THIS IS THE WAY TO SHUT UP A BIGOT

Without getting sidetracked on religion in civil rights (Religion was the main excuse for mistreating blacks in the first place).

Religion has no place in laws. Civil Rights happened because a downtrodden people were tired of being treated as 2nd class.

As you say. Religion is often open for interpretation and therefore should have 0 say over laws. The moment religion has say over laws you no longer have freedom of religion.

The two should be kept separate. If a church wants to preach against gay marriage they have that right. They don't have the right to prevent people of a differing opinion on the subject from getting married. Church and government should be kept 100% separate to protect BOTH entities.

The moment government can pass laws on religion is the moment government has the authority to decide what religious beliefs you should believe.

 

Blacks treatment as second class citizens was nothing to do with religion but all to do with being seen as a commodity, a chattel. Chattel slavery saw them regarded not as people but as possessions. Some 'scientists' tried to base their second class citizenry on biology claiming that blacks had smaller brains and a genetic make up that denied them intelligence or the scope to perform equally with their white counterparts, on any level, in any field. Those who should know better, believed them and acted upon it.

The Civil Rights Movement started in the South led by Christian ministers, most notably MLK. He enjoyed a middle class life, having been to college, relatively wealthy and a pastor, already somewhat respected and with a ready made network of Churches, his creating the SCLC [Southern Christian Leadership Conference] along with other pastors and ministers was the vehicle without which the Movement would never have got off the ground. So it's fair to say that Civil Rights was a direct result of religious motivation.

This is a very complex subject and I doubt either of us intended to digress but I will add that Priests and ministers being told they are obligated to marry gay couples, looks very much like the law getting involved in religious practise. A pastor in Vermont was recently jailed for a year for refusing to marry a gay couple. Surely that could have been avoided by the couple going somewhere where the minister was happy to do it. It's like forcing a Christian surgeon to perform an abortion or euthanize a patient. Deeply held beliefs that have respect for human life should be protected.

 

Slavery was justified by religion. Later subjugation was justified by religion. Something to do with the bible somewhere saying something slightly remotely saying something about the children of Cain having darker skin.

The KKK is a religious organization.
The main opponents to civil rights changes were white churches who thought the bible have them rights to subjugate blacks (or at least used that as an excuse).

Rosa Parks, et al, didn't start the protest and the ball rolling because of religion. They did it because of it being wrong and unfair. Yes many religious leaders were amongst the fight for civil rights because leaders of the poor downtrodden black communities were typically religious leaders. They were the only ones with power and influence.

Civil rights wasn't about "God says we should be equal" it was about it being the right thing. Civil Rights would have happened without religion. In fact without religious people holding them down it would have happened sooner. Religion was the enemy of civil rights more than the ally.

 

To be fair, just like civil rights would probably have happened without religion.

Subjugation of the blacks would have too. White people would have found some other excuse to keep themselves in power.


Religion doesn't make one good or bad. It just gives an excuse to be good or bad.

 

We can never go back to take an alternate route so we'll never know if the Civil Rights Movement would have or could have come about another way, all we have is what actually happened and it had religious leaders at it's core who raised up the masses in peaceful protest thus achieving equal rights. Where else it could have started I really don't know because it needed respected men at the forefront driving it and those men [and women] were church leaders,

There are good people in the world, some are religious, some aren't. There are bad people in the world, some are religious, some aren't.