Myself.
I'm an atheist and I don't like anyone more than me, so I win!
@John:
You might want to recheck your numbers there, buddy. Have some atheists done horrible things? Sure, but VERY RARELY in the NAME of their atheism. They did them in the name of political and financial power. Many theists have done the same. However, many theists DO kill others, directly and indirectly, IN THE NAME of their supposed gods.
Even today it is estimated that the Catholic church has passively allowed MILLIONS of Africans to catch AIDS by promoting no condom, abstinence only programs in HIV-ridden areas. The Catholic church has withheld aid form organizations promoting condom use and the result in those areas where the church has bullied out condom-education has directly resulted in severe rises in the rate of AIDS transmission.
You have Muslim bombers flying planes into buildings, blowing up nightclubs in Bali, trains in Spain, and just about everything in Israel. And still trying to take out jets flying to America. The whole of Bosnia was religious genocide. And do we remember the Taliban letting men throw acid in the faces of women for the mere crime of walking down the street unescorted or, *gasp*, trying to go to school and get an education?
Sure, there have been some prominent people who have happened to be atheist who ran up some impressive death tolls. But they didn't do it in the name of their atheism. And, if you totaled up all the deaths by all the people who DID kill in the name of their gods, you'd have a tally far, far higher than that committed by the atheists for any reason.
"...with maybe Bernie Madoff, the capitalist materialist, as a close second."
Sorry, but Madoff was Jewish, and active at that. Do you just make up facts at will to suit your stance?
He was even on the Board of Trustees of Yeshiva University, a Jewish university, and on their business school's board of directors. He moved among the upper echelons of Jewish society. If he was an atheist, he was one of those sneaky ones that never lets on to the fact.
Religious people do bad things all the time. Just because they did, doesn't mean they aren't religious. They're just very bad at following their religion is all.
"There are very strict natural laws and instinctual controls that ensure that the natural world runs in balance and harmony."
No, there aren't.
Mass extinctions happen from time to time, starvation, disease, and I hardly think the gazelle currently getting its throat ripped out by a hungry lioness thinks nature is running "in harmony." Nature is cruel and oppressive and deadly. And yes, it is also beautiful. But one thing it is not, is in some mythical, metaphysical state of "balance and harmony."
We have proof that other animals can lie to one another, flat out deceive one another for personal gain. We've found animals that essentially go to war with other tribes over resources. Man is just the best and most successful natural example of this is all. Nature is raw and gritty and cruel and the reason we've dominated the chain is that we are the grittiest and cruelest of all.
"Historically humanity has been kept in some sort of civilized balanced cultures due to the moral guidelines that come from religious revelation."
No, it hasn't.
Historically, humanity has been OPPRESSED by moral guidelines that come from religious revelation. Historically, religion has directly CAUSED more (unbalanced) conflicts than just about anything else.
Ever hear of a little period called the Dark Ages? The Crusades? Witch hunts? The Inquisition? etc? Religion has fueled thousands of years of bloodshed with no moral restrictions whatsoever. Killing innocents? Fine if they are of the "other" faith. Killing one's self? Fine if it kills others, too. It was religion that flew planes in the World Trade Center. Where is the moral guideline for that? The moral balance?
"The a-religious movements of the 20th Century were responsible for almost incomprehensible amounts of murder and destruction: National Socialism (Nazi), Communism, unregulated capitalism are all ideologies that make no claim to Divine justification for their excesses."
The Nazi's, oh he who is so ready to white wash, simplify, and ignore history to his own ends, was PRIMARILY Christian. Some of the head players weren't, but even they knew how to use the religious beliefs of their followers to whip up a frenzy. You think it was coincidence the Jews were blamed for the troubles of Germany and subsequently rounded up for slaughter? No, they were targeted because those in power knew they would be easiest for the Christians of Germany to hate. They were scapegoats and targets and common enemies CHOSEN SPECIFICALLY TO PLAY ON THE BIGOTED BELIEFS OF GERMANY'S RELIGIOUS POPULATION. There is actually debate to the religiousness of Hitler, but if he actually was Catholic or not, he was still able to use the tenets of Christianity against his own people.
In other words, the people were even easier to manipulate BECAUSE they were religious.
And Hitler and others like him may be bad men, but so is every preacher, father, bishop, cardinal, pope, imam, rabbi, and other "religious moral authority" figure that stood (and still stand by) while these bad men do such despicable acts. Turning a blind eye to evil is not good, is not moral, is not "balanced."