hahaha its funny when i jsut read your post it reminded me of the quote "guns dont kill people, people kill people"
Guns Don't Kill People; Men With Mustaches Kill People
And as far as the Church's "iron hold" during the Dark Ages, if the Church hadn't had said metallic grip, then a lot more history would have been lost, because the majority of literate people at that time were clergymen.
And as far as the early Renaissance thing goes, all that boils down to is speculation. All it is is "what-ifs".