Lesson 5: America First
Recently, I again heard politicians using “America First” to express their positions. At first, I assumed it referred to buying American goods to support American businesses. We should be willing to pay more so our friends have jobs.
However, eventually I realized MAGA was using the slogan to express restoring US world dominance. “America First” referred to ”American Exceptionalism” that means everything, from God chose us to lead the world to we deserve to lead because we are better than other people. Politicians usually mean we have the power so people had better do what we want.
This new bombastic, aggressive demand for power makes many of us very uncomfortable. After World War II our leaders usually spoke about taking responsibility for helping other nations develop so they could enjoy what we have.
By the end of the century, this talk about planned development came under attack. Other nations realized that, whether intentional or not, we were setting the standards that ended up with our taking their resources for our industry. Our own people acknowledged that it also used low-cost labor that moved jobs to the other side of the globe.
Those urging ”American First” usually want to preserve the global economy, which has made many wealthy. However, they speak against any other kind of globalism that has come to mean sharing our power. They want to keep the status quo, which is often called system maintenance.
All of this concerns Christians because some politicians are using love your neighbor to justify placing America first. For instance, they claim caring for foreign immigrants goes against providing for those close by. The Pope and other religious leaders observe this as a misreading of a teaching that cautions Christians not to overlook the needs of their family or the people down the street.
It is true there are places where the Bible gives the Hebrew nation special privileges. For instance, you’re not to charge interest on loans with your own people. However, there were also laws for giving aliens who live among on you the same care offered your own. And Jesus certainly defined the neighbor as anyone in need, even foreigners.
Believers also have trouble when “America First” is used to instruct individual citizens to put country first. We are to be Americans before anything else and that includes our religion and ethics.
Catholic Christianity does not submit to the powerful nation state. It is not about exerting power over other people but taking the responsibility to care for them.
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