One thing I enjoyed in Guatemala was that there was no talk with people or politicians about voting for “the lesser of two evils.” The people and the parties were clear; there were the “powers that be”, the oppressors and the people that were poor and marginalized, the oppressed. The clarity between good and evil, greedy and needy was obvious.
In the USA we claim to have two political parties but in reality, the people in power control both parties. When I point out to people who vote that the person they elected performs evil deeds, like using “killer drones” or favoring the wealthy who gave them the money to win, they usually say they voted for “the lesser of two evils.” I never understood this because a ‘lesser evil’ is still evil.
But somehow in the USA we have developed this thought pattern that the “end justifies the means”. We can starve and kill innocent children as long as our goal is okay. For example, Madeleine Albright, the secretary of state under President Clinton once told a reporter, rather matter-of-factly on national television, that the 500,000 Iraqi children killed in enforcing William Clinton’s sanctions against Iraq was a price that was “worth paying” in order to foster U.S. interests there.
In the USA we talked about achieving ‘peace through use of military power’, a contradiction if there was ever any. Pope Francis says “Faith and Violence are Incompatible” and his homily this morning said “War is a scandal to be mourned every day.” (The full homily is below).
When we give in and choose the “lesser of two evils” evil demands more and more of us. Evil is evil and there is no “lesser of two evils.”
Pope Francis: The Spirit of War Draws Us Away from God
“War is a scandal to be mourned every day. We see war in the newspapers ever and we’re used to reading about it: the number of its victims is just part of our daily accounts. We hold events to commemorate the centenary of the Great War and everyone is scandalized by the many millions of dead. But today it’s the same… instead of one great war, there are small wars everywhere. When we were children in Sunday School and we were told the story of Cain and Abel, we couldn’t accept that someone would kill their own brother. And yet today millions kill their own brothers and we’re used to it: there are entire peoples divided, killing each other over a piece of land, a racial hatred, an ambition.
Think of the children starving in refugee camps… these are the fruits of war. And then think of the great dining rooms, of the parties held by those who control the arms industry, who produce weapons. Compare a sick, starving child in a refugee camp with the big parties, the good life led by the masters of the arms trade. And remember, the Pope added, that the wars, the hatred, the hostility aren’t products we buy at the market: they’re right here, in our hearts. The Apostle James gives us a simple piece of advice: ‘Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.’ But the spirit of war, which draws us away from God, doesn’t just reside in distant parts of the world: the spirit of war comes from our own hearts.
Let us pray for peace, for that peace which seems to have been reduced to a word and nothing more. Let us follow James’ advice: ‘Recognize your misery.’ Let us recognize that misery which breeds wars within families, within neighborhoods, everywhere. How many of us weep when we read the newspapers, when we see the dead on television? This is what Christians should do today, in the face of war: we should weep, we should mourn.”
- Homily given by Pope Francis at the Casa San Marta on February 25, A.D. 2014 English Translation provided by News.va)
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