Best approaches to deal w/ fundamentalism

Shalamabobbi: Thanks for the link to this thread.It is not possible to "convince" a Creationist. It is a basic philosophical difference whose gap is so deep it cannot be bridged. Simply put, a Creationist's view of life in this universe is firmly planted on the simple "I believe" (in this case the inerrant word of God as written in Genesis). The only way to shake that is to destroy that belief. I don't know if that destruction is either wise or in most cases, doable.A scientist (atheist or a theist who accepts science, and yes, this does imply that Creationists are not only anti-Evolution, but anti-science, in general) accepts only the statement, "show me and prove it through the scientific method". These worlds cannot be reconciled.The solution is to take, say Mississippi and Louisiana (so a lot won't have to move), toss all the Creationists in there. Call it Creoland. But, make sure they get none of the benefits from science, i.e. let them wallow in what the say they want. And let them take the consequences of their belief. The USA can be the rest of the country. Borders will remain open for immigration both ways, but no Creationist evangelism will be allowed in the USA and no teaching or bringing the benefits of science will be allowed in Creoland.It's vicious. It's impractical. Humans seem bent on saving others from their errors. But it's the only way I can see to deal with Creationists that will work, at least theoretically.(as an aside, this could also apply to other deep philosophical divides, like Marxism and Capitalism - i.e. let them live with what they espouse and get benefits from nowhere else. Lincoln (IIRC) said something like "you've made your bed, now lie in it".

You must know a different cut of Creationists than I do. I've lived in Florida, Mississippi, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas and the only Creationists you might sway there are the ones who don't really believe and are about to leave their religion anyway. I had to work with one out of ORNL and spent a lot of time biting my tongue (the things one will do for money).BTW, most of them that I have met professionally are engineers, something that makes little sense to me. Every pastor of the fundamentalist variety will say "If you [scientist] are right then we are wrong - it is one or the other". And they say that regularly on Sunday mornings.We might see it as "lying for the Lord". They see it a witnessing and one of the best things they can do. How can you sue them for fraud (since fraud involves doing something, knowingly) when to do that you have to disprove their faith, something that is as impossible to disprove as it is to prove the existence of God.This is not going away except with the passage of a long period of time. Some will defect, yes, but there will also be defections in the other direction (some will be reborn).It doesn't even make a difference that they look silly etc., their faith covers all that up.The killer is not the Internet, since a Creationist doesn't care what the facts are. The killer will be modern science and medicine which will do so much that eventually almost all will ask why there is a need for them to believe in God. While we are making great progress, it's still a long way off.

Edited by AdminModulous, : off topic post hidden