Of the current culture wars Christians mostly posit that society has lost its way in a den of hedonism. And they may have a point, but that doesn’t mean that Christianity necessarily has the tools to fix the problems they purport. Christianity has historically been used as a tool against progress. Christians used it to prove black people should remain slaves and that the institution of slavery is biblical.
And I quote an Episcopal priest of his era:
[God's approval or disapproval of slavery] can only be settled by the Bible... From his Word there can be no appeal... If it were a matter to be determined by my personal sympathies, tastes, or feelings, I should be as ready as any man to condemn the institution of slavery; for all my prejudices of education, habit, and social position stand entirely opposed to it.
But as a Christian... I am compelled to submit my weak and erring intellect to the authority of the Almighty.
He then proceeds to provide a thorough proof of why the Bible allows slavery. They used their Christian faith in the future to fight interracial marriage and integration of races after decades of segregation using so-called Christian values.
At the same time many Christians used Christianity to argue that slavery has no biblical basis. The story of the Hebrews and Egypt is a massive boon for my people (black Americans), and many progressive abolitionists used faith as the defining argument for black Americans personhood and right to freedom. And yet still, religion played a central role in the civil rights movement as well as Rabbis and Buddhist monks marched along side movements started by Christians and Muslims.
So the overlying argument is whether religion truly acts as a force of morality. It could be argued that historically it solely works to the advantage of the status quo. But it’s equally true that it has worked to aid the oppressed. Both are true, and the answer isn’t black or white.
So it comes down to a personal value question: do you need religion to lead a virtuous life? And I’m going to say that no, you don’t. But now the question is do **I** need religion to lead a virtuous life. And that’s the current dilemma given all arguments provided.
Another 19th century religious figure:
Essentially, I’m looking at religion as a whole right now and applying the scripture of “you shall know them by their fruit” fully to see if I want to continue staying on this despite believing in God. What are the works of religion exactly? What indeed?