I am very disquieted about “America first” ideology for a lot of reasons. Most of them are human beings who are special to me and who do not live in America. What would my attitude say to them if I espoused “America first” thinking? Perhaps I would not intend it to say anything negative. But it would.
If God is God to all of us, how does that say that we should relate to one another? How does that say that we should care about one another? If we use phrases like “all lives matter,” what does that mean for our conduct in war? If we mean to strip away the meaning from Black Lives Matter, we must consider what impact this has on white people’s lives. Does a phrase like “all lives matter” have limits when we talk about Iraqis? Or Russians? Or people who commit a certain list of crimes that we prefer to punish with death? What, exactly, does it mean for life to matter?
If we say it, it needs to show in the way that we live and in the rest of our speech.
