Struck by Quotes from Merton and Cone

In my surfing through various pages of readings today, these two quotes stood out:

From Thomas Merton:

For me--the betrayal I have to look out for is that which would consist simply in attaching myself to a "cause" that happens to be operating at this time, and getting involved, and letting myself be carried along with it, simply making appropriate noises from time to time, at a distance. -- End of 1965, V.342-43 as cited in A Year with Thomas Merton: Daily Meditations from His Journals.

From James Cone:

Because Black Theology's Christology is based on the biblical portrayal of Jesus Christ and Jesus' past and present involvement in the struggle of oppressed peoples, it affirms that who Jesus Christ is for us today is connected with the divine future as disclosed in the liberation fight of the poor. When connected with the person of Jesus, hope is not an intellectual idea; rather, it is the praxis of freedom in the oppressed community. -- God of the Oppressed