One of the most overlooked ways that Christianity made the world worse. And how they benefit from it.

Christians used to blame physical and mental illness on demons,

and on the battle between the invisible forces of good and evil.
⁠
Today, we know that all forms of mental illness are actually physical disease creating problems in the way brains generate and regulate thoughts and emotions.
⁠
There's no such thing as non-physical causes for mental illness.
⁠
Physical causes are not "spiritual" causes.
⁠
They were wrong.
⁠
It was never the result of someone not praying often enough,
or
not praying hard enough,
or
not having correct enough beliefs,
or
not having strong enough beliefs,
or
not "trusting enough in the Lord",
or
harboring forbidden sinful thoughts and desires,
or
being "tested by the Devil" (and failing the test),
or
being tested by a deity (and failing the test).
⁠
NONE of that was true.
⁠
None of that was fair.
⁠
But Christianity, as a culture, and as a set of religious ways of thinking about real life problems ...
⁠
persisted in those ideas.
⁠
So the people who were struggling with physically-caused diseases of the body or brain ...
were blamed for their own suffering.
⁠
"You brought this upon yourself.
But if you trust rightly enough in GOD, you will get better.
If you do not find healing, then it means you are losing your spiritual battle. Which will still be your own fault, because GOD can-and-will heal you IF you CHOOSE to have a good enough HEART about him.
- If that relationship and that SUCCESS in life
is what you desire
more than
the desires of the flesh,
and
more than
your desire to be spiritually lazy".
⁠
So then it excused friends, family, and community.
It 'let them off the hook' to show a truer compassion.
⁠
It also caused financial resources that SHOULD have gone into relevant sciences ... to go (instead) into "missionary" work, and into various other (lesser) domains ... because:
⁠
They saw no need to FUND efforts to solve mysteries they IMAGINED having already solved.
⁠
For that reason,
an immeasurable amount of labor and BRAIN POWER was never dedicated to those sciences.
⁠
Why should they, when those mysteries AND the "solutions" were already (fictionally)resolved?
⁠
Granted, SOME Christians were less guilty of that than the majority.
⁠
Fairly early on (in the age of science), SOME even realized science was the real place those answers and solutions should be sought.
But those Christians remained a minority, until the persistent-and-growing influences of secular wisdom won out;
⁠
- turning the tides of perception
⁠
so that the majority of Christians were no longer guilty of holding humanity back from its functional potential and its ethical responsibilities.
⁠
So now, here we are;
still struggling to play catch-up;
⁠
far behind where we could have been,
⁠
while all of us pay dearly and daily for it.
⁠
How much of suffering has been
made worse,
and
made more common,
because of how much un-prevented, un-treated, and un-cured Mental Illness there is in our world today?

Domestic violence.

Suicides.

PTSD 

Anxiety

Depression 

Sleep Disorders.

Autoimmune disorders. 

Major Personality Disorders, like Narcissists, sociopaths, and psychopaths.

School shootings.

Mass public shootings.

Substance abuse.

Violent crime. 

 The list goes on. 

But is there any great confession or apology?
⁠Any effort to make amends, for what they OWE humanity?

Nope.
⁠
Instead, the churches capitalize on all the resulting suffering;
seizing the chance to play vulture to the vulnerable;
⁠
posing as White Knights,
⁠
blaming all non-Christians for the the BULK of the problems their culture played a dominant roll in causing ...
⁠
and seeing all the panic, confusion, and desperation ... as a chance to sell Afterlife Insurance,
as a pretense for what is actually just a mafia Protection Racket.
---
⁠
"Nice Soul ya got there.
⁠
It would be a shame if something bad happened to it."
⁠---

⁠"Our BOSS sent me with a special offer.

 Surrender to ME, a Christian, as His "humble messenger",

as the voice of GOD in your life,

as a moral authority over 
EVER MEANINGFUL FACET of your entire existence, 

in ways that 'just coincidentally' will benefit me (and those like me) personally. 

Afterwards, you should seriously consider showing your SINCERETY with some cash.
We'll make sure he gets it. 

No rush about the cash part, though.

Once you begin to "identify" (with your mental captors), 
"the spirit" (Stockholm Syndrome) will move you.

And then you will WANT to dig deep into your pockets
... for the Lord.

After that,
I'm sure my BOSS will "protect you"
from all the severe violence that he will do to you
if you refuse to SUBMIT;

to the process,

and
to HIM
(by submitting to ME, his humble messenger)."