An interesting discussion. The original post’s glib statements about who killed how many are a clue as to the author’s fundamental carelessness. X “only” murdered Y people, while U murdered over Z people, therefore U is nastier than X. Sigh. History is a bit messier than that.
A good reference for thinking through the experience of 20th century mass murder is:
“Twentieth Century Book of the Dead”
by Gil Elliot
http://www.amazon.com/Twentieth-century-book-dead-Elliot/dp/0684131153
I read a library copy years ago, then tracked down a used copy when I found it was out of print. I’m not sure why it hasn’t been re-published. A stunning book.
For the record, I’m an ex-atheist who used to see all of these sorts of arguments as decisive evidence for the evils of religion, until I realized how murderous both “religious” and “irreligious” humans have been over time. It forced me to reconsider what the underlying issues are, and I eventually became a “mere Christian”. Elliot’s book was one of the little nudges I received along the way.
Thanks for your insight!
Yes, and another aspect the author of the original post ignores out of convenience, is the advantage of time that the Communists and other modern mass-murderers had- technology.
Want to bet on the efficiency of the Inquisition, had the machine gun, electronic telecommunications and nuclear bombs been invented in the Middle Ages?