[Valin]

Well I guess I'm just not that bright.

We are, in fact, the moral backbone of the nation: ROTFLM(not so bright)AO

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[IncPen]

The time has come for us brights to come out of the closet.

What's with people feeling compelled to 'come out of the closet'?

The closet is fine. It works for both of us.

Stay in.

Please.

[Van Jenerette]

...I'm positively DIM.

[Semper Paratus]

The word gay is lost, I'm not about to concede bright.

[Phaedrus]

It used to be that only a fool or an intellectual could be an atheist. Now also "brights". Is Mensa next?

[egarvue]

19 For it is written:
"I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate."

20 Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.
1 Corinthians 1:19-21

[ClearCase_guy]

Is this man making the assertion that Secular Humanists are a persecuted minority?

[Phaedrus]

We are, in fact, the moral backbone of the nation ...

This guy is delusional.

[wideawake]

Politicians don't think they even have to pay us lip service, and leaders who wouldn't be caught dead making religious or ethnic slurs don't hesitate to disparage the "godless" among us.

This guy is, quite simply, a liar.

Name me one politician running for nationwide or even statewide office who uses the term "godless"? This guy needs to be called on his fabrication.

[Dead Corpse]

If you're a bright, what can you do?

Run away from stupid redefining of terms?

[babyface00]

atheist or agnostic or have no religious preference

Maybe I'm mistaken, but agnostics and those without religious preferences still (can) believe in God. Only the atheist doesn't. Seems like he's artificially padding the numbers to illustrate a point.

And that is what we want most of all: to be treated with the same respect accorded to Baptists and Hindus and Catholics

Well he's in for a rude awakening if he thinks those groups get any respect these days.

[Phaedrus]

If the Washington Times had published this article, I would worry.

[ovrtaxt]

Counting the minutes before the cadre of evolutionist freepers chime in....

[Dont Mention the War]

These people are "bright" like liberals are "progressive."

[Polycarp]

And you can ask your political candidates these questions: Would you vote for an otherwise qualified candidate for public office who was a bright? Would you support a nominee for the Supreme Court who was a bright? Do you think brights should be allowed to be high school teachers? Or chiefs of police?

The legacy of the last century's brightest brights:

Bottom line? Atheism eventually kills. Without exception. In far far higher numbers than theistic systems ever could or would.

Why? Atheism eventually insists on destroying every image of and reference to the Creator.

Once this is accomplished, they realize MAN is made in the image of God, and He is seen most in the face of the innocent.

So atheism ALWAYS eventually destroys the innocent, subconsciously at first, but then with a brutal conscious intensity that can only be called DEMONIC.

[balrog666]

Ping?

[The Iguana]

A sad - and hopeless - existence.

[Mr. Bird]

This was mentioned by Andrew Stuttaford (I believe) on NRO. Andrew was much more humble in his proposed name for such a group (and he self identifies as one): The Doomed.

But the real kicker here isn't the choice of name, but the assertion that somehow atheists are being oppressed in some fashion by U.S. society. What rubbish! While not an overtly "religious" individual, I would certainly think that the faithless tend to wield a heavy hand in trying to restrict the practice of faith by their fellow citizens than the other way around.

[hgro]

They sound like dim bulbs to me.

[LiteKeeper]

Isn't it interesting that the Scriptures tell us that in the Last Days, those who oppose God will call "Light" Darkenss, and they will call "Darkness" Light. I suppose "Bright" can be considered a synonym for "Light."

[betty boop]

But the price is political impotence.

Gee. I wonder what universe this guy is living on.

"Brights" is a freaking euphemism used to describe a tiny, self-selected elite minority of "intellectuals" that widely controls our prestige institutions of science and culture, the main stream media, and "progressive" politicans. Our Founders were not "Brights": To be a "Bright," you have to be a thorough-going materialist.

Materialism is the solvent that is destroying the social fabric, our common culture, and our respect for the human individual. Not to mention the Constitution, the issue of the genius of our "DIM" Framers -- who were all believers in God, and respected the cultural roots of American order, roots that reach back to Jerusalem, Athens, and Rome. Materialism has no room for any of this in its relentlessly mechanistic doctrine.

If that is what it takes to call oneself a "Bright," then please, please, please -- just call me Dim.

[maryz]

A 2002 survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life suggests that 27 million Americans are atheist or agnostic or have no religious preference. That figure may well be too low, since many nonbelievers are reluctant to admit that their religious observance is more a civic or social duty than a religious one

"Atheist or agnostic or have no religious preference"? Agnostic literally as well as semantically means "doesn't know." Lots of people who consider themselves vaguely "religious" have no religious preference.

Anyone here noticed atheists performing "religious observance" as a social or civic duty? Maybe in the 50s, maybe in the nineteenth century, but now? My experience is that a lot more people don't like to mention that they go to church.

[r9etb]

We are, in fact, the moral backbone of the nation: brights take their civic duties seriously precisely because they don't trust God to save humanity from its follies.

God save us from "brights" who arrogate to themselves the mission to save us.

[Aquinasfan]

Won't they be surprised when they meet their Maker.

[Publius6961]

The "Brights" ??

I guess the honest alternative, the "perverts" didn't get the votes?

