in chemistry, to say,
"We must not forget that when radium was discovered no one knew that it would prove useful in hospitals. The work was one of pure science. And this is a proof that scientific work must not be considered from the point of view of the direct usefulness of it. It must be done for itself, for the beauty of science, and then there is always the chance that a scientific discovery may become like the radium a benefit for humanity."
A fundamental threat to natural wonder and the progress it brings us are the irrational fear-based "revealed" religions. When they have the power, they persecute, torture and kill people who make discoveries that contradict the "holy" books and teachings of the "revealed" religions. This is evident in cases like that of Giordano Bruno who wrote and taught such unbiblical ideas as the Earth not being the center of the universe, that stars are suns that have their own planets orbiting them and that the universe is infinite and without a center. On February 17, 1600, the Roman Inquisition turned Bruno over to the civil authorities (there was no separation of church and state) to have his tongue cut or ripped out of his mouth and to be burned alive. Keeping in mind the ungodly Christian belief that God burns people in hell for eternity, perhaps Christians burning people alive was their way of following their god's example. As Thomas Paine wrote in The Age of Reason, The Complete Edition, "Belief in a cruel god makes a cruel man."
33 years later, Galileo Galilei was sentenced by the same Roman Inquisition to house arrest for the remainder of his life for believing and teaching the same as Burno, that the Earth is not the center of the universe and that the Sun does not orbit the Earth, the Earth orbits the Sun. Galileo recanted this scientific fact in order to avoid the same cruel and horrific fate as Burno. Galileo made this heretical statement:
"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with senses, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use and by some other means to give us knowledge which we can attain by them."
Due to the advancement of our God-given innate reason and wonder, over centuries of hard work by brave individuals who loved their God-given wonder and reason more than they feared the threats and violence of Christianity, God-given reason began to prevail over Christianity in Europe, first during the Renaissance in the 15th and 16th centuries, followed by the Enlightenment during the 17th and 18th centuries. This eventually brought the end of Christians murdering people who they did not agree with. The last victim of this Christian violence was the Deist Cayetano Ripoll. He was the last person murdered by the Spanish Inquisition. Our fellow Deist Cayetano Ripoll was hanged in Valencia, Spain on July 26, 1826, for being a Deist and for teaching other people about Deism.
Once Deists are successful in reaching a large enough number of people with Deism, we will permanently break the cycle in the battle between God-given reason and wonder versus fear-based "revealed" religion/superstition. This victory will be permanent due to the fact that, as Thomas Paine pointed out, “the mind once enlightened cannot again become dark.” All Deists have a lot of vitally important work to do and goals to accomplish!
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