How did religion play a role in the novel? How did the characters in the novel resist oppression?

In The Parable of the Talents, the protagonist, Laura, forms a religious commune called Acorn based on her religious movement, "Earthseed." Laura's followers believe that they are meant to spread humanity across the universe through space travel. The Acorn community is attacked by a fundamentalist group called The Crusaders, who believe it is their duty to destroy any non-Christian groups in the country through torture and labor camps.
In terms of how the characters resist oppression, Lauren and others in her Acorn group revolt against the Crusader who have taken over their commune. After the Crusaders followers enslave, rape, and even murder homosexual Acorn members, the Acorn community retaliates by killing some of the Crusaders. To avoid punishment for murder, many of them go into hiding.