The history of the West has been mostly Christian. And it's been pretty violent - Crusades, inquisitions, wars of religion. So, would the world be more peaceful without it?
In ancient Rome, parents who didn't want their new-born babies would take them outside the city and leave them on a rubbish dump. This practice was not only accepted, but actually encouraged by law and philosophers. So, what changed?
If Jesus was a poor carpenter, who described himself as having nowhere to lay his head, then the opulence of many churchmen through the ages sits strangely with their claim to follow one who was a friend to the down-and-out.
The first Christians were a powerless and persecuted minority. But when Emperor Constantine became a Christian in 312 things began to change dramatically.
