Well, if you want it from both sides your are going to need atheist because well, they are one of the sides in this. Unless of course you are talking about other religions.
You want to see opinions about... what? Christianity in general? I'd say that it's done a lot of harm in the past and that it can never truly make up for that but there are a lot of Christian charities out there that do a good job of supporting less economically developed countries and areas hit by natural disasters. There are numerous denominations of Christianity which I'd define as being even more crazy than the rest such as Mormonism and Jehovah's Witnesses but overall most Christian groups and denominations are basically harmless. There are a lot of fundamentalists within Christianity as can be witnessed by taking a look at the south of the USA. These people tend to hold back development of a fairer society in the name of the Bible and use it as a tool to bash Homosexuals, Women or whoever else they happen to dislike with and this colours Christianity in a negative light although these people are probably not representative of the majority. There are also many groups that call themselves Christians are linked with terrorism or discrimination although these seem to be mostly forgotten about these days - making the headlines only after the destruction of abortion clinics or rallying at soldiers funerals, etc...
Also - you can't just exclude atheists from the thread, that'd be silly, if you want to get opinions of Christianity then you have to ask everyone. That's even more true since you want 'opinions from both sides'
I'd say that it's done a lot of harm in the past and that it can never truly make up for that but there are a lot of Christian charities out there that do a good job of supporting less economically developed countries and areas hit by natural disasters.
I used to know this christian American woman that was very poor but the church made her pay 10% of her income to the church anyway. One day her friends and family managed to convince her not to pay the church for a month (she really needed the money). After a few weeks something bad but completely random happened to her and she blamed it on the fact she didn't pay the church. The church kept blackmailing her with promises of eternal hell would she not pay so she still pays them... I assume most churches aren't like that but this specific church looked like any other one, it wasn't a very rich one or a poor one. I suggest you be careful when you go to one, you never know. Just don't let them blackmail you into giving them money.
that's the past. the world is more politically correct now. if you want to get hung up on history then fine, but the modern day christians don't do any of that (unless it's a cult) and you are going to still discriminate because you aren't going to care about a single word I say.
The inquisition and the Crusades as well as the European Witch-hunts pop immediately to mind. A lot of blood has been shed and damage caused in the name of the Abrahamic god.
Most of those deaths could have happened without religion anyways. The crusades as more about politics, money and uniting europe then "spreading the word of god". The witch hunts and the such where a way for leaders to oppress the 'thinkers', it happened in non religious regimes just as well.
that's the past. the world is more politically correct now. if you want to get hung up on history then fine, but the modern day christians don't do any of that (unless it's a cult) and you are going to still discriminate because you aren't going to care about a single word I say
he just said that he knows most churches aren't like this, all he was saying is b careful, any way its not in the past he said it was someone he knew
Did you read everything that I said? I didn't just point out the bad parts of Christianity - I did point out that, in the modern world, a lot of Christians were doing a lot of good.
The past is very much linked to the current state of affairs though. It can influence most people on wether they'll believe.
For nstance, i'm christian but i hate church organisation because of what they've advocated in the past and what they continue to advocate such as emphasis on wealth and homopobia.
I agree with Goblin on the crusades however look up the Salem witch hunt, this was not started by leaders it was people accusing their frineds and neighbours of witch craft, they used it as an exscuse to even the score with old grudges, however many of the population started to believe it was what god wanted and started to accuse their own family of witch craft after very small odd happenings
