On the one hand, the equality of all human beings before God is affirmed by many religions. Conversion to one or the other religion has, therefore, often led to a transformation and even abolishment of existing social structures and institutions and their corresponding dependencies.
On the other hand, while control, coercion, and constraint of individuals or groups are indeed frequently criticized in religious discourse, religious aetiologies have also famously been used to justify the subjection of individuals and whole peoples. In addition, throughout history religious institutions themselves have often mirrored the social hierarchies and inequalities of the surrounding societies. Concomitantly, they have created similarly rigid systems of dependency within their own institutional, social, legal, and spiritual structures. The realization of freedom and equality is then often postponed to a distant future, to a later life, or even to the after-life. However, not even the metaphysical world is free of dependencies: almost all major religions envisage hierarchies of gods, angels, and demons in their religious discourse.
Finally, the question of the role of religion in perpetuating and abolishing slavery is still a much debated topic within historical and social sciences. This topic is all the more pressing in light of contemporary enslavement of ethnic groups on the basis of their religion, like e.g. the Yazidis and the Rohingya.
