Is Voting for the Lesser of Two Evils Biblical?

Thanks for your question. I can’t tell anyone how they should vote. However, I think I may be able to provide some guidance for you to consider.

What is the “Lesser of Two Evils” principle?

The lesser of two evils principle (or “lesser-evilism”) is the proposition that when faced with choosing between two or more immoral choices, the least immoral one should be the one selected.

What is Evil?

There are two types of evil in the world; moral and natural. “Moral evil” are acts of humanity that are considered to be morally wrong (i.e. murder, adultery, LGBT , lying, etc.). The other type of evil is “natural evil” and includes such things as earthquakes, hurricanes, tornados, floods, etc. over which humanity has no control.

The type of evil you are writing about in your question is “moral evil”. It could be defined as the lack of goodness in what one says, doesn’t say, does, and doesn’t do. All moral evil is sin, because it is against God’s Law, character, purpose and isn’t holy, just, and good (cf. Rom. 7:12).

All Elections are a Choice Between the “Lesser of Two Evils”

All secular elections are a choice of the “Lesser of Two Evils”. Why? All men have sinned and come short of the glorify of God (Rom. 3:23). There’s none righteous, no not one (Rom. 3:10). There’s no perfect candidate! Every candidate is a sinner. However, there’s a huge difference between a forgiven sinner in Christ alone and an unregenerate candidate.

There is no law in the Bible directly demanding that we ‘must’ vote in a secular election. Though there is no direct command, Christian’s should understand that righteousness exalts a nation (Prov. 14:34; 16:12). So, this strongly behooves Christians to vote on proper candidates and biblical issues.

The Moral Fallacy of the Lesser of Two Evils

Even if something or someone is a lesser evil, evil is still evil. It’s still sin. God hates evil and therefore Christians should hate it as well (Prov. 8:13). We should obey God’s statutes, commandments, ordinances, and voice (Deut. 26:17) and since we love God we should hate evil with all our heart and soul (Deut. 26:16) as God does.

The Issues, Not Just the Person

In some countries voters are selecting much more than just a single person for office. That is, they are voting for a Party’s Platform, commonly called ‘the issues’.

So, we must ask ourselves which Party’s issues best represents God’s values? If neither Party’s issues represent the proper biblical leadership of a nation, then as we learned above we should not feel obligated to select the “Lesser of Two Evils” Party. However, if one Party’s platform does represent our biblical values (though maybe not perfectly) then perhaps it’s time to look at that Party more seriously.

An Answer

Is voting for the “Lesser of Two Evils” proper? Though all sin is punished (in Christ, or in Hell), all sin is not equal (Luke 12:48). For example, Jesus said that he who handed him over to Pilate, was guilty of a “greater sin” than Pilate himself (John 19:10-11). Revealing that’s there is a difference between certain sins, Jesus differentiated between a speck and a log in one’s eye in Matthew 7:3. Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is unforgivable (Matt. 12:31), but other sins are forgivable in Christ alone. So some sins are more evil than others.

Rahab is mentioned in a Hebrews 11:31 as being faithful in her works brought about by her new found faith in the God of Israel (Jas. 2:25; cf. Eph. 2:10). However, Rahab lied to the soldiers of Jericho and by doing so saved the lives of the Israelite spies (Josh. 2:1-16; cf. Heb. 11:31; Jas. 2:25). The lesser evil of lying is still evil. But while Rahabs’ lies were sin, they were a lesser sin, a lesser evil, than turning over the Israelite spies to be put to death. Note there are numerous accounts of lies being told in Scripture to persevere human life (Exod. 1:15-21; Josh 2:1-24 (Heb 11:31: Jas 2:25); Josh 8:3-8; Judges 4:18-21; 5:24-27; 1 Sam 16:1-5; 19:12-17; 20:6; 21:13; 27:10; 2 Sam 5:22-25; 15:34; 17:19-20; 2 Kings 16:14-20; Jer 38:24-28).

So, I believe we may surmise that if a candidate through their polices will help preserve human lives from literal death during their tenure, then though we may detest many other traits of the candidate, we may vote for them rather then for another less biblical candidate. I’m not sure of the issues in your country, but in mine ‘abortion’ (that is, the murdering of unborn living human beings in the womb) and ‘securing the borders’, so murders, rapists, and terrorists won’t operate as freely in our nation, are a couple of ways a leader may preserve human life!

When You Can, Vote for Righteous Leadership

When we can, Christians should vote for righteous leadership. While Christians should not trust in princes (Psa. 146:3) what type of leaders should a Christian vote for? What qualities should we seek? Though a person will not be a perfect leader this side of heaven there are particular traits that one should seek for in a righteous candidate (Prov. 20:28):

Leaders should believe in and obey God (Acts 5:29). They should be wise (Prov. 8:12), honest (Prov. 17:7), moral (Prov. 31:3-5), and just (Psa. 82:2-4; Prov. 29:4). They should be humble not having have a perverted mouth (Prov. 8:13) and be teachable (Ecc. 4:13). Leaders should be courageous (Josh. 1:6-7) and provide the nation security within the realm of their office (Psa. 94:20-21). They should worship God in all they do (Psa. 72:11; 138:4).

While some of the traits should be essential (i.e. believe in Christ) no leader will perform all these requirements with full maturity. So we must ask ourselves if they will make a sincere godly effort to do so? Would they protect human life? Would they honor God in their leadership? Would they serve God in their decision making?, etc.

God’s Sovereignty in a Nation’s Leadership

No matter what leader comes into power, Christians should understand and rejoice in the fact that God is the one that raises leaders up and ultimately removes them. Daniel 2:21 states, “He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding” (cf. Dan 4:17; Rom. 13:1). God’s candidate shall always be the one in power.

God’s selection isn’t always a leader as previously described above. Why? We should understand that certain leaders must providentially come into power so the end times will happen according to God’s unchangeable timetable. God’s sovereignty is clearly seen in Jesus’ first coming (i.e. Acts 2:23; 4:27-28) and though we may not fully understand the last days God has preordained them as well (Dan. 8:26, 12:9; Rev. 10:4). God is always working all things together for our good (Rom. 8:28).

So, ultimately God has a final vote! His preordained vote always wins. God’s vote has a just and divine purpose and accomplishes what he desires (i.e. Isa. 55:11). And he will sovereignly control any candidate even after they take office (Prov. 21:1).

I hope this helps.