I thought the Barbarians, being hell bent on the destruction of Rome, was what brought on the Dark Ages? What did religion have to do with bringing, and keeping, the Dark Ages?
So thank those bastard atheist Barbarians for the Dark Ages!
edit: Don't forget the importance of the Gutenberg press. Guess what it was first used for? To print bibles! And guess what all those illiterate peasants now wanted to read and had access to?
For the record, I am not religious at all. Never have been. But it seems like trying to pin the Dark Ages on Christianity has become common, but does not fly when history is referenced correctly.
Two caveats:
1. My first undergrad degree was history, with a focus on Classical Antiquity, and lesser interests in the late Middle Ages and the Enlightenment (especially as they relate to philosophy and political science).
2. I am DEFINITELY biased against religion.
Having said the second, my training in the first is usually enough to let me validate my statements. In fact, I would contend that any serious study of the first would lead inexorably to the second.
The collected works of antiquity (Alexandria, as well as other libraries and collections) were destroyed by early Christians who found science and knowledge incompatible with their beliefs. As Rome became the vessel of Christian purification and unification centuries of focus on knowledge and reason were cast down in lieu of blind obedience (also coinciding with a rise of personal greed from within the government). The church then went on a multi-hundred year quest of obtaining and burning anything which offered alternatives to their structure and power. They executed anyone who questioned them or threatened their ways. They sought to erase anything that didn't come from them (other religions and beliefs especially, but also science which explained away the need for central religion).
The tribal invasions hastened the final collapse of nations (which were already crumbling anyway), not of knowledge. The dark ages were FAR more about the lack of reason and understanding than the lack of strong central government. In this area it is the church which is to blame.
While the broad power of the church remained largely unchallenged until the Enlightenment, the latter Middle Ages saw rise of more scholarly independence and a return to the 'worship' of rational thought. It is this return to knowledge and science which moved us from the Dark Ages into the Renaissance.
Yes, I am aware of the relatively modern movement to shift the blame from the church to other factors (such as economics). I find these arguments hollow and circular, and are generally fostered by extremists of religion and economic theory. I also have found that they simply lack historic credibility, as ample refutation for such theories abound among scholarly circles. In my opinion it is nothing more than a popular movement to do what organized religion has tried to do for 2000 years - keep mankind subject to ignorance and control. In short, they're liars and/or apologists.