presentation by Simon East

Genocide & Religion

“Politics has slain its
thousands,
but religion has slain its
tens of thousands.”
– Sean O‘Casey
Disclaimer...
The history of the church and its
leaders does reveal some ugly
dealings and abuse of power.
But... Many of these ‘used’ religion to


further their own cause and don’t truly

reflect the ideas of Jesus – a man who
was the ultimate example of non-
violent resistance.
However, to provide a fair comparison this


presentation does assume ultimate

responsibility for these tragic acts.
A Comparison of Atrocity

 Catholics & Christians  Atheist Regimes

 Crusades  Chairman Mao
 Inquisitions Zedong
 Witch Hunts  Joseph Stalin
 Catholic/Protestant  Adolf Hitler
Wars
 Rwandan Genocide
(?)
 1618 – 1648
Thirty Years’ War
3 – 11.5 million
died
A destructive conflict between the
Holy Catholic Emperor and some
German Protestant states
 Spread throughout Europe as France,
Sweden, and Spain joined the
 1095 – 1291 AD
Crusades 1 – 2 million
died
 Roman-Catholic-sanctioned military
campaigns
 Predominantly a defence of Europe
from Islamic invaders, and
recapturing Jerusalem and the
seized ‘Holy Land’
 1184 – 1860
Inquisitions 5,000 died

 Religious prosecution of ‘heretics’

 The most notable, the Spanish
Inquisition, was a royal
organisation rather than church
instituted, and subsequently
became the most corrupt
 1480 – 1700
Witchcraft Trials 40-60,000 died

 Prosecution of witches or
practitioners of sorcery, sometimes
involving Christian condemnation
 Across Europe, accused witches were
captured, faced trials, and burned
if convicted
 1994
Rwandan Genocide
800,000 died

 National massacre of Tutsi’s by Hutu

clans
 Conflict was mostly racial (not
religious), but accusations have
been raised about some church
leaders participating or passively
bystanding
 1943 – 1976
Chairman Mao Zedong
40-70 million

 Chinese Marxist communist who

stole leadership of China, leading
the nation into economic disaster
and political terrorism
 Much of China collapsed into famine
resulting in 40 million deaths
 1924 – 1953
Joseph Stalin 10-20 million
died
 Dictator of the Communist Soviet
Union
 Aggressive industrialisation created
a famine that killed 5-10 millions
people
 Millions died in resistance to Stalin’s
leadership
 Millions more were placed into Gulag
forced labour camps
“A single death is a tragedy. A million
 1933 - 1945
Adolf Hitler 17 million died

 World War I veteran who became

German chancellor in 1933 and
instituted the socialist Nazi Party
 His racist views and territorial
expansion led to World War II
 His hatred of Jews led 6 million of
them to their deaths, many in gas
chambers

Final Death Toll

over 1000 years

Atheists have clearly created a more tragic loss

of human life in 50 years than Christians have
done in 1,000 years.
Christianity’s Positive
Legacy
Where would the world be without the


Christians who:
 Built the first hospitals
 Abolished slavery in Britain and
America
 Fought for basic human rights
through the UN
 Believed in “just war” principles the
seriously restrict military offensives

There is clearly a significant positive


side to religion :

 “For every one of these grand tragedies

there are ten thousand acts of personal
kindness and social good that go
unreported.... Religion, like all social
institutions of such historical depth and
cultural impact, cannot be reduced to an
unambiguous good or evil.”
 — Michael Shermer, Atheist and President of Skeptics

Society
References
D’Souza, D. (2007) What’s so great about
Christianity? Washington: Regnery
Publishing.
Dawkins, R. (2006) The God Delusion. London:

Bantam Press.
McGrath, A.E. & McGrath, J.C. (2007) The

Dawkins Delusion? Downers Grove, IL: IVP

Books.
http://www.answers.com/topic/adolf-hitler

http://www.answers.com/topic/crusades

http://www.answers.com/topic/joseph-stalin

http://www.answers.com/topic/mao-zedong

http://www.answers.com/topic/rwandan-

genocide
http://www.answers.com/topic/thirty-years-