Dear Bright
This time we're taking a different approach to the Equinox fund drive. We hope you enjoy the change to this format and find it valuable.
We will be asking you for a donation, but there's another reason for the change. We want to bring you up to date regarding what has been going on worldwide with the Brights movement.
Having brass tacks information here at the Website itself (rather than in an email) means we can add a picture or two. And, you can roam around a bit, exploring the "recent happenings" on your own. But, remember, we are asking you to donate. So, don't get lost!
We want to take this opportunity to thank the many hundreds of Brights we have personally met, the thousands who have introduced themselves through their email registration comments, and those across the world who daily tell others about the Brights, write us with their ideas, work independently supporting the movement in the Forum and website, lead a BLC, participate in a BrightenOp, MeetUp, SIG, task team or project, or merely open and read the Bulletin. Thanks to our "Enthusiastic Brights" and others who support the project via Internet and public appearances, all who through their writings on the Internet help others to understand this civic justice endeavor, and you who have supported the movement with donations.
Paul Geisert and Mynga Futrell
Co-Directors of The Brights Net
The Brights Movement
(A Snapshot)
Four years ago (September), there were zero Brights in the world. (Nobody was characterized as such back then.)
Now, over 22,000 persons have registered into the Internet constituency of Brights, and many additional thousands have begun to use the term to represent naturalistic thinking and/or to describe this endeavor.
Just this month, BeliefNet identified “…the most prominent people in non-belief today, from academia to publishing to entertainment to activism….” Interestingly, a solid majority of the men and women depicted in its “top ten gallery” are Brights.
A lot has changed (for us and for others) in this four year span of time. It seems that the website and organization we developed has challenged, upset, and enlivened the world just a bit. It has sparked some lively exchanges and some pragmatic thinking in a portion of the community of folks who, like ourselves, hold in high esteem the values of the Enlightenment.
The main website (it’s where you currently are right now) is the place for people to go to view the essentials of what has by now become known as “the Brights movement.” It's the main source of information.
Four features -- definition, vision, aims and principles -- are what best express the nature of this endeavor, which has been widely interpreted and often misconstrued. It is these four ingredients that any Bright who wishes to be an activist for civic justice needs to know.
This site is also the hub of communications for many Brights, and now there are in excess of 30,000 links inward (from other sites). Today, forty monthly news bulletins are archived here.
Awareness has spread such that now Brights in 138 nations are registered at the main site. There are also some sites serving languages other than English.
Importantly, more people seem to be catching on to the notion of a naturalistic worldview and comprehending it as it is --offering a means to usefully distinguish two types of outlooks from one another: Either there's no supernaturalism in one's worldview, or one's worldview incorporates supernaturalism. The bottom line is that everybody falls one way or the other. It's more demarcation than philosophy.
The naturalistic worldview also can serve as a broad civic identity for those who will use it as such. ("We're brights, not supers.") That identity was the initial goal, although there was not initially any complementary label (supers) for the proposed civic identity. The characterization "a bright" differs in key ways from the spectrum of familiar “belief-focused” depictions. For one thing, it is fully religion-free (no defining oneself by comparisons)!
The numbers of registrants at the main site climbs steadily, but in a linear fashion. This month, registrations have been coming in at a level equivalent to “6500 new Brights a year.”
There is a lot more to tell you about what is going on. The links at the bottom of this page lead you to more information. But, first, please read on through the following funding appeal to frame any of your further explorations. Then, please respond generously to help this unique organization keep up its momentum.
Moving Ahead?
The Brights’ Net asks for financial support only twice a year (at the equinoxes). The goal for this September’s drive is not a penny less than $25,000. So far, the Amazon.com rewards from sales through the website link have brought in $235 and the new CafePress merchandise profits total $287, so that leaves exactly $24,478 to go!
This goal means more than doubling the normal inflow from the constituency. It’s still not a massive request, but it will enable things to get done that just are not getting done. Remember, Brights don’t pay any membership fee like other organizations -- but the necessity for support is still present. The network needs funding for professional level audio and video to be put online (our Enthusiastic Brights are underutilized). There are Brights interested in helping, but some level of stable funding is required for such projects. We need the support of every Bright more than ever before!
Perhaps you have aided this endeavor in the past. Please do so again. If you have not donated before, now is an auspicious time. Set a level appropriate to your circumstances ($200, $100, $50, $25, or $5). All donations are welcome and are fully U.S. tax deductible by IRS the rules for a nonprofit 501c3 organization.
One good way to donate (and the most helpful to this endeavor in stabilizing a budget) is through arrangements with an employer. Many employers will match your contribution, and you can orchestrate periodic payments. [The Brights’ Net’s nonprofit organization registration number is EIN 56-2385064]
You may of course donate by mailing a check or money order (either must be in US dollars). So that we can credit you appropriately, make sure to put your Brights email address on your check when mailing it to: The Brights’ Net, P O Box 163418, Ft. Sutter, Sacramento CA 95816 USA.
The easiest (for us) and quickest (for you) way to contribute is via the PayPal link here on the website. We have found PayPal to be a secure and convenient donation method. To date (five equinoxes), we have had zero problems on PayPal! PayPal handles international currencies. And, Paypal makes Brights Central’s record keeping so easy! (Paul’s most onerous task is accounting.) More information and the PayPal link are at: http://the-brights.net/action/support/#equinoxfunds
If a financial donation is simply not possible right now, then please make an effort in the next six months to invite more people to visit the website and learn of this civic justice endeavor for individuals who have a naturalistic worldview. We take great pleasure when a new registrant’s comment is “a friend (or a relative, co-worker, professor, student, spouse ) told me” about the Brights.
With or without a financial contribution, we appreciate your commitment and support of The Brights' Net. We are grateful not only for your financial backing. We relish the many personal emails expressing encouragement and confidence in the efforts of Brights across the world.
Thank you for your continued support (actions, moral, and/or financial)
Paul Geisert & Mynga Futrell
Please Donate Now
Looking at Accomplishments
What has happened? - A Brief History
How does it happen? - A Clarification of the Need
