There is general agreement among Christians that there are times when a Christian should engage in civil disobedience. The real problem is where to draw the line, and there are two positions on this. One view holds that government should be disobeyed when it promulgates a law that is contrary to the Word of God. The other view contends that government should be disobeyed only when it commands the Christian to do evil...
We should legally protest unjust laws, but we should not disobey them. It is one thing for a government to allow others to do evil, but it is another thing for it to force an individual to do evil. Only in the latter case is civil disobedience justified.
- Norman L. Geisler, Christian Ethics
let's say that in an election, candidate A is pro-choice and opposes an unjust war, while candidate B is pro-life and supports an unjust war. how then shall we vote?
all other things being equal, we should vote for candidate A.
in being pro-choice, candidate A is permitting evil. nevertheless, it is possible to live under candidate A without sinning. on the other hand, in supporting an unjust war, candidate B is prescribing evil. to this end, it is not possible to live under candidate B without sinning.
therefore, voting for candidate A is the greater good (in a graded absolutist sense, not in a utilitarian sense).
link: more on permitting vs prescribing (18 mar 09)
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