"when there is not a shred of evidence that something popped into existence when there was [supposedly] absolutely nothing before."

I'm guessing this is a reference to the appearance of life on earth. As it happens there 'was plenty there before'. Complex organic molecules such as amino acids existed in some abundance prior to the appearance of life, and there are plenty of reason to believe that organic self-replicating molecules could develop. I'm not a biochemist though so I don't know the ins and outs. We will find out one day.

In terms of creationism though, it's that the extremists want to teach that theirs is the only correct faith, and that EVERYONE who either doesn't believe their violent, nasty viewpoint is wrong. That's all the followers of other faiths (however many that there are) and everyone who doesn't believe who is alive and who has ever lived in human history. End of.

This astounding arrogance makes the actions of these people, whether it's a right-wing literalist Christian in America or the UK trying to deny climate change whilst forcing others to learn their lowest-common-denominator Abrahamic dogma, shorn of any nuance and subtly it might possess or inspire amongst more considered people, or whether it's some adherent of jihad flying a plane into an office block because he can't think beyond the literal, violent verses of an ancient book written in less enlightened times by people form another culture in another part of the world. They can't see beyond the lies and ludicrous interpretations of some internet pedlar of ignorance, and they don't question anything unless they're pointed to it by some anonymous writer of hate.

Creationism is a part of this sorry little clade of extremist stupidity, a dogma that abandons reason for the sort of blind, unquestioning faith that eschews the more refined tenets of it's religion (the teachings of Jesus had moved on considerably from the old testament gorefest) and rather appeals to a certain type of disaffected person.

As I've said before, religion does play a role in society and in some cases there is plenty secular society can learn from religions, but that's mostly to do with how we treat and interact with our fellow human beings, and concentrates on tolerance, community and compassion for others; all concepts that the literalists and extremists have abandoned and seem to actively despise.