Unclepenn, none of the "Christain reforms" you speak of have anything to do with Christainty. It's like a Muslim saying the great accomplishments under the Islamic civilizations had to do with Islam. Since Islam has become a brain dead fundy religion, nothing great has really happened there, indeed many of the people who were the brains of the "Islamic renaissance" would be killed today as heretics because of their "unorthodox" views. Same with Christainity.
When was Christanity at its greatest? During the Dark Ages. Yeah, civilization really advanced then[8>]. It was only when Christanity became more secular (and when Islam was secular), that any great societal advancement was made.
Human rights? What about the crusades and slavery? Christanity endorsed both these practices (the later very explictly). The bible teaches bigotry against gays, despite there being no rational basis for it. There was great scientific and medical advancement under other religious orders too. It's only when secular culture forces Christanity to admit error that they make "positive changes" (e.g.: the earth being round). If it weren't for people standing up to "christanity", the horrible torturous punishments formerly administered "in the name of the Lord" would not register as human rights violations. Sure, Christains today are generally good people, but Jesus did not utter any "good sayings" that were original (compare to the Buddha, it's amazing the parallels). Hardly anyone took note of "easter Sunday 2000 years ago", until well after the events that had supposedly taken place had happen. Amazing how so few people converted to Christanity when they saw all these miracles, etc. .
But to stay on topic, Christanity has done few great things to help mankind, and many to hurt. Most of Christanities "good points", e.g. respect for human life, has evolved with society, and in some cases was forced to evolve. All of the very successful contries today are secular, most theocracies are bastions of ignorance. While Christanity certainly has some good points, they're hardly so unique and significant, as to have left mankind limitlessly better.
