[JohnSmithee]

"After Constantine made Christianity the Official State Religion, Christians were no longer fed to the lions in the Coliseum. Pagans took their place, their temples were destroyed, vandalized, or converted to Christian Churches."

OK, I was thinking early early church, but I see your point.

[R. Scott]

The early, early Church lacked the power to do much of anything but concern itself with religion and the soul. After it became a power, things changed – as Lord Acton stated, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” The more power the Church achieved, the more corrupted it became.
Today political and legal power (in the West) is dispersed, and the Church is far more benign and closer to what I believe the Christ envisioned.