Quote:
Originally Posted by Sparrow
Where I think Harry has a point is the Bible's teaching on the elevated place of humanity with regard to the rest of the animal kingdom.
That is still deeply ingrained in the world view of most Western people - even most atheists don't question the routine distinction between 'humans' and 'animals' inherited from Christianity (although, post-Darwin, it's akin to saying 'daffodils' aren't 'flowers').
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No, I actually didn't mean that at all. What I was meaning was that if you look at the history of western Europe for the last 1500 years or so, it has been extraordinarily affected by the mere existance of Christianity. A Europe without Christianity would be a very different Europe than the one we have today. The institutions of the Christian Church, religious wars, religious influence on legal frameworks, etc; all these have had a tremendous influence. If you were to look at western European history while knowing nothing at all about the corresponding history of Christianity, you'd have a much harder job trying to make sense of it all.