What would it take to end Atheism?

Question

Some noob asked a similar question, but it actually made me think. My first thought was that the asker was baiting Christians to answer with something like "They should all be killed and made to face God," but then I realized that killing a bunch of atheists wouldn't actually end the existence of atheism. Atheism is an idea; it doesn't end with its believers as long as there is still the potential for someone else to learn about it and start believing in it.

So, how could you *peacefully* prevent anyone from having a certain belief? My thought is that ending a religion would be far easier than preventing anyone from disbelieving one. The first step in either direction would be to saturate the school system-- that is, teach everyone about how evil religion x is, or teach them to be evangelical Christians from day one.

I'm still not sure, though. Please reply with your thoughts.

I'm not advocating hatred towards anyone, nor do I think that any beliefs should be purged from society. My point is that the noob's question actually made me think about the question. Would slaughtering atheists end atheism? No way. But is there a peaceful way? There probably isn't; even before civil rights and all that jazz made freethinking and agnosticism so common, there were already skeptics.

Answer 1

Well if you were to destroy all intelligent life then you'd probably destroy atheism.

Short of that I don't think it'd be possible to destroy atheism.

Even merely stopping scientific advance and regressing the population back to the dark ages won't work (and if you don't increase the freedom enough of atheists to start saying what they truly think then nothing will ever be done about an asteroid heading for Earth).

Answer 2

Is there such a thing as 'peacefully preventing' anyone from doing something? To prevent someone means someone is getting upset, however mildly or not the other person understands that.

My question is why would someone want atheism or christianity to end? There is an up and down in this existence for a reason, one that christians and atheists have never truly understood or accepted.

There is a saying that "the world would be a very lonely place if the only flowers available were roses." Neither Christians nor atheists would long enjoy a world that was absent of either belief system; and neither would they enjoy a world that catered entirely to their own thinking, however much they might think otherwise. Whenever one of anything dominates, the whole suffers, even if it is unaware of it.

Just because people grow up, and no longer need diapers, doesn't mean that diapers are no longer necessary at all. Beliefs change, but because they change doesn't mean they aren't useful and necessary to the person at the time they are experiencing it. Do you chop down an apple tree after you are done eating from it, or do you leave it be for the next person who will feed from it?

Answer 3

Interesting question!

I'm not really sure you can peacefully prevent somebody from holding a particular belief - aside from education. However, once a person has been educated in logic, it's rather hard to convince them that religion makes any sense. So I'm not sure you can peacefully end atheism.

Frankly, I don't think that indoctrinating children into ANY belief system is "peaceful." I think it's nothing short of the rape of the mind, and it's about the most disgusting thing I can think of a parent doing to a child, outside of mutilating their bodies (circumcision, anybody?).

"I agree with Gary R - atheism is a temporary condition at best - they say you don't find any atheists in foxholes; I submit you do not find too many in nursing homes either. Atheism is for the young and the arrogant. Funny, the older you get - the more sensible God seems to be!"

LOL - so wrong and so, so ignorant. Clearly you have not met many people who don't think the same way you do. What a pity for you - it must be so limiting to think that everybody thinks the same way you do.

Answer 4

Atheism cannot be ended as it is an position of perception and thought. A person is an atheist due to the fact that he/she has never beheld any event, experience, phenomenon or data that he/she feels could ONLY exist because of the existence of some deity. A theist is simply the reverse; namely, a theist has experienced something or accrued some data that he/she perceives as only being possible because of the existence of some god or deity.

You cannot end a perception...you cannot tell someone their perception on something like the idea of a god or deity existing is right or wrong. Individual perceptions cannot be mandated or enforced; however, they can be influenced. Of course, intentionally influencing someone to perceive a certain agenda is unethical in my book.

Remember, also, that atheism isn't something you just read about one day and decide to adopt. Just as a person does not suddenly wake up one day and decide to be a theist, one does not suddenly decide to be an atheist...at least if one intends to be intellectually honest. Atheism is the culmination of one's perceptions, interpretations and ideas.

As long as the position of theism exists, so will the position of atheism

Answer 5

I'm not an atheist or a die hard Christian but the only think it would take to end it would be what some Christians helped to do here the first few centuries in America to the Native Americans.
Slavery and near annihilation.
If you don't believe their way, some will force it upon you with any means necessary.

Answer 6

The real question is why would we WANT to end religions or athiesm? The strength of humanity is the variety of opinions and beliefs. People who want to end one or the other must obviously have some unfounded fear that another opinion somehow takes away from their own. In reality, all of our beliefs are made up of elements borrowed from others. We need to learn to focus on the good in an idea, rather than constantly try to point out what's wrong with it.

Answer 7

end it continuously? that isn't ensue. even if in case you go by the 2008 Pew learn of adults it type of feels to point that you want purely wait many years earlier an outstanding type of them opposite their beliefs. The learn got here across that 3% of those 18-29 stated they did not trust in God, yet purely 2% of those 30-39 and purely a million% of those over 40 stated an similar element. It exhibits that it takes purely time for individuals to have the adventure which brings them to God, and purely few ignore it.

Answer 8

Why concern yourself with it.
For me, if you dwell in the heart of God and are continually having to "end atheism", are you not having to give up your own connection to God to do this.

Jesus taught in stories, stories of heart transformation, stories told from the heart, stories of his truth.

If you have similar parables, share them, but know that to try to end something is only going to make it stronger. What you put so much energy into, grows because of the attention.

The more you "aggravate" people the stronger they get, that is the way of the ego. Can you not see this happening here.

The way of the heart is not this way, live your truth, and in living your truth others will glean the understanding, see the effect, want to know the cause, and will ask.
Only in asking is the mind open to the answer.
There is no good or evil.
There is love/God and fear of that.

Many people fear God, as they feel they are not "good" enough to "throw themselves at the feet" of righteous, which is incorrect, as all beings live in God, some just do not know this.

Be kind to all people.
People who say they "believe"in God, do not always live this, so to just say "atheists", that is an error in itself.

A great man I know once said, "If there is only one person"
moved, that is enough. To be moved truly, fully, totally, one person, the energetic of that is so profound, you can not realise.
Each person in true truth, who touches someone, who touches someone, and it will move out sideways, behind you, in front of you, it changes generations, history.
There is only this moment, understand this, live your truth in this moment, and others will be moved, changed.

Seeds sown, are not always seen by the sower.

Peace in the heart
God Is Gracious

Answer 9

You're right. An idea can't be killed or thrown in the garbage. Furthermore, even if EVERY person who held this belief was silenced, the idea doesn't have to be "learned about." Atheism begins as an interior conviction (correct me if i'm wrong?) and persecution only feeds it.

Just like Christianity!

Answer 10

The problem with this is even if you indoctrinate the entire population of the world with a single idea, you'll still have a percentage of them that will question it. Even if they do it in private and while in public go through the motions as if they believe in whatever you can never truly eliminate skepticism.