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[[Image:Cherry Blossom Japan.jpg|thumb|250px|Even in atheistic [[Japan]], researchers found that Japanese children see the world [[Intelligent design|as designed]].<ref>[http://creation.com/children-see-the-world-as-designed Children see the world as designed]</ref>]]

[[Image:Cherry Blossom Japan.jpg|thumb|275px|Even in atheistic [[Japan]], researchers found that Japanese children see the world [[Intelligent design|as designed]].<ref>[http://creation.com/children-see-the-world-as-designed Children see the world as designed]</ref>]]

One of the common and well-founded charges against [[atheism|atheists]] is their arrogance and presumptuousness.<ref>The atheist apologetic work/book ''50 Great Myths About Atheism by Russell Blackford'' indicates that the charge of atheists being arrogant is commonly leveled at atheists, page 99 of his book</ref>

One of the common and well-founded charges against [[atheism|atheists]] is their arrogance and presumptuousness.<ref>

 

*[http://www.equip.org/articles/the-presumptuousness-of-atheism/ The Presumptuousness of Atheism] by Paul Copan, Christian Research Institute

*[http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/arrogance-atheists-batter-believers-religion-smug-certainty-article-1.469613 The arrogance of the atheists: They batter believers in religion with smug certainty] -'' New York Daily Times'' by the atheist [[S.E. Cupp]], December 29, 2010

*[http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/brendanoneill2/100230985/how-atheists-became-the-most-colossally-smug-and-annoying-people-on-the-planet/ How atheists became the most colossally smug and annoying people on the planet] by atheist Brendan O'Neill, ''The Telegraph'',  August 14th, 2013

*[http://atheismexposed.tripod.com/atheist_arrogance.htm  Militant atheist arrogance and pride] - Militant Atheism Exposed website</ref>

== Why atheism is an arrogant ideology ==

== Why atheism is an arrogant ideology ==

== Pretentious monikers ==

== Pretentious monikers ==

[[File:Daniel Dennett 2.jpg|thumbnail|right|175px|[[Daniel Dennett]] ]]

[[File:Daniel Dennett 2.jpg|thumbnail|right|175px|[[Daniel Dennett]] ]]

Atheists have also given themselves pretentious monikers such as freethinker, rationalist and "bright". See also: [[Brights Movement]]

Atheists have also given themselves pretentious monikers such as freethinker, rationalist and "bright". See also: [[Brights Movement]] and [[Atheism and intelligence]] and [[Atheism and the theory of multiple intelligences]]  

=== Brights Movement ===

=== Brights Movement ===

The ABC News.com commentator John Allen Paulos remarked of the “brights” campaign, “I don’t think a degree in public relations is needed to expect that many people will construe the term as smug, ridiculous, and arrogant.”<ref>[http://www.csicop.org/specialarticles/show/not_too_bright/ Not Too “Bright"], ''Skeptical Enquirer'', Chris Mooney, October 15, 2003</ref> The Brights Movement largely came about because the label "atheist" has such a bad reputation. The atheist Sam Harris has said concerning the label of atheist, "It's right next to child molester as a designation." (See also: [[Views on atheists]] and [[Atheism and social outcasts]]).<ref>http://newsinitiative.org/story/2007/06/19/interview_with_an_atheist</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>

The ABC News.com commentator John Allen Paulos remarked of the “brights” campaign, “I don’t think a degree in public relations is needed to expect that many people will construe the term as smug, ridiculous, and arrogant.”<ref>[http://www.csicop.org/specialarticles/show/not_too_bright/ Not Too “Bright"], ''Skeptical Enquirer'', Chris Mooney, October 15, 2003</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>

 

The Brights Movement largely came about because the label "atheist" has such a bad reputation.

The atheist Sam Harris has said concerning the label of atheist, "It's right next to child molester as a designation." (See also: [[Views on atheists]] and [[Atheism and social outcasts]]).<ref>http://newsinitiative.org/story/2007/06/19/interview_with_an_atheist</ref>   

 

In October of 2003 in a article in ''[[the Guardian]]'', [[Richard Dawkins]] associated being a "bright" with being an intellectual.<ref>http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,12084,981412,00.html</ref>

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The atheist [[Hemant Menta]] is an author, popular atheist blogger and atheist activist. He also served as a chair on the Secular Student Alliance board of directors. His blog is called ''The Friendly Atheist.''  Given the Brights Movement's reputation for smugness, his endorsement of the Brights Movement and his current listing as an "Enthusiastic Bright" on the Brights Movement website, could be seen as a matter of hypocrisy due to the attributes of "friendly" and "smug" being incompatible opposites.(see: [[Atheist hypocrisy]]).<ref>[http://www.the-brights.net/people/enthusiastic/index2.html "Enthusiastic Brights" at the 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>  

Unlike the skeptic [[Michael Shermer]] who had second thoughts after endorsing the Brights Movement, Hemant Menta has never publicly denounced the Bright Movement for its smugness and remains listed on on its website as an "Enthusiastic Bright".<ref>

*[http://www.the-brights.net/people/enthusiastic/index2.html Hemant Menta listing - Enthusiastic Brights] at Brights Movement website