Hmmmmm.
Supernatural or "perversion" view of the universe.
Let me think...

I vote to belong to neither, thank you.

[RightWhale]

The main problem with many philosophic articles is that they are impenetrable due to poor language skills. Bad writing. Once in a while a philosophy writer emerges with a piece that is well-written, and that writer could become famous and popular, selling dozens or even 1000s of copies of his book, even if his philosophy isn't the best. Ethics writers seem to come off well as a group, so ethics carries the science for the rest of the disciplines. Do 'brights' need a name of their own? Will some Mensans take offense? Is it ethical to create yet another victimized group?

[unspun]

"Many students came up to me afterwards to thank me, with considerable passion, for "liberating" them. I hadn't realized how lonely and insecure these thoughtful teenagers felt. They'd never heard a respected adult say, in an entirely matter of fact way, that he didn't believe in God. I had calmly broken a taboo and shown how easy it was."

All-right kids, gather 'round. Today's phrase is "re-lig-ious in-doc-tri-na-tion." Can you say it after me, my budding atheists? Hm-hm-huah-huah-huah-huaaaaah...."

[Old Professer]

I just love it when a supercilious sybarite salubriates sillily. Dull, small, dumbrate.

[A.J.Armitage]

And you can ask your political candidates these questions: Would you vote for an otherwise qualified candidate for public office who was a bright? Would you support a nominee for the Supreme Court who was a bright? Do you think brights should be allowed to be high school teachers? Or chiefs of police?

An atheist, yes. A "bright", never.

[JoeSchem]

Didn't these guys used to call themselves 'free-thinkers?' And for a while, weren't they 'skeptics?'

It must be difficult if you're a negro/black/African-American free-thinker/skeptic/bright liberal/progressive, because your description of yourself would have to go through eighteen changes in the past forty years.

Meanwhile, I was and remain a conservative christian white guy.

[Kudsman]

Well I'll continue being a happy idiot then. Is it the brights amoung us that have perpetuated the murdering of our most innocent? I think very few non-brights support abortion on demand.

[ALS]

Battling The Bright Blight *ping*

[Quix]

They sound like a pretty ancient brand of pretty typical dimwits to me.

[goodseedhomeschool (returned)]

Lightbulb, half-lit dim wit, dim lit half wit.

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

Do you get a Frisbee and rainbow decal when you join? This new self-esteem cult from the Cenozoic Californian civilization really needs an appropriate name reflecting the vague, flaky smugness, self-congratulatory condescension, and North Korean mind control sardonic smile that tends to go with its cultees.
Let's see...uh...The Church of Brightosophy?

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

You may well be a bright. If not, you certainly deal with brights daily. That's because we are all around you: we're doctors, nurses, police officers, schoolteachers, crossing guards and men and women serving in the military.

"In some cases we have even been leaders of Red China, the Soviet Union, Albania, and Cuba..."

[CChoicemaker]

Many problems in human experience are the result of
false and inaccurate definitions of humankind premised
in man-made religions and humanistic philosophies.

Human knowledge is a fraction of the whole universe. The
balance is a vast void of human ignorance. Human reason
cannot fully function in such a void, thus, the intellect
can rise no higher than the criteria by which it perceives
and measures values.

Humanism makes man his own standard of measure,however,
as with all measuring systems, a standard must be greater
than the value measured.

Based on preponderant ignorance and an ego-centric carnal
nature, humanism demotes reason to the simpleton task
of excuse-making for the rule of appetites, desires,
feelings, emotions, and glands.

Because man, hobbled in an ego-centric predicament cannot
invent criteria greater than himself, the humanist lacks
a predictive capability. Without transcendent criteria,
humanism cannot evaluate options with foresight for
survival and progression. Without foresight or instinct,
man is blind to potential consequence and is unwittingly
committed to averages, mediocrity,and regression - and
worse. Humanism is an unworthy worship - not very bright.

The void of human ignorance can easily be filled with
a functional faith while not-so-patiently awaiting the
foot-dragging growth of human knowledge and behavior.
Faith, initiated by the Creator and revealed and
validated in His Word, the Bible, brings a Transcendent
Standard to man the choice-maker. Other philosophies and
religions are man-made, humanism, and thereby lack what
only the Bible has: 1. Transcendent Criteria and 2.
Fulfilled Prophetic Validation. The vision of faith in
God and His Word is survival equipment for today and
the future. Selah

The way we define 'human' determines our view of self,
others, relations, institutions, life, and future.Important?
Only the Creator, who made us in His own image, is qualified
to accurately define us. Choose wisely.

Man is earth's CHOICEMAKER. Psalm 25:12 He is by nature
and nature's God a creature of Choice - and of CRITERIA.
Psalm 119:30,173 His unique and definitive characteristic
is, and of Right ought to be, the natural foundation of
his institutions, environments, and respectful relations
to his fellow-man. Thus, he is oriented to a Freedom
whose roots are in the Order of the universe. Biblical
principles are still today the foundation under Western
Civilization and the American way of life. Let us proclaim
it. Behold! The Season of GENERATION-CHOICEMAKER. JOEL 3:14

Semper Fidelis
Jim Baxter

- from "Human Defined: Earth's Choicemaker"
httP;//www.geocities.com/James-Baxter/

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