Why Vote for the Lesser of Two Evils

By Aaron Blumer on

I know. It’s the wrong season for thinking about politics. Nonetheless, I’m thinking about it, and sometimes you have to serve up your ideas while they’re still warm.

A perennial (or perhaps biennial or quadrennial) question in the American political experience is “Should people of conscience vote for the lesser of two evils?” The question is of interest to all who care about right and wrong but carries special interest for Christians since their aim is to do all things in obedience to Christ.

My thesis is simple. In a vote between two evils, Christians ought to back the lesser of the two.

For the purposes of this essay, I’m assuming readers already believe Christians ought to vote. My aim is to present three arguments for voting for the candidate who is least evil, whether the office is President of the United States, U.S. Senator or Village Clerk.

1. Such a vote is the lesser of two evils.

The first argument for voting for the lesser of evils is in the proposition itself: less evil. Who can be against that? Here’s the argument one statement at a time:

"52 percent of Democrats seldom or never attend church"

By Filings on
“A Gallup poll released Monday highlights the religious spilt … showing that 52 percent of Democrats seldom or never attend church. And the percentage of Democrats who attend church weekly has dropped two percentage points – down from 29 to 27 percent – since the first quarter of 2008.” Fewer Democrats in Church?