How much good was done with tightly structured and tightly controlled Christianity…?
No more or less than was done with loosely controlled Christianity. That’s simply a matter of studying history.
They're likely a great many millions that would disagree with you. Especially those who lived under the rigid control of a tightly structured and tightly controlled Christianity.
History shows that for a great many years…like for 1200 years…the church dominated almost every aspect of life where tightly structured and tightly controlled Christianity existed. Going to church then wasn’t voluntary (neither was tithing), people were forced to go to church (and forced to tithe), it was mandatory.
The church condoned feudalism...a kind of institutionalized slavery...where the subjugated peasantry did all of the hard labor. For this 90% of the population life was pretty miserable. Most kids died before adulthood, punishments for the poor were very harsh, people worked the land hoping only to survive another season...or another day. Life for the vast majority was a dreary existence.
The peasants were pretty much worked to death, and they dedicated generations of their resources…had them taken away from em’…to build huge awe inspiring cathedrals with stained glass, statues, pulpits, and guilted altarpieces...and the faithful masses paid the price for all of it. You can still see much of it to this day. Once a week these illiterate peasants would walk into these churches and be told what to believe. If they questioned any of it, or believed the wrong thing, they could be excommunicated (damned to hell) or even be executed.
Tightly structured and tightly controlled Christianity…? I’ll pass.
