America Third

Recently in Berkeley there was a brawl between pro-Trump ralliers and anti-Trump protesters. I happen to side with the protesters.

The pro-Trump crowd was shouting, "America first!" I find this problematic. No one should put their country first. No one should want their country to come first,  beating out all other nations. What a hateful, unchristian point of view. Life is not a competition.

Before anything else, God and His kingdom come first. Next, come our homes and families, regardless of in which nation our home and family dwell. Our country should come third, or even fourth or fifth.

To put one's nationhood on a pedestal is idolatry and bigotry. My identity is in Christ, not in my American citizenship. Furthermore, we are not any better than the French, the Chinese, the Syrians, the Kenyans, or the Russians. They are our neighbors. An even closer neighbor is Mexico. How are Trumpistas loving Mexicans?

Most Trump supporters claim to be Christian. If this is true, then the American church is in trouble. We are called to love our neighbors as ourselves. We are called to serve the poor. We are called to seek FIRST the kingdom of God. We are commanded to love our enemies.

Nothing in the Trump administration aligns with these fundamental Christian principles. I am ashamed of our nation.


*side note: This nation is not "America." We are the United States of America. There is North America, South America, Central America. As my Costa Rican host mother said, we are all Americans.