September 2014 Equinox Message
Thank you for considering this Equinox message. At this time, The Brights’ Net is seeking your financial backing for its unique and distinctive endeavor. We hope you will help to sustain and strengthen this nonprofit organization that underlies the Brights movement.
How far we get in the next six months or year is up to Brights like you. No “membership” dues accrue to The Brights’ Network. We depend on generosity of Brights. Please play a part in our efforts.
Just think!
Think how the copious religious organizations have their multitudinous ways of obtaining colossal financial support to advance their points of view! Support from their participants keeps the media and airwaves full, and organized efforts permeate from the street corners to the spires of stunning structures and lobby the powers that be.
On the other hand, of course, there are valiant (though quite diminutive in comparison) “free thought organizations.” These generally compete as best they can, with efforts to fend off or reduce religious privilege in hopes of preserving the right of conscience to deity-free belief. The ranks are growing as more persons find ways to voice the value of “nonbelief”.
Organizationally, The Brights’ Net differs in approach. It’s a matter of emphasis, a “Bright Pride” emphasis, if you will. To escape the negative "nonbeliever" stance that otherwise must be taken to advance secular interests, this approach tends to depart the realm of religion by way of its educational focus. Although atheists and agnostics abound in the Brights movement, so many participants who are supernatural-free are seeking more affirmative ways both to “be themselves” and “to have a positive impact.”
The Brights’ Net, by advancing “Brightness,” wants to show and share a supernatural-free understanding of the incredible natural world we all inhabit. Most activities pursued lay out for all to see affirmative facets of a naturalistic outlook and take positive actions to advance it. Actions go beyond just continually enhancing the website and providing other services from the communications hub (forums, monthly bulletins, “BrightenOps” and blog posting), but by pursuing volunteer initiatives that address issues and inform others, too.
- A volunteer adaptation of the Brights’ monthly bulletin is now going out to incarcerated subscribers in 22 states (56 American prisons). The “A Little Brightness” mailing lives up to its name in realms where religion reigns supreme and holding onto a naturalistic worldview is far from easy.
- A recent expansion of notable volunteer activity is due to the online “TheBrightsRussia” group, which has many thousands of subscribers and is translating TED talks for public consumption. That group has launched 18 YouTube programs in four months.
Recent Progress in Major Efforts
You will want to re-visit the home page to see. The page has lately been restructured to better feature the most active and successful volunteer projects currently emanating from “Brights Central.” These projects involve educational efforts to bolster a naturalistic understanding. Links to these efforts are now prominently displayed on the home page (images only pictured here), and both projects are thoroughly described to site visitors (with only one click of a link).
The Brights' “Evolution Poster” Project is enhancing young people’s understanding of the natural story of life on earth by putting a unique resource in the hands of delighted teachers. They immediately see how they can better ensure that their students will really comprehend the evolutionary development of both the earth and life upon it. Some teachers don’t use the material just when teaching about evolution either. We hear from those who want to keep it up all year ‘round.
A Testimonial from a Teacher : “Getting the poster made my day. It is proudly displayed right over my student computers, so whenever they look up from their work, they'll see the history of their existence! Thanks a million for this.”
Status: The number of students affected is now approaching 92,000! We are in the process of collecting funds for another print order to boost the impact. So many more classrooms could benefit from such a one-off teaching resource. Also, next we hope to explore other methods of disseminating the image.
Need for Support: A small matching grant from the James Hervey Johnson Charitable Educational Trust offers hope of ordering this next batch of 5-foot(!) classroom poster at the lowest possible price ($12.50 to print). That is, if enough Brights contribute. Please donate, so we can match (up to $3000)!
The “Reality about Human Morality” Project is furthering public understanding of the natural basis of human morality in numerous countries across the globe.
Status: The launch of the infographic is only days old. With the help of volunteers, we had succeeded in producing this attractive item in twelve different languages. (Some translations will need further tweaking.) The web portal at http://the-brights.net is a superb educational space and an internationally accessible repository of the latest research on morality. If you have not yet visited, please do so.
A Testimonial from a Bright : As one replied immediately upon viewing the resources: “Something to be proud of. Now we need the same approach that explains that moral behavior is not driven by fear of a God, but rather by communities, whether they are apes, dolphins or humans.”
Need for Support: We want to extend our educational efforts. There are many more routes to disseminating information to the public at large that we might employ. One pathway is simply through advertising of the web portal. This will require funds. Please donate.
There are also many ways to help out financially. We hope you will choose to pursue one of them.
What to Do
Visit our Donation Page Now!
http://www.the-brights.net/funding/donation_page.html
