Changes

According to a 2003 ''Skeptical Enquirer'' article by Christ Mooney, "From the start, the “brights” label  label reinforced a longstanding stereotype. [[Atheism|Atheists]] already have a terrible rap for being coldhearted [[Rationalism|rationalists]] who attend [[Mensa]] gatherings and dismiss religious believers as simple-minded fools."<ref>[http://www.csicop.org/specialarticles/show/not_too_bright/ Not Too “Bright"], ''Skeptical Enquirer'', Chris Mooney, October 15, 2003</ref>  In October of 2003 in a article in ''[[the Guardian]]'' Dawkins associated being a "bright" with being an intellectual.<ref>http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,12084,981412,00.html</ref>

According to a 2003 ''Skeptical Enquirer'' article by Christ Mooney, "From the start, the “brights” label  label reinforced a longstanding stereotype. [[Atheism|Atheists]] already have a terrible rap for being coldhearted [[Rationalism|rationalists]] who attend [[Mensa]] gatherings and dismiss religious believers as simple-minded fools."<ref>[http://www.csicop.org/specialarticles/show/not_too_bright/ Not Too “Bright"], ''Skeptical Enquirer'', Chris Mooney, October 15, 2003</ref>  In October of 2003 in a article in ''[[the Guardian]]'' Dawkins associated being a "bright" with being an intellectual.<ref>http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,12084,981412,00.html</ref>

Notable atheists/skeptics may still embrace the Brights Movement and are listed as "Enthusiastic Brights" at the Brights Movement website.<ref>http://www.the-brights.net/people/enthusiastic/index.html</ref>  Examples of individuals who are listed as "Enthusiastic Brights" are atheists/skeptics such as [[Richard Dawkins]], [[Daniel Dennett]], [[A.C. Grayling]], [[Penn Jillette]], [[Penn and Teller|Raymond Joseph Teller]], Steven Pinker, [[James Randi]], [[Michael Shermer]], [[Hemant Menta]], Margaret Downy, Mel Lipman, Bobbie Kirkhart, Herb Silverman, Matt Cherry and Babu Gogineni.<ref>[http://www.the-brights.net/people/enthusiastic/index.html "Enthusiastic Brights" listed at Brights Movement website]</ref>  

Notable atheists/skeptics may still embrace the Brights Movement and are listed as "Enthusiastic Brights" at the Brights Movement website.<ref>http://www.the-brights.net/people/enthusiastic/index.html</ref>  Examples of individuals who are listed as "Enthusiastic Brights" are atheists/skeptics such as [[Richard Dawkins]], [[Daniel Dennett]], [[A.C. Grayling]], [[Penn Jillette]], [[Penn and Teller|Raymond Joseph Teller]], Steven Pinker, [[James Randi]], [[Michael Shermer]], [[Hemant Menta]], Margaret Downy, Mel Lipman, Bobbie Kirkhart, Herb Silverman, Matt Cherry and Babu Gogineni.<ref>[http://www.the-brights.net/people/enthusiastic/index.html "Enthusiastic Brights" listed at Brights Movement website]</ref>  

Contrary to what the Brights Movement website claims, Michael Shermer is no longer an "enthusiastic Bright", as he stated in 2003: "However, when it became apparent to me that the vast majority of people most likely to fall under the "bright" rubric would not use the label, I became, well, skeptical that it would succeed. For the time being I continue calling myself a skeptic."<ref>http://www.sciscoop.com/story/2003/12/31/73740/169</ref>  Shermer also wrote regarding the Brights movement the following: "The reaction was swift and merciless—almost no one, including and especially nonbelievers, agnostics, atheists, humanists, and free thinkers, liked the name, insisting that its elitist implications, along with the natural [[antonym]] “dim,” would doom us as a movement."<ref>http://www.skeptic.com/eskeptic/05-01-05.html</ref>

Contrary to what the Brights Movement website claims, Michael Shermer is no longer an "enthusiastic Bright", as he stated in 2003: "However, when it became apparent to me that the vast majority of people most likely to fall under the "bright" rubric would not use the label, I became, well, skeptical that it would succeed. For the time being I continue calling myself a skeptic."<ref>http://www.sciscoop.com/story/2003/12/31/73740/169</ref>  Shermer also wrote regarding the Brights movement the following: "The reaction was swift and merciless—almost no one, including and especially nonbelievers, agnostics, atheists, humanists, and free thinkers, liked the name, insisting that its elitist implications, along with the natural [[antonym]] “dim,” would doom us as a movement."<ref>http://www.skeptic.com/eskeptic/05-01-05.html</ref>