A religion true to its nature must also be concerned about man's social conditions....A ny religion that professes to be concerned with the souls of men and is not concerned with the slums that damn them, the economic conditions that strangle them, and the social conditions that cripple them is a dry-as-dust religion.
Interpretation
A true religion must address social issues that affect people's lives.
This quote by Martin Luther King, Jr. emphasizes that genuine religious belief should be coupled with action towards improving social and economic conditions. It critiques religions that focus solely on spiritual matters without addressing the tangible hardships faced by individuals in society, suggesting that a faith that neglects social justice is not fulfilling its true purpose.
In practice
During a sermon on social responsibility, you might reference this quote to motivate action within the community.
This business of burning human beings with napalm, of filling our nation's homes with orphans and widows, of injecting poisonous drugs of hate into veins of peoples normally humane, of sending men home from dark and bloody battlefields physically handicapped and psychologically deranged, cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice and love.
Music is the best consolation for a despaired man
We must meet the forces of hate with the power of love.
We may have all come on different ships, but we're in the same boat now.
Israel... is one of the great outpost of democracy in the world
One of the greatest casualties of the war in Vietnam is the Great Society... shot down on the battlefield of Vietnam.
If only everyone could know and live with their inner craziness. Would the world be a worse place for it? No, people would be fairer and happier.
The end of man is action, and not thought, though it be of the noblest.
Though builders may build, in the main they follow the plans of architects. Teachers teach, but they must have a text. Politicians govern, but only upon the flow of commentary that raises them up or casts them down.
My desire to live is as intense as ever, and though my heart is broken, hearts are made to be broken: that is why God sends sorrow into the world.
[The captain] looked at Florentino Ariza, his invincible power, his intrepid love and was overwhelmed by the belated suspicion that it is life, more than death, that has no limits.
But what minutes! Count them by sensation, and not by calendars, and each moment is a day.
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