You're right that a lot of Christ's teachings are amazing and if people just lived by those, we wouldn't be in such a bad place. Far better, though, would be if people were just good for goodness sake. I don't think cosmic reward or fear of a hellfire of suffering should be what motivate us to act well.

If we're going to give Christianity credit for all the good Christians have done, we have to give it credit for all of the horrible atrocities done it ints name, too.

The curtailing of critical thought that goes into the literal belief in these bronze-aged texts is what concerns me most. Faith-based thinking can be incredibly dangerous and I believe the world would be a better place without organized religion in it.