Is an actual conflict looming between Atheists and Creationists?

The more I read, the more I see Atheists acting more provocatively just like creationists. In my opinion this could be the next big conflict in US.

For example we have cases where the word "God Bless" was proposed to be banned in schools, or other cases where attempts to ban the use of terms such as 'God' or 'Jesus in funerals (--source--).

Another interesting case is a Pilot's refusal to fly an Atheist banner, the message was "... 'an America without' God. The atheists had contracted to fly banners over ballparks and large Fourth of July gatherings but they had one big problem – 80% of the pilots hired refused to fly their “God-LESS” message". (--source--)

A possible conflict between Atheists and Creationists might be waiting in the corner, this could be a very violent and deadly conflict as it is obvious that neither side is willing to budge, and both sides are continually pushing boundaries.

If one day attacks against creationists, or against Atheists are orchestrated, the situation could spiral out of control quick. This is something which foreign powers could use to turn Americans against each other, such divide and conquer policies are very widely used in wars, and eventually such black ops could start in US.

The interesting times are ahead of us, good luck to both sides, and stay safe.

why the hell cant we all have our own beliefs without offending another faith??

why isit that whenever i meet somone with religeous view they try and convert me?

do i smell of sin?

reply to post by gremlin2011


Actually anyone who you talk to, they will try to convert you. This is a simple fact, if you talk to Atheists and unluckily end up talking to them about the Universe they will most likely start trying to convert you with their "Spaghetti Monster" and "Creationism Equal Delusional".

So it is the same on both sides, both sides irritate each other, and this could in my opinion lead to a conflict bigger than words.

reply to post by confreak


I don't see a coming conflict.....there are plenty of more important polarizing issues that people fight about. Democrat VS Republican (not to mention Independents), Pro Choice VS Pro Life, Imperialists VS Globalists VS
Isolationists VS Idealists, Death Penalty VS no Death Penalty, Conservative VS Liberal, True Believers VS Skeptics, Rich VS Poor, Man VS Woman, Dog VS Cat .........Etc, Etc, Etc.

The world seems to be getting more, and more polarized in so many ways...I don't see Creationists, VS Atheists as being that big of a deal, compared to many of these others....just one minor blip on the radar, to be honest. Probably a few court cases, about 'In God We Trust' on money, or something similar...but It's not as if people are going to be up in arms over any of this. Only the stupidest people of each camp would be willing to literally fight over something as silly as someones personal beliefs (at least in most of the Western World anyway...where one's personal beliefs, are generally thought of as a Right, rather than a Privilege.)

Kinda hard for creationists to wage a war against an Atheist and vice verse. How can you tell who the enemy is, false believers would be everywhere, false atheists. There would be no battlegrounds, there would be no way to tell who was what. Besides why would Atheists want to wage war against religious people, they are a major source of comic relief. Adults believing in fairy tales! Come on, that's just too funny to destroy.

I think because niether is religious, they do not need to be in conflict, they can agree to differ as it were. They will not need to have a war or kill each other to make whichever point of view valid, there are far more important issues to be resolved.

Well that may be true in America. Over here, I doubt it

I'm more of a "believe what you want to believe" kind of person. I do not personally believe in a higher power, god, creator, spaghetti monster, or whatever someone else wants to call it, and I have no problem with people who are believers in their form of deity.

I do, however, have a huge issue with all forms of organized religion→ Organized religion, in all it's forms (catholic, protestant, baptist, judaism, muslim, buddhist, scientology, satanism, etc.), all have one thing in common that I have a very large problem accepting:

You are not allowed to "believe what you want to believe". You are given specific rituals to perform, you are told stories of how the world was created and expected to accept them as fact, you are told how to act toward friends and foes... you are basically told how you should live your life, and who tells you this? The leader of the religion (priest, pastor, rabbi, monk, L. Ron Hubbard, etc.)

Because of this inherent flaw in the basic building blocks of any organized religion, it is impossible to have freedom in religion. If I can't keep my freedom, then there is no reason I would ever subscribe to any form of organized religion.

That being said, I see nothing wrong with anyone else choosing to join whatever organized religion they want to, because they are choosing that for themselves. It doesn't directly involve me, so who am I to disagree with their lifestyle choices?

The problem occurs when the leader of their religion makes them believe in the old saying "If you're not with us, you're against us". Instead, I believe that "If you're not with me, then you're somewhere else".

Notice I said me instead of us - I believe what I want to believe, so there is no "us" in religion: there's just me, you, my wife, my children, your wife/husband, your children, the priest at your church, the guy sitting across from you on the bus, the homeless guy with the sign at the traffic lights, the President of the United States, Anderson Cooper from CNN, etc., etc., etc.

We don't have to believe in the same things to have a healthy, cooperative, friendly relationship. We just have to learn to live with each other, and realize that everyone in the world (all 7 or so billion of us) are different and unique. Nobody has the right answer, because the answer doesn't matter. What matters is where are we going to have lunch?

reply to post by confreak

Yes. I’m sure it is.

Since creationists greatly outnumber atheists in America, it will not be long before their superior arms and numbers overcome the pitiful, foredoomed resistance of the Godless. Blasphemers who survive the final onslaught will be disarmed and herded into concentration camps where they will be intensively re-educated until they acknowledge the truths of creationism.

There may be some difficulty in deciding exactly which form of creationism they are re-educated in (Hebraic, Christian, Moslem, Upanishadic, Shaivaite, Navajo, Betelgeusian?), but I guess it can be settled by popular vote, America being a democracy an’ all. No doubt whichever version the Protestants agree on will win. Going by history, of course, it will take a couple of hundred years and many fraught synods before a bunch of Protestants can achieve agreement about anything, but what the heck. You can keep the atheists locked up in ghettos till you’ve decided. Sexual segregation and tight rations will ensure that their numbers do not grow unmanageable.

