Consent to Evil in Politics

God requires His people to deal truly, and tell no lies.

That means that we may not give public assent to falsehood or wickedness. We may not give the impression of standing for lies or evil acts.

How does this general moral principle impact our public advocacy for causes and candidates?

When we support a candidate, we give public assent to his claims and acts, and if those claims and acts are false or evil, we have breached God's standard, that we deal truly, and avoid giving a public impression that we support lies and wickedness.

The famous political race for Louisiana governor in 1991 is instructive. Both candidates were deeply morally flawed. Edwin Edwards was a notorious crook and corrupt politician, taking bribes, extorting people using his office for personal gain, racketeering, etc.

David Duke, on the other hand, was the notorious former Klan leader who advocated nasty, racist views.

It got so bad that one famous bumper sticker read: "Vote for the crook. It's important!"

But how could a believer morally support either one of these men? Either way, such support would give the impression of approving either public corruption, or virulent racism.

This year, how could a Christian publicly support a candidate that violated the Constitution, ran up $8 trillion in new debt, tortured prisoners, murdered innocent people around the world with bombs and missiles, told monstrous lies about his opponents, supported "gay marriage," financed terrorists, and jailed journalists for publishing the truth?

Republican or Democrat, both 2020 presidential candidates have done all those things!

On both sides, people exclaim, how can you support such evil?