[http://www.skeptic.com/eskeptic/05-01-05.html Science and the Search for Meaning: excerpts from the Introduction to Science Friction] by Michael Shermer</ref>

According to a 2004 ''Psychology Today'' article the Brights’ Web site launched in 2003 and signed on tens of thousands of Brights from more than 84 countries.<ref>http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-20040209-000016.html</ref> The Psychology Today article quotes a founder of the Brights Movement Paul Geisert as stating, "It’s too soon to tell if the movement will really catch on. We just have to empirically wait and see what happens.”<ref>http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-20040209-000016.html</ref>

===== Hemant Menta's comments about fellow atheist Chris Stedman =====

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 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>

[[File:Hemant Mehta.jpg|thumbnail|right|200px|[[Hemant Menta]] ]]

{{cquote|If you read the blog posts and Twitter comments about Chris, though, you’d think he was a religious man in atheist clothing. Or that he’s delegitimizing our work. Or that he’s undermining our goals. He’s not. He’s as much of an atheist activist as the rest of us. He just practices it by focusing on cooperation and conversation with people of faith instead of beating his chest with both fists and proclaiming his superiority.<ref>[http://freethoughtblogs.com/crommunist/2012/02/29/the-unfriendly-atheist/ The (un)Friendly Atheist], Crommunist blog at [[Freethoughtblogs]]</ref><ref>[http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2012/02/29/those-atheists-you-hate-arent-really-all-that-bad/ Those Atheists You Hate Aren’t Really All That Bad] by [[Hemant Menta]]</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>

The atheist [[Hemant Menta]] is an author, popular atheist blogger and atheist activist. He also served as a chair on the Secular Student Alliance board of directors. His blog is called ''The Friendly Atheist.''  Given the Brights Movement's reputation for smugness, his endorsement of the Brights Movement and his current listing as an "Enthusiastic Bright" on the Brights Movement website, could be seen as a matter of hypocrisy due to the attributes of "friendly" and "smug" being incompatible opposites.(see: [[Atheist hypocrisy]]).<ref>[http://www.the-brights.net/people/enthusiastic/index2.html "Enthusiastic Brights" at the Brights Movement website]</ref>

See also: [[Atheism and interpersonal intelligence|Atheism and social intelligence]]

==== Pretentious Brights could not sustain their Brights Movement ====

==== The Brights did not sustain the Brights Movement ====

After the Brights Movement failed to attract a subsequent significant following and petered out as a movement, the popular YouTube video maker [[Shockofgod]] mocked the movement and the movement's weak website traffic with a video entitled ''Atheism's future not bright at all''.<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgHt7Wt3KMc Atheism's future not bright at all] by [[Shockofgod]]</ref>  See also: [[Global atheism|Decline of global atheism]] and [[Desecularization]]

After the Brights Movement failed to attract a subsequent significant following subsequent to their initial launch period and then petered out as a movement, the popular YouTube video maker [[Shockofgod]] mocked the movement and the movement's weak website traffic with a video entitled ''Atheism's future not bright at all''.<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgHt7Wt3KMc Atheism's future not bright at all] by [[Shockofgod]]</ref>  See also: [[Global atheism|Decline of global atheism]] and [[Desecularization]]

For more information, please see:  [[Atheism and interpersonal intelligence|Atheism and social intelligence]] and [[Atheism and intelligence]] and [[Atheism and the theory of multiple intelligences]] and [[Atheism and leadership]]

For more information, please see:  [[Atheism and interpersonal intelligence|Atheism and social intelligence]] and [[Atheism and intelligence]] and [[Atheism and the theory of multiple intelligences]] and [[Atheism and leadership]]

== Quotes of the arrogant atheist Friedrich Nietzsche ==

== Quotes of the arrogant atheist Friedrich Nietzsche ==

== External links ==

== External links ==

*[http://www.christianpost.com/news/how-anger-fuels-atheistic-arrogance-58281/ How anger fuels atheistic arrogance] - ''Christian Post'' By Dan Delzell, October 17, 2011

*[http://www.christianpost.com/news/how-anger-fuels-atheistic-arrogance-58281/ How anger fuels atheistic arrogance] - ''Christian Post'' By Dan Delzell, October 17, 2011

*[http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/arrogance-atheists-batter-believers-religion-smug-certainty-article-1.469613 The arrogance of the atheists: They batter believers in religion with smug certainty] -'' New York Daily Times'' by the atheist [[S.E. Cupp]], December 29, 2010     

*[http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/arrogance-atheists-batter-believers-religion-smug-certainty-article-1.469613 The arrogance of the atheists: They batter believers in religion with smug certainty] -'' New York Daily Times'' by the atheist [[S.E. Cupp]], December 29, 2010     

*[http://atheismexposed.tripod.com/atheist_arrogance.htm  Militant atheist arrogance and pride] - Militant Atheism Exposed website                                                          

*[http://atheismexposed.tripod.com/atheist_arrogance.htm  Militant atheist arrogance and pride] - Militant Atheism Exposed website  

 

 

{{Nb Atheism}}

{{Nb Atheism}}

== Notes ==

== Notes ==

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