Stepping forward as Brights
Brights in the World
There are millions of brights in the world. The generic meaning of this lower case usage of "brights" is this: people who have a naturalistic worldview. There is no equivalence to any "-ism" or belief set or philosophical or societal identity label.
Neither does the idea of holding a naturalistic worldview have an obligatory association with religion. The concept simply stands on its own and offers an alternative and/or additional means to represent people whose outlook is wholly free of supernaturalism.
Persons with a naturalistic worldview have generally been characterized by negative comparisons - as nonreligious, nonbelievers, nontheists. Many people are recognizing a certain civic downside to how they are being defined by, or situating themselves with regard to, religion. (For more about this topic, see the Morality Project ) They see reasons for having and expanding a new and more hospitable civic terrain.
The Brights' Net invites all brights to view themselves in the positive.
Brights in the Constituency
As a registered Bright, your beliefs on many matters will differ from other registrants, but by definition you have this commonality: a naturalistic worldview. That general perspective - no supernatural or mystical elements in our view of the world - sets the brights apart from the supers, and deposits you in a different societal category and circumstance.
The world is sorely in need of more evidence that people can live free of supernaturalism and find their life as personally satisfying and efficacious as anyone's. It needs to be more widely known that brights can be upright citizens and make meaningful contributions to society. This movement invites people with a naturalistic outlook to give fresh-faced evidence of those facts.
The Brights' Net invites all brights to be part of the movement.
Brights in the Movement
It's not just persons accustomed to self-identifying by their conclusions about deities and religion who are suited to be activist Brights. Even persons who recognize that they have a naturalistic understanding, but who continue to associate with a religion in some aesthetic or cultural narrative sense, can see the value of self-identifying also as the brights they actually are. The purpose is not to change others, but to be candid about yourself.
Those who want to move society in a direction away from credulous acceptance of unfounded assertions regarding all sorts of supernatural forces and entites (e.g. "New Age") and towards development in the citizenry of more reasoned and critical thinking faculties, with more attention to empirical evidence, can see how being Brights activists can help their goals.
We who have a naturalistic worldview must move out of the margins and be visible players in society. The movement's overall civic aims are entirely egalitarian. We want acceptance and participation for brights comparable with that of supers.
It is hoped that Brights will, in their own circles and communities, take productive actions well aligned with those aims, and with the principles of the movement. Whether as "a bright" or as "a person who has a naturalistic worldview" (both have meme potential), getting others' attention to the website of "the brights" is the startin step of activism.
The Brights' site is a consciousness-raising place for many visitors because it contains some counterintuitive notions. This often leads to thoughtful reconsideration. Some who have visited the site have not only modified their own thinking about their worldview, but they have made others aware of the site. Consequently, more Brights.
Brights are like seeds popping up in communities around the world. They are people who have heard about the movement, visited the website, and registered. This "Johnny Appleseed" approach is what the movement uses, and of course much depends on Brights themselves to spread news of this positive civic justice endeavor.
Here at Brights Central what we do what we can do to plant seeds of awareness. We also nurture and facilitate as best we can, with whatever resources are available to us.
The Brights' Net has done a lot in a very short time. But we could do oh so much more. It's up to Brights to support the endeavor, not only with enthusiasm and what time they may have to give, but also with the money needed to grow the movement and gain the professional human resources to support it..
