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The Brights logo is interesting...

Hi All,

Am I the only person who recognises the logo for this group as being very similar to the Egyptian Amarna period artistic representations of the sun god, the aten, around 1350BC.

The Brights

It's amusing that an atheist group has accidentally chosen a symbol which, during pharoah Akhenaten's reign, was used to represent the one true God...which was a massive break with traditional egyptian spiritualism which had masses of gods. Pharoah Akhenaten threw out all the other gods and replaced them with this one sun/sun god and had this symbol carved everywhere he could. After he died it didn't take long for the old gods to be brought back and carvings like this were systematically virtually vandalised out of the historical record.

So..this is the symbol of the one true god, and/or the symbol for the atheistic Brights. :-)

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Kevin Edward Dolan on February 28, 2010 at 5:52am

I say, steady on, madam! There are gentlemen present!
Hahaha!
For some reason, this animated form of the logo reminds me of a huge anus farting! But then I am a Monty Python fan. Hahaha!

Permalink Reply by Limber Lightfoot on February 28, 2010 at 6:10am

Steady on sir, there are ladies present!

:-)

Permalink Reply by Kevin Edward Dolan on February 28, 2010 at 6:38am

Hahaha! :)

Permalink Reply by Lorien on February 28, 2010 at 9:41am

That is not what I was reminded

of....

Permalink Reply by Limber Lightfoot on February 28, 2010 at 2:32pm

Eeek!

Permalink Reply by Davis Jacobson on August 1, 2010 at 8:23am

An interesting comparison, Limber Lightfoot!

But I'm with those who think it's probably just a coincidence. Remember the symbolism! I've always thought it looked like a sunrise as seen from orbit.

In Chaucer’s day, the term was bryght (shining, clear, vivid). The imagery on this website evokes light—radiant light—something more intense than Carl Sagan’s candle in the dark.

...

Enbrightenment! This rhetorical expression hearkens to a once promising time on earth when it looked as if science and reason would offer a key to the future. During the period many call the Age of Enlightenment, it was possible to envision a world wherein humankind itself might acquire understanding of nature, gain insight into humanity, make meaning of life, and work for a better and brighter future for all.

To enlighten is to free from ignorance, prejudice and superstition.

Brights today promote social acknowledgement and full civic acceptance for those who would wish to express and live out their naturalistic worldview, to inform, to give clarification–to brighten!

http://www.the-brights.net/vision/symbolism.html

Permalink Reply by Michael Marler on August 27, 2011 at 1:48pm

I saw an opening eye that radiated the light of self awareness. And puppies.

Permalink Reply by House on October 27, 2011 at 11:12pm

Interesting thread; I just found the nexus this evening.

Ancient religious traditions have no ownership over any image. Is Egyptology interesting? Hell yeah! You could follow up this logic by pointing out that paleolithic cave paintings also used similar images such as the 'sun cross.' Observation of the bright object in the sky probably does not endow a culture with a logo trademark.

It is, in fact, more fitting to use this image to belabor the obvious point that ideas are recycled generation after generation. 'The Brights' image belongs to Egyptian mythology as much as a tattoo belongs to a corpse. A candle in the dark could illustrate the same meaning just as well, perhaps better.