christians have given themselves credit for almost everything we hold value to in society, often with rather warped arguments. ask galileo about christianity laying the foundations of an open society. it's a seemingly laughable assertion - along with the idea that christianity was the "keeper of knowledge" through the middle ages, or that it's the source of the anglo-american legal tradition (which is, in truth, deeply pagan in origin).
it's a fun argument to point to the reformation as the point where things began to change. and, in truth it is certainly true; liberalism as we know it is very much rooted in the protestant rebellion against the catholic church that happened at that time. you don't need to be a christian to realize this. marx and engels made the argument as well.
but, it's very telling to be clear as to what they rebelled against. it wasn't the foundations of the religion, it was human abuses. rather than reject the entire system, which was keeping them chained to the land, they argued for a return to a purer state. even in rebellion, they were unable to unshackle their thoughts from the system imposed upon them by their oppressors. worldly ambitions of various despots aside, it merely demonstrates the depth of their brainwashing.
then, a few hundred years later their descendants were out burning people for "non-comformity". and, when the non-comformists took power on their own, they launched a genocide against catholics. that's not to mention the groupthink dominant in the colonies. this is the basis of the open society? perhaps we may want to look a little closer at the changes that happened during the reformation, and seek another source for the roots of liberalism.
i'm not sure which 2nd year professor that hedges is basing his presentation on, but it might do him some good to assert a little more individual thought into it, rather than repeat these stale (and debunked) arguments.
i was just thinking about this when i was sitting outside. my upstairs neighbour is turning my basement apartment into an ice box with his a/c, and it hasn't been consistently warm enough to even get the winter air out yet. ugh. anyways. a lot of people like harris claim the muslim world needs a reformation (i think i remember him saying that, i'm not going to look it up - but it's a commonly stated thing). i have to disagree. if anything, it's a good case study on the marxist analysis of the reformation. what the arab world needs is socialism. and, to their credit, that's something they figured out - and quite a while ago. but, we stamped it out. and, the ruling class in the region has since reasserted religion. see, it's interesting because this is the marxist analysis of the reformation: you had these people looking to abolish feudalism (for good reason...) and assert a concept of common ownership, and the ruling classes stepped in and pushed down a modified form of christianity, which left the system mostly in place. it collapsed in the end. but, when the dust of the reformation settled, the truth is that feudalism remained in most places. and, it kind of makes you wonder a little.