Did the church abolish slavery?

Has the church raised its voice against war?

I used to think that there was in religion no real restraining force.
Upon this point my mind has changed. Religion will prevent man from
committing artificial crimes and offenses.

A man committed murder. The evidence was so conclusive that he confessed
his guilt.

He was asked why he killed his fellow-man.

He replied: "For money."

"Did you get any?"

"Yes."

"How much?"

"Fifteen cents."

"What did you do with this money?" "Spent it!" "What for?" "Liquor."

"What else did you find upon the dead man?" "He had his dinner in a
bucket--some meat and bread."

"What did you do with that?"

"I ate the bread."

"What did you do with the meat?"

"I threw it away."

"Why?"

"It was Friday."

Just to the extent that man has freed himself from the dominion of
ghosts he has advanced. Just to the extent that he has freed himself
from the tyrants of his own creation he has progressed. Just to the
extent that he has investigated for himself he has lost confidence in
superstition.

With knowledge obedience becomes intelligent acquiescence--it is no
longer degrading. Acquiescence in the understood--in the known--is the
act of a sovereign, not of a slave. It ennobles, it does not degrade.

Man has found that he must give liberty to others in order to have it
himself. He has found that a master is also a slave;--that a tyrant
is himself a serf. He has found that governments should be founded and
administered by man and for man; that the rights of all are equal; that
the powers that be are not ordained by God; that woman is at least the
equal of man; that men existed before books; that religion is one of the
phases of thought through which the world is passing; that all creeds
were made by man; that everything is natural; that a miracle is
an impossibility; that we know nothing of origin and destiny; that
concerning the unknown we are all equally ignorant; that the pew has
the right to contradict what the pulpit asserts; that man is responsible
only to himself and those he injures, and that all have a right to
think.

True religion must be free. Without perfect liberty of the mind there
can be no true religion. Without liberty the brain is a dungeon--the
mind a convict. The slave may bow and cringe and crawl, but he cannot
adore--he cannot love.

True religion is the perfume of a free and grateful heart. True religion
is a