“JD Vance is, of course, correct about the proper ordering of loves,” said conservative commentator and “Relatable” podcast host Allie Beth Stuckey. “Allowing a stranger into your home to sleep in your kids’ beds and eat their food doesn’t make you a good person, it makes you a bad parent.”
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“If you’re gonna use Augustine’s ‘ordo amoris,’ get it right,” said user Josiah Hawthorne, going on to quote Augustine as follows: “All men are to be loved equally. But since you cannot do good to all, you are to pay special regard to those who, by the accidents of time, or place, or circumstance, are brought into closer connection with you.”
John Reasnor, founder and editor at Lamb’s Reign, posted a thread emphasizing the importance of not conflating love with obligation. “The distinction between love and the practical duties we have for one another is an important and, frankly, basic facet of Christian ethics,” he said, including a lengthy quote from Augustine’s “On Christian Doctrine.”
“Augustine, Calvin, and countless other faithful believers have made the distinction between love and obligations. They are not the same and it’s no small error to conflate the two,” said Reasnor.