I agree that we're becoming more civilized.It reminds me of what Solomon wrote, "There is nothing new under the sun." Christianity is no longer a source for moral guidance. The question I have is if humanity as a whole has improved over the centuries. I think it has.
Think about slavery. Many churches were in favor of it and fought the emancipation movement. After it could be seen that most people were fed up with slavery and saw it as degraded, most churches fell in line. We see the same principle at work with women's rights, and now it's about rights for gays. The world is, in some ways, becoming more civilized, and churches then play follow the lead of the will of the people. It would be wonderful if the churches had been at the forefront of these movements so they could have been implemented better and more easily from the beginning; as it was there was often stumbling around when slavery was outlawed, and there is still confusion in society over the rights of women.
I remember reading a long time ago that the CC used to believe that men would become better and more civilized and more intelligent and wise as time went on and when the ultimate was achieved THIS would be the new earth. I can't prove this or even would know how to find a link to it, but anyway it doesn't teach this anymore. It's an old idea.
Apparently, by now, we know that this zenith will never be reached and Jesus does have to come back at some point in time.
But, yes, I agree that churches should be at the forefront.