The only thing Christianity was used for was coming to this land to escape religious tyranny. What you can infer, by extension, is those Christians instituted slavery because they believed it fell within their Christian values at the time. But there was no “Christ made me do it” mentality; especially in the context of how Muslims are launching Jihad on the world. Obama’s comparison is so far off the mark you can’t get it back on with a zero-radius lawnmower.
My intent is how Obama turned his speech into an opportunity make the whole ‘all religions have committed evil’ diatribe a racial issue. Knowing full-well he never fails to invoke race into an issue, knowing race is central to his world view, I am convinced he was taking a poke at white Christians.
Just to be perfectly clear, the President's remarks are an embarrassing absurdity, but sadly, not news. He can do nothing more to set in stone his intellectual weakness and vacuity. Frankly, his Professor Gates farce settled that issue virtually day one. From there it has been nothing but a slow, steady realization by his friends of the cost of their faith in the presumed strength of his mind. Again, the GOP ought to be toasting and honoring him at every chance for doing the work they refused to do; defeat him.
Now, as to Christianity and slavery in the US, to be sure, Christian values very much helped lead to its abolition AND, in the South, very much supported it's retention. If you say Christianity is not the cause of slavery in the US, you're suggesting a lot of very devout people suddenly realized it was right there in front of them and said "Oh, well. Best leave well enough alone." Southern slave owners were VERY devout Christians, by and large.
As for abolitionists, very devout as well and in that faith VERY anti slavery, very few, and none of power, considered the races equal. Creation all well and good but, devout Northern abolitionists willing to risk civil war over the issue, in fact, seeking war to settle it spent very little time pondering what it would mean once achieved.
In 1865 the US had ended slavery as a legal matter, had settled the issue of dominance between the states, was still very Christian and absolutely STILL viewed blacks, in general, as inferior. That is just historical fact.
There is no doubt slavery an evil and one that was stoutly supported, and opposed, by Christianity in the US.