With regard to James 2, I think it's applicability here is a stretch. The order of charity described by Paul and Aquinas has nothing to do with the sin of partiality.
All tagged James
Abraham & God's Promises
Does "a faith that never is alone" mean that works are ever present in salvific faith?
The Bloody Marriage of Military & Sport
Sports, the movies, the mall, the news cycle, etc. all serve in a liturgical manner; they all shape us and form us in certain ways simply by our exposure to them. When Smith speaks of “liturgies” he’s talking about cultural rituals that tend to shape us in ways that we aren’t necessarily aware of. In other words, liturgies don’t ask for permission to shape the way we think and feel about certain things, they just do it.