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Originally Posted by starkey  Was the world more peaceful and empathetic before the birth of Christ or after? Any fair and analytical assessment would say after. |
As a history nerd I have to disagree here, I'm just not sure what you're referring to. In terms of the bloodiest conflicts, the 20th century was nasty on a level that no other one ever was before it. There have always been both bloody wars and empathetic people, but in the "bloodiness" category the 20th century takes the championship belt.
I honestly don't see Christianity being responsible for empathy on any scale higher than before it came along, and it was mainly based upon previous ("pagan") religions that pre-dated it anyhow. Jesus himself could be seen as a major, shining example of empathy, but organized Chrisitianity threw his teachings out of the window as soon as they could, and tended to become more and more violent until the Church was finally neutered during that thankfully-happening reformation-renaissance period and beyond.