Oprah speaks for atheists?

[Whateverist]

Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?

I think what mystifies religious people (who aren't that inquisitive), is that how someone can indeed see the beauty of things, but yet perfectly knowing why it is so.

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Knowing and understanding the world around me makes it all even more marvellous.

Theists seem to think the sense of wonder is made so much more special by the thought that it was put together like that to please us. That is the chief point I would want to make to Oprah. It needn't be all about us for a thing to be beautiful or wonder-full. The naive expectation that the universe is addressing itself to us as individuals is infantile, or perhaps narcissistic. Becoming willing to be a part but not the center of the universe is a natural part of maturation. But as with the cosmological Copernican revolution, this one too seems to have passed most Christians by.

I don't find I have to understand the physics of a phenomenon to appreciate its aesthetic qualities. But, like you, the more I understand, the greater my appreciation. It isn't necessary to think Santa puts presents under the tree to enjoy Christmas. But many Christians do seem to revel in their gullibility.