It is not often that terms from moral theology like the ordo amoris make it into the U.S. news cycle—but we live in extraordinary times. In a recent Fox News interview, Vice President JD Vance invoked the traditional theological notion of the “order of love” to justify the Trump administration’s aggressive cancellation or suspension of almost all U.S. foreign aid programs. Other commentators, including First Things editor R. R. Reno, publicly endorsed Mr. Vance’s way of scaling our moral responsibilities.
Mr. Vance argued that the Trump administration is following “the Christian view” of our responsibilities based on his reading of Thomas Aquinas’s “order of love.” The vice president put it this way: “We should love our family first, then our neighbors, then love our community, then our country, and only then consider the interests of the rest of the world.”
This moral vision has enormous real-world consequences, as we are beginning to see already. The vice president maintains that we ought to resolve our domestic problems before worrying about distant nations and their people. Many Americans agree with this view, and seem untroubled by the fact that many who advocate the policy of “charity begins at home” are happy to have it remain there.
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With thanks to the America Magazine and Stephen J. Pope, where this article originally appeared.
