Let's cash this out a little bit - Which was worse, the heresy prosecutions of the Medieval era, or the Cultural Revolution? I think the answer is the Cultural Revolution, if for no other reason than more people were affected per year. But that's based on technological improvement between the two time periods: * More people were alive in China during the Cultural Revolution because of improvements in food growth, medical technology, and general wealth increase from technology. * The government was able to be more effective and uniform in oppressing others because of improvements in communications technology. Once we control for those effects, I think it is hard to say which is worse. In contrast, I think the social changes that led to the end of serious calls for Crusades were a net improvement on human, and I'm somewhat doubtful that technological changes drove those changes (what probably did drive them was that overarching unifying forces like the Papacy lost their legitimacy and power to compel large portions of society). Which isn't to say that technology doesn't drive social change (consider the relationship between modern women's liberation and the development of reliable chemical birth control).