Did Church-State separation REALLY slow down Slavery Abolition?

Joseph Prud'homme (Ph.D. Princeton) is the Burton Family Chair in Religion, Politics, and Culture and the Director of the Institute for Religion, Politics, and Culture at Washington College in Chestertown, MD, USA.

He just released a very interesting piece of research, "Separation of Church and State, American Exceptionalism, and the Contemporary Social Moment: Viewing Church–State Separation from the Priority of Slavery"

 His main point is this :

France: christians unite against increased State control

Major representatives of the three branches of French Christianity, Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox speak out in a column published in the daily Le Figaro yesterday.

They warn about the current "separatism bill" and the threat of an increased State control over churches and religions.

For them, freedom is at stake.

Link.