“Conservatism will die at the hands of Christianity”: Interview with American Atheists at CPAC

Austin Petersen and David Silverman, president of the American Atheists, sit down to discuss atheism and conservatism at CPAC 2014. Petersen and Silverman, who are both secular, discuss the very different strategies they use in interacting with theists.

The American Atheists are known for their confrontational style; Andrew Stuttaford, a writer for Secular Right, has called them “the Wahhabis of atheism.” The group was initially granted a booth at CPAC 2014.

That booth was rescinded after Silverman remarked in an interview that “The Christian right should be angry that we are going in to enlighten conservatives. The Christian right should be threatened by us.” The organizers of CPAC said that American Atheists had misrepresented their willingness to engage in a productive dialogue.

On this episode of The Freedom Report, Silverman stands by his comments, saying “We were not here to make friends. We were here to make a point.” Silverman says that, though he supports economic freedom and gun rights, he does not self-identify as a conservative because the word connotes Christian baggage.

He warns that Christianity will be a political hindrance to conservatism, and predicts that there will be an atheist president in his lifetime.

All that and more on The Freedom Report podcast!