Should Americans worry if another nation exterminates a group of people?

Venture capitalist billionaire Chamath Palihapitiya recently said no, saying that, as an “ugly truth,” no one really cares about Uyghurs in China if it hurts someone’s business relationship with the communist country.

New promulgated Uyghur laws on the prevention of forced labor require that goods from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region cannot enter US ports if forced labor was used to produce them. But Palihapitiya obviously think it is foolish to protect the enslaved Uyghurs, a small Muslim minority in China.

“Let’s be honest, no one… cares what happens to Uyghurs, okay? He continued, “The rest of us don’t care. I’m just telling you a very hard truth. He made these comments quite openly in a recent podcast.

Palihapitiya, who lives in both Canada and the United States, is a former Facebook executive who partly owns the San Francisco Golden State Warriors. NBA team officials responded that Palihapitiya “does not speak for our franchise and his views certainly do not reflect those of our organization.”

In response, Palihapitiya, originally from Sri Lanka, tweeted an admission that his comments had “lacked empathy” and insisted, “I believe that human rights are important, whether in China, the United States or elsewhere”. He added: “As a refugee, my family fled a country with its own human rights issues so this is something that is part and parcel of my lived experience. But Palihapitiya never backed down from his offensive statement rejecting the persecution of Uyghurs. He simply used a PR tactic by saying his statement lacked nuance.

While the billionaire’s insistence that he cares about humanity was unconvincing, his quirky comments on the podcast helped reveal that many believe profits trump morality.

Profiting from suffering abroad does not profit America. Such exploitation contravenes America’s historical self-understanding as a force for good and a defender of human freedom for all.

Notably, Palihapitiya said in his podcast that he worries, again presumably for his own financial reasons, that our economy could run on a snag if China invades Taiwan. … I care about climate change. …I care about America’s crippling…decrepit healthcare infrastructure. But if you ask me, do I care about a segment of a class of people in another country? Only when we can take care of ourselves will I give them priority over us.

Most Americans would agree that American foreign policy should put American interests first, but Palihapitiya seemed to refer to his interests. Profiting from suffering abroad does not profit America. Such exploitation contravenes America’s historical self-understanding as a force for good and a defender of human freedom for all. Exploitation through slave labor is decidedly not an American interest and should repel all Americans, especially the sons of refugees who came to America for freedom and opportunity and became extremely wealthy.

When on the podcast he was asked about the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights orchestrated by Eleanor Roosevelt in 1948, Palihapitiya dismissed such concerns as a “luxury belief.”

The investor has accused US concerns about international human rights as hypocritical, which is a convenient “moral” argument that conveniently lines up with Palihapitiya’s finances. There is nothing new in his selfish arguments. America and the democratic West have always had wealthy tycoons intent on profiting from horrible dictatorships hostile to their own country and to humanity at large. Henry Ford did well with the Nazis. Armand Hammer was friendly with the Soviets and did business with Lenin.

As China grows in wealth and power, expect more amoral pronouncements from tycoons like Palihapitiya whose business interests prevent criticism of China and often combine open defense of China with denigration of China. ‘America. American Christians, of course, must reject this depraved and exploitative indifference to human rights.

Certainly, American Christians must focus on America first, confronting our national sins while working to redeem society at large. But our concerns cannot stop there. Whenever possible, American Christians should stand in solidarity with all who suffer, especially when threatened with destruction by their own government.

America cannot be America if it is indifferent to the suffering, much less the genocide, of peoples overseas. We can’t save the world, but human rights are not a ‘luxury belief’. We must empathize with suffering and pray for those who are morally callous like Palihapitiya. We have already seen human rights sacrificed by American companies for the benefit of relations with China. Our hope must be that the immoral words of Chamath Palihapitiya are seen for what they are.