Comment 2 by MotherLodeBeth :

Would like to suggest that Dr Martin Luther King and others made religion a part of the civil rights movement, ... So its a mistake to say that its only been the conservative Christians who have created this mess.

At the time of the civil rights movement the church (both white and black) was an essential tool for organizing people of conscience against racial discrimination. It was no accident that one of the favorite targets of the KKK were black churches.

I think its safe to say no other organization at that time could have brought people together the way the church did. So what are you suggesting, that it would have been better for King to postpone civil rights for a decade or two rather than have to enlist the help of the church?