The tripartite Hellbrew

Zroxx is at least open to reason:

If Vox’s book will unveil a comprehensive, well researched and defendable case that atheism has caused and will cause an extraordinarily high percentage of atheist regime leaders to commit atrocities, couldn’t we use that same case to assert that atheism has caused or will cause an extraordinarily high percentage of our atheist neighbors to commit atrocities?

No, because as you’ll see when you read the book, there are several important distinctions between an atheist who is the leader of a national regime and the average atheist-next-door. The average atheist-next-door usually lacks two of the three necessary causal factors.

As John Locke presciently warned, the problem is in the case of the exceptional atheist who is politically ambitious. Whereas thousands of other ambitious and equally powerful men have the brake of a moral conscience, the exceptional atheist does not, and sees no reason not to break a few eggs in pursuit of his inevitably utopian ideas. Do what thou wilt with due regard for the policeman around the corner is reduced to do whatever thou wilt when the policeman works for you.

Power alone is not enough to cause mass killings. There are too many examples of those with power who haven’t committed atrocities. Utopianism alone is not enough for the same reason. Atheism alone is not enough, for the same reason. But put the three together, and you have a witches brew where slaughter is not only possible, but probable in the majority of circumstances.