What has Christianity truly contributed to humanity

[Mister Agenda]

We keep hearing, from Christians mainly, that Christianity has been, for the most part, a positive force in the world.

I dispute that, and would be happy to have anyone post anything good that Christianity has contributed to humanity or the world in general.

Of course, anyone can feel free to dispute, debate, or otherwise shut down any claims.

Also, feel free to list anything that Christianity has done to damage the planet or humanity.

This thread is open to all varieties of Christianity, from Catholics to Mormons to Johos.

And...


GO!

There are a lot of things to be frustrated about when it comes to the bad stuff Christianity has brought to the world, but if we're suggesting Christianity over the past couple millennia didn't bring anything positive to the world, then that frankly comes off as an incredibly biased thing to suggest.

Besides the literature, art and music and hospitals it has inspired, individual people themselves have changed for the better because of it. And there are some nice morals and philosophies to find in Christian works.

One might say the devil is in the details, and that ultimately nothing good has come out of Christianity perse, but then one might as well say Christianity doesn't do anything at all in this world, good or bad.

So maybe after this bit of rambling, I should now ask: What is Christianity exactly? And what counts as contributing to humanity/world? If the contribution itself is not original, is it still a contribution? Must we filter out all other influencing factors before we can say Christianity has contributed anything?

I think it's more that if there hadn't been Christianity, would whatever took its place have accomplished the same things people often credit to Christianity? It's not like countries where Chrisitanity never gained a toehold don't have art and music and hospitals and charities. Buddhists can offer plenty of stories of how Buddhism has changed individual people's lives for the better.

But we could have had something worse or better or about the same. It's unknowable; but that doesn't add up to 'oh my goodness, the West would be a dystopia if not for Christianity!'.