Do you see any benefits to religious faith?

[Mudhammam]

Are you suggesting that Dr King, for example, could not or would not have been motivated by anything other than religious means; and not that he was able to use religion as a motivator to others?

At that place and time, and given who his audience was, I'm pretty sure he couldn't have such a strong impact if he didn't describe the narrative of freedom in religious terms. This goes to the fact that most white people at the time were Christian, and that Christian blacks could expect a kind of spiritual brotherhood etc. etc.

I really can't imagine anyone who could have done better than he did with his "I have a dream" speech, and the religious overtones were a big part of that.

There's an interesting piece that we read in philosophy class at school last week by W.E.B. DuBois about the history of the black church in the U.S. and religion's role in both the perpetuation and abolition of slavery. I'd definitely recommend it insofar as it sheds light on possible benefits/harms, specifically in reference to the later reemergence of race and civil rights issues in the '60s.

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/dubois/ch10.html