[ExI] Tolerance

[moulton at moulton.com]

In the interest of brevity I will combine a couple of my responses.

On the topic of "Brights" my memory and the information I have found online indicate that the term was not coined by Dawkins; rather it was coined by Paul Geisert and that Mynga Futrell worked on the definition.  Daniel Dennett, Steven Pinker and Richard Dawkins all seem to be part of the group of people who have either written about "Brights" or have publicly assumed that label but these activities are not the same as coining the term.  Therefore I suggest that anyone who has claimed that Dawkins coined the term "Brights" either provide the evidence or retract the statement.

On the topic of Dawkins allegedly being emotionally charged and saying ("Hur hur hur if you believe in God you're stupid, so we're going to call atheists 'Brights'!  Get it? Huh? Hur hur hur.") I have much a different experience.  I have read several books and essays by Dawkins and heard him speak in person three times as well as several times on video and never have I read or seen Dawkins as alleged.  So anyone making those allegations needs to provide a very specific citation in a form that can be easily checked or retract the allegation.

Fred