I think that several factors including her experiences and beliefs motivated her to establish Hull House, but not all of them were based on religion. I remember reading about your visit to England where she encountered a lot of poverty and wretched conditions. Seeing the cruel conditions first-hand made her realize that something had to be done to ease the lives of the poor. The experience really shocked her and probably contributed to her belief that people should perform social work.
She strongly believes that people should use their higher education for social purposes. “There is nothing after disease, indigence and a sense of guilt, so fatal to health and to life itself as the want of a proper outlet for active faculties.” This statement captures how strongly she feels about taking action; that it is important for people to use their abilities to for the welfare of everyone. This belief motivated her to establish a place to help people in need.
She also mentioned that Christianity was starting to adopt humanitarian causes because helping others expresses the spirit of Christ or something around those lines. She believes that a spiritual force is necessary for the success of Settlements. However, I don't think that she applied this belief overtly to Hull House. Several changes and improvements in Hull House arose because of people started becoming interested in different activities. So many different interests developed that people began using each others specialties to for one causes, which resembles the Christian beliefs that she mentions. But she didn't mention that her her motives were based on religion. Therefore, I think that her experiences and philosophy mainly motivated her to perform social work.
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