JD Vance Lays Out One Simple Christian Idea That Could Save America
Vice President J.D. Vance recently outlined how the “America First” policy priorities of President Donald Trump mark a drastic change from the last four years.
That is rather obvious. We are seeing crackdowns on illegal immigration, reforms in the bureaucracy, and other shifts that would have been unthinkable under now-former President Joe Biden.
But in his recent interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity, Vance tied the ascendant “America First” attitude to an “old school” Christian concept called the “ordo amoris,” which means “ordered loves.”
As Vance described to Hannity, the Christian has the duty to love and serve those closest to him before he loves and serves others.
“You love your family, and then you love your neighbor, and then you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizens in your own country, and then after that, you can focus and prioritize the rest of the world,” Vance noted.
There are many, however, who have turned that simple notion on its head.
“A lot of the far left has completely inverted that,” he continued. “They seem to hate the citizens of their own country and care more about people outside their own borders. That is no way to run a society.”
JD VANCE: There is a Christian concept that you love your family and then you love your neighbor, and then you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizens, and then after that, prioritize the rest of the world
A lot of the far left has completely inverted that pic.twitter.com/XkoTiKgq3g
— Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) January 30, 2025
Vance added that he is thankful Trump prioritizes “America First,” in the same way that the leaders of countries like Britain and France should care for their own people first.
Vance also made clear that what he is describing does not mean that “you hate anybody else,” but that your love is first and foremost directed toward those God has placed into your life to serve.
That moral priority is a product of the sovereignty of God, who places each of us in a distinct family, community, and nation, but is also a product of our finitude.
The ordo amoris (order of love) is not novel—it’s biblical.
1. Love God first, then neighbor (Mark 12:30-31).
2. Provide for your own household (1 Tim. 5:8).
3. Families should care for their own before the church does (1 Tim. 5:4).
4. Do good especially to the household of…
— Alex Kocman (@AJKocman) January 30, 2025
In the same way that a father would be derelict if he used his limited wages to feed every child in town and then leave his own children starving, our government is derelict in spending billions on foreign aid and importing foreigners before providing basic services for citizens.
Such ways of thinking have long been affirmed by Roman Catholics like Vance, as well as the Eastern Orthodox and the historic Protestants.
But Vance’s comments provoked a firestorm online among the very same aforementioned leftists who have inverted the ordo amoris.
One such skeptic, British academic Rory Stewart, claimed that the principle articulated by Vance, which was affirmed by men ranging from Augustine in the early church to John Calvin in the Reformation, was actually promoting a concept that is “less Christian and more pagan tribal.”
Vance told him to “just google” the term “ordo amoris.”
“The idea that there isn’t a hierarchy of obligations violates basic common sense,” Vance added.
“Does Rory really think his moral duties to his own children are the same as his duties to a stranger who lives thousands of miles away? Does anyone?”
Just google “ordo amoris.” Aside from that, the idea that there isn’t a hierarchy of obligations violates basic common sense. Does Rory really think his moral duties to his own children are the same as his duties to a stranger who lives thousands of miles away? Does anyone? https://t.co/otvv5g1wFN
— JD Vance (@JDVance) January 30, 2025
Vance is correct. Nobody actually lives like they have equal duties of love and service to every single person on the planet.
That is, of course, except for the United States federal government.
The bureaucracy currently prioritizes “America Last” over “America First,” but as with many problems our nation faces, that can be solved with a dash of common sense and a helpful portion of Christianity.
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