Always look on The Bright side of life
• Skeptics & Atheists
The Brights meme seems to be propagating slowly if at all. Cullen Murphy suggests a Brights Movement theme song.
The brights have a point on the vocabulary issue. With the exception of freethinker and secular humanist, most of the words that connote the bright lifestyle have a reactive or pejorative cast to them. Think of skeptic, infidel, dissenter, pagan, doubter, heathen. ...
As noted, it is only a matter of time before brightness takes on some of the trappings of a religion. Already there is an element of evangelical witness: "By their visible example," the brights' Web site (www.the-brights.net) explains, adherents "can help other brights to step forward and take on the challenge of more firmly expressing their world view." There is also an apparent desire for a cadre of prominent apostles—"persons of acknowledged eminence and ethical standing," as the Web site describes them—to lend their names to the movement. ...
In time a bright liturgy will surely develop, perhaps starting with the adoption of an official hymn. Far be it from me to meddle in sectarian affairs, but thoughts turn naturally to one of the great spiritual epics of our time. Yes, I'm thinking of Monty Python's Life of Brian, about a man who is not the Messiah but gets put to death anyway. In the final scene, as Brian and his many followers hang on crosses, the crucified men start to whistle and then break into robustly good-natured song. It begins, "Always look on the bright side of life."
Cullen Murphy, The Atlantic: The Path of Brighteousness
Earlier: Politics and the Brights Movement, Blogging for The Brights, Bright = gay = humanist = fag?
Comments
Posted by: Danny | October 21, 2003 6:57 AM
Posted by: Richard Evans Lee | October 21, 2003 9:36 AM