RE: Bloody Christians - 20-30 millions killed in 14 years
October 19, 2012 at 1:32 pm
(This post was last modified: October 19, 2012 at 1:43 pm by Doubting_Thomas.)
It's a shame there's not much to say on this. It explains why Christians chose to specify "of the 20th century" when pointing out the magnitude of Stalin, Hitler and Mao's death tolls (all of which are flawed arguments against atheism anyway for obvious reasons familiar to all here).
Next time they cite Mao or Stalin just remind them of Hong and his Christian kingdom that cost 20-30 million lives.
Of course it wasn't Christianity alone that characterized Hong's rebellion, it was ethnic and economic too. But Christianity was a huge part of it and he cited Christianity as the reason and legitimacy. This guy claimed to be the brother of Jesus, mandated by god to kill the 'demons' (Qing).
Ironically the outcome was probably the worst if the three likely ones; the Qing continued to rule until 1912, and the state after that was ripe for a second peasant rebellion sonewhat modelled on Hong's, which ultimately led to communist rule. Although not a direct cause, the American (political) and British (military) intervention to save the Qing from almost certain defeat set the scene for Mao 90 years later.
Next time they cite Mao or Stalin just remind them of Hong and his Christian kingdom that cost 20-30 million lives.
Of course it wasn't Christianity alone that characterized Hong's rebellion, it was ethnic and economic too. But Christianity was a huge part of it and he cited Christianity as the reason and legitimacy. This guy claimed to be the brother of Jesus, mandated by god to kill the 'demons' (Qing).
Ironically the outcome was probably the worst if the three likely ones; the Qing continued to rule until 1912, and the state after that was ripe for a second peasant rebellion sonewhat modelled on Hong's, which ultimately led to communist rule. Although not a direct cause, the American (political) and British (military) intervention to save the Qing from almost certain defeat set the scene for Mao 90 years later.
blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” – John 20:26-29
