Mynga Futrell and Paul Geisert gave a presentation on the subject of “Is Faith Language Unraveling America’s Civic Fabric?” The presentation consisted of a powerpoint and lecture in a small auditorium in the Performing Arts Center of Chico, CA. There were around 25 people in attendance with an even mix of students and faculty members. In fact, two of my old professors were in attendance. Mynga gave the whole presentation while both were available for questions after the fact. It was a very interesting presentation and gets one to think more about life in general. The two co founded “The Brights’ Net” in the mid 1990s and now have over 40,000 members in 148 countries. As a collection of people, they are called Brights. Brights are people who have a naturalistic worldview and a worldview that is free of supernatural and mystical elements.
The main ideas expressed in the presentation are that religion is a very touchy subject due to the amount of diversity of religions. Religion expresses truth and tells people how to live their lives. Faith shapes our world and can have a huge impact on everyday matters. For example, religion can have a huge impact on the presidential campaign as “nonbelievers” have no chance of being elected to any Congressional office. Mynga went on to say that they want to promote fairness in teaching religion in public schools. On their website they have help for the teachers so they can teach and talk about religion in a neutral way.
The presentation moved forward to describe that there are many ways people are described who don’t have a religion. However, all of these have a negative connotation to them. Terms such as atheist, agnostic, nonbelievers, and unbelievers all shed a negative light on those people who associate with these terms. This is why Mr. Geisert came up with the name of “Bright” for their association. It is short, to the point, and has a positive sound to it.
The presentation wrapped up by saying all citizens have in common the right of conscience. All people have a worldview of things and everyone seeks answers to their questions whether it is through science or religion. The constitution provides all citizens with the right to freedom of religion and without persecution or involvement from the government in any way concerning religion. Mynga left us with the question of whether or not nonbelievers will ever be accepted as equals in society or politics.
The Brights presentation was very informative and very controversial indeed. However, good information was presented to back up their statements by use of the constitution which governs everything in the U.S. Even if one does believe everything they had to say that evening, it still gets one to think about all of their perspectives and beliefs in life.
3 comments on A Bright Idea?
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Yes, controversial indeed. Interesting report. Thanks.
nice report. i think it's really important for every one to have a religion. bsically religions can teach us a lot of good things. when beleive in something, i think you will be always going back to the thing you beleive in when you are in need or hopeless. however, if a person was nonbeliever, he or she might get depressed when they feel hopeless. so i think having a religion is really important. anyways, my opnion does not apply to some cases because i've a friend that does not beleive in any religon and he is well taught how to live his life. in other words, i think a person that experianced being a nonbeliever would really have a nice opnion on this controversial topic ... very good report
I knew I saw you there! I have some different things to say about the presentation. I will post mine in a couple of days. I would love for you to take a look at it and comment. I'll email you when I have it up :)