Modeller, //how many of these things would have happened without the religious element.//
That’s true, but shouldn't we look a little deepet and ask why? There’s no doubt that religious organisations have done, and still do, some fine work (and some not such fine work), but until very recently, adherence to religion was the norm – it was expected – and prospects were grim for anyone who rejected the status quo, so it’s impossible to say whether or not, without it, schools and hospitals would or wouldn’t have been founded – but I suspect they would. I mean, imagine if religion had never existed at all. Don’t you think the genuinely altruistic would have recognised the needs of their fellow man, and done something about it? It seems to me that, in the main, these things have been done not by individuals, but by groups of individuals, and I think that’s the crux of the matter because most groups revolved around religion in some way. These days people are free to believe as they will and, therefore, things are very different – and there are plenty of non-religious charitable organisations in existence that bear that out.
^^ That’s for Wildwood too.