According to Worlddata.info, there are more than 2.2 billion Christians in the world. This means over a quarter of the world’s population is Christian. However, these numbers show that there are also many non-Christians in the world, about half a billion of them being atheist or agnostic.
While many non-Christians don’t have a problem with Christians, others say they’re judgmental, hypocritical or even that are just plain mean. It’s true that some people who claim to be Christians fit this description. However, these aren’t true Christians. No one is perfect, obviously, but Christianity is about loving everyone and serving God. Hypocrisy, judging and meanness have no part in it. In this article, I’ll explain how Christianity has had a positive impact on society.
According to libertyjusticehq.com, Christianity had an important role when our Founding Fathers made the laws for the United States. George Washington believed that “religion and morality” are important in making our nation successful. James Madison believed it was important for everyone to be religious.
Throughout my first year at Drury University, I’ve grown a lot in my faith and have gotten involved with other Christian students in multiple ways. The Christians who I’ve talked to agree that people who say they’re Christians but are mean and judgmental, aren’t true Christians.
Many aspects of society exist because of Christianity. According to jasonpierce.org, hospitals as we know them came from Christianity. The Christian emphasis on caring for the sick and helping others brought about the idea for the hospital. Many hospitals today have a Christian origin. Almost everyone would agree hospitals are important and have saved people’s lives.
A key part of being a Christian is being charitable and helping others in need. Lots of charitable organizations such as Salvation Army, Children’s Cup and Compassion International were influenced by Christianity. Charities such as these have done great work helping people in need. They show love and compassion to those that need some help having their basic needs met. Without Christianity, there almost certainly wouldn’t be as many of these organizations. Without charitable organizations, there would be even more people going to bed hungry, sleeping on the streets, not having warm clothes and struggling with other basic needs. Perhaps if there were more Christians in the world, there’d be more charitable organizations and fewer people would be struggling to have their basic needs met.
Some will argue that Christianity is degrading to women. In some denominations such as Catholicism, women can’t be priests or members of other high rankings in the church. However, Christianity has helped women gain more rights and respect. In Jesus’ time, women were considered the property of their husbands. In fact, men were only punished for adultery if it was with the wife of another man. If the woman committed adultery, however, she could get executed. Men could abuse their wives in any way they wanted and women couldn’t testify in court. Jesus constantly talked with and became friends with women. Jesus treated women as human beings.
As with women, Jesus valued children when much of society didn’t. Not only did Jesus value children, he said we must become like them if we are to enter the kingdom of Heaven. Christianity has had a big impact on our education system and gave us the adoption and foster care system. For example, Sunday School came about because Christians wanted poor people to have an education. Most notable universities and colleges in the USA were originally Christian schools. It used to be common for unwanted children to be thrown away or killed if their parents didn’t want them. Early Christians were the first to adopt children found in dumpsters and open up adoption centers.
There are lots of ways in which Christianity has benefitted society that I did not talk about here. It upsets me when people say bad things about Christians. While there are some fake Christians, the real ones are loving and kind. It should be clear, even to non-Christians that great work has been done by those that believe in Jesus Christ. I hope that someday people will realize that while Christians are flawed, just like anyone else, Christianity is a beautiful and powerful belief which has and will continue to make the world a better place.
Great article, Rachel!
This article gives a great background for social progress being possible because of Christian values. Your mother and all your aunts and uncles were born in a Catholic hospital. You may want to look up the history of hospitals founded by Catholic nuns, especially on the west coast.
As you pointed out, many universities, like Northwestern, started as religious schools. Northwestern was a Methodist University and it’s football team was known the “Fighting Methodists.” Uncle Jim’s college, RPI, was a Dutch Reform college, named for its founder Rensselaer. A cute commercial was aired several years ago featuring a priest going into the former chapel to study. The chapel had been converted into the University library. Aunt Sue attended the University of Denver, which was also begun as a religious school. The history of religiously based hospitals and colleges began in Baltimore and became a model for teaching and healthcare services when this Country was established. Thanks for writing about this important part of history.