Shaun... who is Christian... then made a statement that this "explosive increase" in violence was exactly what the Bible predicted would happen in Revelations.
Well done - two more lessons in critical thinking and your friend might start to see the light.
I recommend a book called "Freakonimics" by Seven D Levitt & Stephen J Dubner. The book is the work of an economist whose skills with statistics and ability to research gives new insights into cause and effect of popular but mistaken beliefs.
It contains this list of homicides per 100,000 of the population from the 13th and 14th centuries until the present:
.....................................................Belgium &.................................Germany &
.................................England.....Netherlands......Scandinavia......Switzerland
13th/14th c..............23.0...............47.......................n/a.....................37
15th.........................n/a.................45.......................46......................16
16th.........................7.0.................25.......................21......................11
17th.........................5.0.................7.5......................18......................7.0
18th.........................1.5.................5.5......................1.9......................7.5
19th.........................1.7.................1.6......................1.1......................2.8
1900- 1950..............0.8.................1.5......................0.7......................1.7
1951 - 1994.............0.9.................0.9......................0.9......................1.0
It looks like the chances of Armageddon have been decreasing the further we move from 0 AD