Thanks for the whisper suggestion, Deli! I laughed as I studied the idiom ‘the lesser of two evils’, with the alternative name being lesser-evilism (LOL). The saying refers to the principle that when faced with selecting between two immoral options, you should choose the least immoral. Wikipedia goes from a brief description of the phrase straight to modern elections, starting with Nixon (which brought another chuckle)!
The phrase may have originated from Homer’s Odyssey. In that story, Homer had to choose between going to Scylla or Charybdis. The choice to go to Scylla cost a few lives, but all lives would have probably been lost if Homer had chosen Charybdis. Other English equivalents are between a rock and a hard place or jumping from the frying pan into the fire. Let’s get a whisper on this expression:
Humans are faced with moral decisions every day, and sometimes those choices are less than ideal. When both choices are undesirable, a paralyzed will can prevent taking actions that include voting, stating opinions, or creating brilliant alternative strategies. The reality is that most people will never make choices that truly contain evil. Perhaps the options are less than expected, even disappointing, but far from evil. Evil is the complete absence of love, which can easily be found in prejudice and hatred. Yet even with the apparent absence of love, there is always a single spark of light as the origin or Source.
Living in a democracy requires compromise, and some leaders have chosen to describe compromise as losing or evil. Demonizing others for their beliefs is the definition of prejudice. Everyone has biased opinions, but prejudice is linked to hatred. Fairness occurs when everyone agrees to drop their personal agenda in order to benefit the entire group. Life can seem unfair, leading to the need to lower expectations as a way to achieve true balance. Faith requires seeing the goodness in all people and situations as a way to inject light into any perception of darkness. All division is created from ego, and separation is perpetuated by karma.
When faced with disappointing choices, pour faith into the heart in order to remove any illusion of evil. You have the power to change the outcome by projecting the opposite of evil into any situation. The inability to compromise rarely brings anything but turmoil and conflict. Inspired insights lead to strategies that can bring options to abstract choices, such as those found in the election process. Nothing is predetermined, and your good energy has the power to move mountains. Don’t allow a thought process that says the lesser of two evils is simply giving up, leading to the failure to participate.
If you believe that not voting is responding to the lesser of two evils, then incorrect thinking has removed you from your birthright and your reality. No one is evil simply because of their religious or political belief. Lower expectations, take time to explore the truth, claim your voice, and project unity, connectedness, and fairness as your contribution to society.
Bring joy, ease suffering and create beauty, then dance like you mean it!
Blessings, Russell
“The most difficult part of renouncing evil altogether is renouncing the habit of cheering for supposedly lesser evils in their fight against supposedly greater ones.” ― Jakub Bożydar Wiśniewski
