There is only one way to save the world from disorder, and that is to spread true faith among people.
Not a single serious step towards the perfection of human society had ever been taken without faith being the main reason for this perfection. And that is why every teaching that is not founded upon faith has always been and always will be powerless to improve the order of society. It might, perhaps, be able to create beautiful forms, but these forms will forever lack the spark that Prometheus had stolen from the heavens.
— Mazzini
“Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” The first step toward a natural and healthy organization of society is to secure to all men their natural, equal and unalienable rights in the material universe. To do this is not to do everything that may be necessary but it is to make all else easier. And unless we do this nothing else will avail.
— Henry George
Society cannot exist without a common faith and a common goal; social activity must consist in applying to life the principles established by religion.
— Mazzini
The apostles lived in such a way that they all had a single heart and a single soul. Had they disagreed with each other, no one would know about the Christian faith. After all, even now pagans do not accept Christianity because they do not see unity and love in the Christians. Nothing attracts people like virtue, and nothing repulses them like vice. That is why people are turning away from Christianity, because when a person sees someone who has been commanded to love even his enemies extorting, robbing, going to war, inciting enmity and treating people like wild animals, he cannot believe in the teaching of love. And when he sees that a Christian is afraid of death, then he will certainly not believe in immortality. If others do not believe in Christ’s teaching, then it is us, Christians, who are to blame. Perhaps we might say: “Use the ancient saints as an example.” But people want to see virtuous contemporaries. They ask us to show our faith through our deeds, but there are no deeds. On the contrary, they see that we torment our neighbor worse than animals. This is what keeps people away from Christian teaching. We claim to follow it, but we are only scaring other people away from it.
— After John Chrysostom
Christianity, if only it is accepted sincerely, acts like the most frightening dynamite, tearing apart everything old and opening up new, boundless horizons.
If you can see that the order of society is bad and want to fix it, know that there is only one means of doing this, which is that everyone must become better; and in order for people to become better, you have only one thing in your power: improve yourself.
