Yeah, J.D. Vance's ordo amoris argument is very obviously just a bad attempt to justify his policies, rather than the actual way he came to believe in those policies. Helping those in need, including distant strangers, has always been a part of Christianity, but he thinks he can cite this obscure Thomistic principle as a loophole to get out of that. But obviously saying you should love your family more than distant strangers doesn't imply that you should do nothing to help distant strangers, even when you can provide them with immense benefits at minimal cost to your loved ones.
Timely article! Jakub Synowiec also has a good discussion of the topic in his chapter here https://www.nomos-elibrary.de/10.5771/9783748925361-121/who-is-my-neighbour-effective-altruism-the-good-samaritan-and-the-opportunities-of-the-21st-century?page=1
Thanks for sharing it!
Yeah, J.D. Vance's ordo amoris argument is very obviously just a bad attempt to justify his policies, rather than the actual way he came to believe in those policies. Helping those in need, including distant strangers, has always been a part of Christianity, but he thinks he can cite this obscure Thomistic principle as a loophole to get out of that. But obviously saying you should love your family more than distant strangers doesn't imply that you should do nothing to help distant strangers, even when you can provide them with immense benefits at minimal cost to your loved ones.
Thank you for this!
I completely agree! Do you know of any Christian who has made insightful political commentaries on this topic?
Not really, unfortunately – I'm not a Catholic myself so not super knowledgeable about what people are saying about ordo amoris