It’s difficult to measure religion’s overall impact, since it has had both positive and negative effects, and I’m not interested in engaging in speculative “what if” scenarios. From my perspective, moving beyond a singular religious influence has been beneficial because it allows individuals and communities to develop norms and policies based on wide-ranging human needs and evidence-based reasoning rather than strict dogma.

If you believe a particular group is inherently superior and that anyone can join it simply by following arbitrary rules, then our discussion ends here. Such a view indicates an unwillingness to seriously consider broader philosophical questions.

Christianity as a individual religion maybe not, but christianity as a state religion, controlling all debates, power structures and research very much was a negative influence, stopping progress in Europe for centuries, until their powerhold could get broken.