# How bright is it for the godless to call themselves "Brights"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 12, 2003, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bright-is-it-for-the-godless-to-call-themselves-brights/207024 "2003-10-12T18:51:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bright-is-it-for-the-godless-to-call-themselves-brights/207024/81 "2003-10-15T02:19:56Z")
Hmm, I thoiught it was in one of the Foundation trilogy books. Them guys swapped some concepts though didn’t they? Second point: Exactly. How can you insult someone who already calls himself a groundhog? ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bright-is-it-for-the-godless-to-call-themselves-brights/207024/82 "2003-10-15T02:40:41Z")
I like the name the Springfield chapter of Mensa bestowed on themselves: the Council of Alphas. (hee, hee) Can we call fundies sub-Omegaloids? ---
**Author:** ![pervert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbe5ce/32.png) [@pervert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pervert)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bright-is-it-for-the-godless-to-call-themselves-brights/207024/83 "2003-10-15T02:53:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mangetout \* > \*\*If the ‘bright’ distinction was all about hydroponics, then yes, it wouldn’t be such a hot-button issue, but there are a, I believe, number of reasons for that; certainly (as you seem to imply) the emotional commitment to matters of religion is one, but also very important (as I said before) is the fact that _the distinction between atheists and believers is already an intellectual one_ - using a term that has connotations of intellectual capability makes it all the more easy to take the wrong way. \*\* I agree with you on the first part. But I maintain that any word would have this baggage. I wasn’t really trying to draw attention to the emotional attachment we have to our beliefs or disbeliefs of supreme beings. I was trying to draw attention to the way the condecending tone is so common in this debate (on both sides). It is common for language to be used to accuse the other side of ammorality or irrationality (or both). Also, I think that any small amount of misunderstanding on the part of “believers” will be drowned out in the rest of the debate. Consider the people who camped out in from the that court building to “protect their ten commandments monument”. Would they really have been significantly more upset because they thought that non believers were calling them stupid? Would it have altered the debate in any real way? And consider the people on the fence. If a believer loosing his faith thinks that athiests think they are in some small way smarter than believers is he likely to hold his faith longer? I guess what I am saying, is that I understand the objections to “Bright”. I had a similar reaction when I first heard about it. I simply think that the benifits of having a new word to cover this concept outway these problems. ---
**Author:** ![gum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bbe5ce/32.png) [@gum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gum)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bright-is-it-for-the-godless-to-call-themselves-brights/207024/84 "2003-10-15T05:23:00Z")
**Siege** > [@](#): > > I’d like to ask the Atheists on this board a question: How many of you personally have heard or read the term “Atheist” used as a perjorative? That’s just it. I’ve never heard anyone speaking of an atheïst as someone bad. Maybe it’s because in the Netherlands, almost 40% of the adult population is without religion. ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bright-is-it-for-the-godless-to-call-themselves-brights/207024/85 "2003-10-15T12:46:04Z")
Here in Indiana, I have never heard “atheist” used as a pejorative, not in more than 30 years. It seems to me that there is this small group of paranoid (and asshat) atheists who have masturbatory fantasies about single-handedly shouting down the 15th-century Inquisitions. These people come up with terms like “Bright”. In general, when I have seen negative reaction to an atheist, it’s not been because he was an atheist but because he was such a complete asshole about being an atheist. ---
**Author:** ![Gaudere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e495f1/32.png) [@Gaudere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gaudere)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bright-is-it-for-the-godless-to-call-themselves-brights/207024/86 "2003-10-15T13:00:33Z")
\*\*jjimm \*\* > [@](#): > > Fuck off very much for explaining that. [Moderator Hat ON] This is inappropriate for Great Debates. Quit it or Pit it. [Moderator Hat OFF] ---
**Author:** ![SentientMeat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SentientMeat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SentientMeat)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bright-is-it-for-the-godless-to-call-themselves-brights/207024/87 "2003-10-15T13:06:21Z")
I suspect **jjimm** would like to send **Gaudere** a big “Thank you!” for that. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bright-is-it-for-the-godless-to-call-themselves-brights/207024/88 "2003-10-15T13:18:17Z")
**Gaudere** , please check your email. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Gaudere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e495f1/32.png) [@Gaudere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gaudere)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bright-is-it-for-the-godless-to-call-themselves-brights/207024/89 "2003-10-15T15:42:46Z")
Moderator Hat ON] Ok, I missed the previous explanation regarding “fuck off” and jjim’s warning is removed. But _please_ don’t start using “fuck off” to mean “thanks” in other threads. 🙂 [Moderator Hat OFF] ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bright-is-it-for-the-godless-to-call-themselves-brights/207024/90 "2003-10-15T16:14:27Z")
The mention of “godless” got me thinking. Why not take a page from food retailers? " Don’t call us godless. Call us god-free! " (not Godfrey) ---
**Author:** ![pervert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbe5ce/32.png) [@pervert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pervert)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bright-is-it-for-the-godless-to-call-themselves-brights/207024/91 "2003-10-15T19:23:48Z")
OK, I like god-free. It still relies on the idea of god or not god which I think is misrepresenting the debate, but I like the sound of god-free. \ Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie did a comedy skit about various groups “closeness to god” index. It was a weather report parody. Perhaps we could establish a percentage of god-free. Like “I am now 10% god-free. I still have my rabbits foot and don’t walk under ladders, but I stopped going to church.” 😃 \ ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2003, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bright-is-it-for-the-godless-to-call-themselves-brights/207024/92 "2003-10-17T00:22:11Z")
> [@](#): > > _pervert said:_ > OK, I like god-free. It still relies on the idea of god or not god which I think is misrepresenting the debate, but I like the sound of god-free. And I suppose agnostics would be “god-lite”. :rimshot: earlier: > [@](#): > > I agree with you on the first part. But I maintain that any word would have this baggage. (not addressing me but…) Why do we have to use a word that’s so obvious though. I mean let’s crack out the thesaurus, how about “Lambent(s)” if he’s going for a “shedding light” type feel. ---
**Author:** ![pervert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbe5ce/32.png) [@pervert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pervert)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2003, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bright-is-it-for-the-godless-to-call-themselves-brights/207024/93 "2003-10-17T02:06:51Z")
Well, putting asside the possible conotation of naughty things done to immature sheep…:eek: I think they were looking for a shorter word. Something simpler. Lambent could have worked, though. As mentioned earlier, anything could have worked. They could have simply used a random collection of letters. And possibly it would merely have made this “their calling themselves more intelligent” debate into a more sinister “their calling themselves more intelligent in a tricky way”. I hope I don’t need to say that I do not speak for The Brights movement. I’m not even signed up yet. ---
**Author:** ![electric\_sheep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/90db22/32.png) [@electric\_sheep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/electric_sheep)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2003, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bright-is-it-for-the-godless-to-call-themselves-brights/207024/94 "2003-10-17T03:07:04Z")
I consider my self a non-theist, in the sense that “god” is a dead hypothesis, an empty word, a meaningless sequence of characters. It’s not so much that I don’t believe in the hypothetical entity, but merely that there is no intellectual space within which I could entertain the idea of such an entity. “God” is right up there with square circles in my worldview, though not necessarily for the same particular reasons. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bright-is-it-for-the-godless-to-call-themselves-brights/207024.md?page=4)