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Ordo amoris isn’t some obscure concept that Vance pulled out of thin air.
The editor-in-chief of Vox, Swati Sharma, recently unleashed a scathing critique of Vice President JD Vance, dismissing his “godawful reading of Christianity.” In her piece, Sharma mocked Vance for invoking the ancient concept of ordo amoris to argue that love must begin at home — prioritizing family, community, and fellow citizens before extending care to distant strangers. She accused him of reducing the Gospel’s call to universal love into a narrow, self-serving America First stance that undermines the very ideals of compassion and global solidarity. According to Sharma, Vance’s position represents a backward, exclusionary outlook that dismisses the transformative power of real love.
However, such criticism misses the mark entirely. It is, in many ways, deluded. Sharma, intentionally or otherwise, ignores the pragmatic realities of human obligation.
First, ordo amoris isn’t some obscure concept that Vance pulled out of thin air. It’s rooted in the writings of early Church fathers like Augustine of Hippo and later refined by Thomas Aquinas. Both theologians stressed that while love should extend to all, it must be ordered. Augustine wrote, “He who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen” (1 John 4:20), emphasizing the importance of immediate relationships as the foundation of broader love. In his Summa Theologica, Aquinas further elaborated that our obligations intensify the closer the relationship — starting with oneself (to preserve one’s life and moral integrity), then family, community, and finally, strangers. Aquinas believed that self-love is not selfishness but a prerequisite for caring for others. He explained that our obligations increase with the intimacy of our relationships: We naturally owe more to those closest to us. For Aquinas, this ordering was a practical way to ensure that love remains effective and genuine.
As is clear to see, Sharma’s claim that Vance is distorting Christian teaching collapses when placed against this longstanding theological tradition.
Continued below.
The editor-in-chief of Vox, Swati Sharma, recently unleashed a scathing critique of Vice President JD Vance, dismissing his “godawful reading of Christianity.” In her piece, Sharma mocked Vance for invoking the ancient concept of ordo amoris to argue that love must begin at home — prioritizing family, community, and fellow citizens before extending care to distant strangers. She accused him of reducing the Gospel’s call to universal love into a narrow, self-serving America First stance that undermines the very ideals of compassion and global solidarity. According to Sharma, Vance’s position represents a backward, exclusionary outlook that dismisses the transformative power of real love.
However, such criticism misses the mark entirely. It is, in many ways, deluded. Sharma, intentionally or otherwise, ignores the pragmatic realities of human obligation.
First, ordo amoris isn’t some obscure concept that Vance pulled out of thin air. It’s rooted in the writings of early Church fathers like Augustine of Hippo and later refined by Thomas Aquinas. Both theologians stressed that while love should extend to all, it must be ordered. Augustine wrote, “He who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen” (1 John 4:20), emphasizing the importance of immediate relationships as the foundation of broader love. In his Summa Theologica, Aquinas further elaborated that our obligations intensify the closer the relationship — starting with oneself (to preserve one’s life and moral integrity), then family, community, and finally, strangers. Aquinas believed that self-love is not selfishness but a prerequisite for caring for others. He explained that our obligations increase with the intimacy of our relationships: We naturally owe more to those closest to us. For Aquinas, this ordering was a practical way to ensure that love remains effective and genuine.
As is clear to see, Sharma’s claim that Vance is distorting Christian teaching collapses when placed against this longstanding theological tradition.
Continued below.
Is JD Vance a ‘Godawful’ Christian? – The American Spectator | USA News and Politics
The editor-in-chief of Vox, Swati Sharma, recently unleashed a scathing critique of Vice President JD Vance, dismissing his “godawful reading of Christianity.” In her piece, Sharma mocked Vance for invoking the ancient concept of ordo amoris to argue that love must begin at home — prioritizing...