As a bonus, you could put them to work for society in useful ways, building churches and moulding colossal fibreglass dinosaurs for creation museums. What better way to pay their debt to society than by being obliged to do God’s work under the whips of genial, affectionate, Scripture-quoting overseers!

In a generation or two, with any luck, there will be no more of us atheist scum left on Earth. Everybody will be a creationist.

And evolution will still be true.

reply to post by confreak


I doubt if those acting that way are atheists. Just people with an agenda hiding under an atheist banner. Much more likely PTB trying to drive wedges.

Most atheists I know would not be bothered to get stirred up about not believing anything, or is that believing in nothing? For most of them it is water off a ducks back. You are a Christian? OK what ever. You are a Muslim? OK what ever. etc etc etc.

No that is not atheists I assure you.

Do you think atheists would be happier knowing theres a magical genie that grants wishes and help people?

Do you think the religious would want to live in a world without god?

Everyday you see the religious state theres nothing wrong with murdering and raping people without god to tell them not to. Id characterize it more as an army of lemmings with guns running full speed towards a cliff threatening to shoot anyone that tries to stop them.

Are you proposing to rid the world of Athiests?
Cause I will pull some bible verse out of my ass should you come knocking on my door with pitchforks in hand.
"let he who hath the last word, hath the last laugh" leviticus 3:30

My grandma is a devout Christian, i've never had any feelings other then LOVE for her.
She can pray all she likes, but i'll refuse, won't even say Amen. I used to but it got silly as I aged.

Athiests aren't organized. But I would begin to if a witchhunt took place (again)

if you're asking if Athiests want to rid the world of Christianity, perhaps, I do know this Athiest does.
Of course not violently, if you were educated and given life experience then there would be no need.

Originally posted by PuterMan
reply to post by confreak

 

I doubt if those acting that way are atheists. Just people with an agenda hiding under an atheist banner. Much more likely PTB trying to drive wedges.

Most atheists I know would not be bothered to get stirred up about not believing anything, or is that believing in nothing? For most of them it is water off a ducks back. You are a Christian? OK what ever. You are a Muslim? OK what ever. etc etc etc.

No that is not atheists I assure you.

Ohhh so now i'm working for the PTB, alright CHEQUE PLEASE!
You can't handle the fact that there are free thinking people out there eh? it's got to be part of some conspiracy no?
My agenda is that we realize we're all HUMAN BEINGS. on one planet, and that we're screwing it senseless without remorse because our "God" has given us the right to do so.

reply to post by confreak


You mean something like this right ?



What do you think we are a bunch a gangstas ?

reply to post by confreak


You're predicting an actual physical conflict? This is a battle of ideology to be fought in debate and discussion and I know most of my fellow atheists that I talk to would never want to fight believers with violence. I imagine that the overwhelming majority of Creationists and theists are the same way. Neither side, from what I can tell, is close to violence against the other although obviously there will always been some zealots in each group.

As for the news story it doesn't surprise me, atheists, even if we lump agnostics into that category, still make up only a small part of the population. So flying a banner or putting up a billboard attacking the popular superstitions of our times might not be a smart business strategy and tends to stir up controversy. It's a sad but true reality.

I do have to make one minor correction, the opposite of atheism is not creationism, it's theism. Creationism and Atheism are not directly opposed, there are a handful of atheists who reject evolution and a sizable number of believers who accept evolution and reject creationism.

I don't see any physical war coming, just a continuation of the discussion which, though it can get heated, is an important one.

There aren't enough Creationists in the world. They are a fringe minority, but a very vocal one.

Originally posted by PuterMan
reply to post by confreak

 

I doubt if those acting that way are atheists. Just people with an agenda hiding under an atheist banner. Much more likely PTB trying to drive wedges.

Most atheists I know would not be bothered to get stirred up about not believing anything, or is that believing in nothing? For most of them it is water off a ducks back. You are a Christian? OK what ever. You are a Muslim? OK what ever. etc etc etc.

No that is not atheists I assure you.

Just read Astyanax's post, that should give you an idea of what I'm talking about.

I'm not at all saying they are the majority, but the minority is almost always used to stir the majority, that is where the conflict could bloom. Creationists have their own disrespectful bunch of animals, they go way beyond disrespect, but once again, they are the minority. The possibility still lies, specially when US is becoming the most hated nation on this planet, that hate will not stop its enemies from using one of the most dirtiest war tactics of all time, and that is "divide and conquer".

I used to like athiests more when they didn't pretend to be a "movement" or another aggrevated group that had been somehow "victimzed."

Of course, most Athiests don't by into this. But there is a growing and vocal minority that is simply a mirror image of what they claim to be aginst -- lobbying for rights, trying to effect social change, etc. To my mind that puts people in the same camp with the most politicized fundamentalists. They become the same thing because they are both leaning on their "identity" as a crutch and demanding some sort of special treatment.

I can't think of a single way to make any money off such a war. Besides, most people honestly don't give a damn when push comes to shove. Very few people actually care enough about God to bother emptying their bladders on Him if He were on fire. They might say they care, but in most cases, they're lying.

reply to post by confreak


The religious have been killing non believers and most other people that practiced a different religion/culture for a long long time. They did it in Europe, and the Americas, the Middle East and most likely every continent other than Antarctica.

Could it happen again? How about this for a question.... Do you see religious violence against those who don't believe in the future?