You’re in a conversation and someone says, “Religion has been used to justify all kinds of bad things, like war and slavery. Claiming religious freedom is just about protecting privilege.”
What would you say?
Sometimes people think that standing up for religious freedom is really about clinging to power and privilege. They assume that Christians who defend religious freedom just want to protect their own dominance in society. But is that really true? Is religious freedom just a way to protect privilege?
First, from the beginning, Christianity has taught that all people have inherent and equal dignity.
Second, the idea of religious freedom also comes from the belief in the imago Dei.
Third, religious liberty, by definition, is equalizing. It is freedom for all people, not just for one group.
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Sources and Recommended Reading:
"How Christianity Changed the World," by Alvin J. Schmidt
For more on the popes who condemned race-based slavery, see: Pope Eugene IV’s 1435 bull Sicut Dudum; Pope Pius II, letter on October 7, 1462, to a Bishop; Pope Paul III’s 1537 bull Sublimis Deus; Pope Urban VIII, bull on April 22, 1639 to the Collector Jurium of the Apostolic Chamber of Portugal.
For the quote from Thomas Aquinas, see Chapter 10 of "The Religious State, the Episcopate, and the Priestly Office."
