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==Recent Attempt To Improve the Public Perception of the Naturalistic Worldview==
The [[Brights Movement]] was started in 2003 by [[Paul Geisert]] and [[Mynga Futrell]] in 2003 in order to assist in the advocacy of a [[Naturalism|naturalistic worldview]].<ref>http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2843/is_2_28/ai_114090211/pg_1</ref><ref>http://www.the-brights.net/vision/faq.html#1</ref> The Brights movement had a media campaign and was announced in [Wired (magazine)|Wired]] magazine (by [[evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins]]), ''[[Free Inquiry]]'' (by [[Richard Dawkins]]), and on the ''[[New York Times]]'' op-ed page (by [[evolutionary biologist [[Daniel Dennett]]).<ref>http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2843/is_2_28/ai_114090211/pg_1</ref> However, according to a 2004 ''[[Skeptical Enquirer]]'' article the movement was a misguided attempt to promote atheism and the "Brights label reinforced a longstanding stereotype. 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://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2843/is_2_28/ai_114090211/pg_3</ref>
Chris Mooney wrote Skeptical Enquirer article the following:
{{cquote|..a recent attack on the Brights movement in The Wall Street Journal by the conservative thinker Dinesh D'Souza confirms my worst fears (D'Souza 2003). The article blithely ignores a key caveat that the Brights defenders have explicitly laid out-namely, that the label isn't meant to suggest that religious doubters are smarter than everyone else. But I actually think this misrepresentation ought to be blamed more on Dennett, Dawkins, and the original founders than on D'Souza--for reasons I will explain.
In his original New York Times op-ed announcing the Brights label, Dennett wrote, "Don't confuse the noun with the adjective: 'I'm a Bright' is not a boast but a proud avowal of an inquisitive world view." That's certainly nice in principle. But who did Dennett think he was kidding? How could anyone hear the label Bright and think anything but that atheists were claiming to be smarter than everyone else? As ABC Richard Dawkins 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" (Paulos 2003).<ref>http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2843/is_2_28/ai_114090211/pg_2</ref>
According to Mr. Mooney virtually all the feedback he has received regarding the Brights Movement from skeptics/atheists has been negative.<ref>http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2843/is_2_28/ai_114090211/pg_3</ref>
Atheist author and columnist Christopher Hitchens expressed his "annoyance at Professor Dawkins and Daniel Dennett, for their cringe-making proposal that atheists should conceitedly nominate themselves to be called "brights".<ref>http://www.slate.com/id/2165033/entry/2165035/</ref> However, notable skeptics/atheist still embrace the Brights Movement and are listed as "Enthusiastic Brights" such as [[Richard Dawkins]], [[Daniel Dennett]], [[Margaret Downy]], [[James Randi]], [[Mel Lipman]], [[Bobbie Kirkhart]], [[Herb Silverman]], [[Michael Shermer]], [[Matt Cherry]], and [[Babu Gogineni]].<ref>http://www.the-brights.net/people/enthusiastic/index.html</ref>
==External links==
==External links==
*[http://creationwiki.org/Decline_of_atheism Decline of Atheism -CreationWiki]
*[http://creationwiki.org/Decline_of_atheism Decline of Atheism -CreationWiki]
*[http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_225_report_en.pdf European Commission report on Social values, Science and Technology, includes info on Religious beliefs]
*[http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_225_report_en.pdf European Commission report on Social values, Science and Technology, includes info on Religious beliefs]
==See Also==
==See Also==
*[[Agnosticism]]
*[[Agnosticism]]