What is Evil?

Please note that I am not a theologian. I'm just thinking aloud here.

Lately, there has been a rather lively discussion on the Catholic homeschooling board about tomorrow's election. There is one faction that is trying, mightily, to make the point that voting for Romney, just because he is a "lesser evil" is still evil. Therefore, they are choosing to either not vote or to vote for Gary Johnson or some other 3rd party candidate who is more "in line" with the Catholic teaching. (except that Johnson is not Gary Johnson on Abortion)

Let's agree that Romney is the lesser evil. Even with that, I cannot understand the thinking that less of something is the same as more of something? (Clearly I'm not a philosopher either.) With one candidate, abortion may still be legal in some cases; with another, I am actively paying  - I am COMPLICIT - to fund someone's murder of an innocent. One, as a Mormon, is invested in religious liberty; another (what religion is he?) is doing all he can to destroy it.

I'm gobsmacked. Truly. Last I checked, there has been evil in the world since the whole apple thing went down. Clearly there will NEVER (sorry 3rd party people) be a serious Catholic president (and I kind of shudder to even guess who that would be - Biden?). Santorum ran and fell short. Society is not interested in a religiously-based rule of government. If they were, Hollywood would not be as important as it is. It would not be fashionable to get married after the babies come - "like all the stars do".

So, you know who has my vote. Will he win? I doubt it. I don't see how. Still, God is in charge. Whatever happens is what happens. We will grow or suffer but we will change regardless.

Moving on...as I said, God is in charge. This allows me, even when I get upset with those thinking differently than I, to maintain a confidence in the movement of the world. I know that there is more later. I do not believe that this is the end. I know that I am not in charge and neither is the President of the United States.

Many things trouble me. Terrible accidents. Horrible storms. Beautiful little boys being mauled to death by wild dogs. That keeps me up. Why do these things happen, you say? Where is your God now? Well, I'll tell you.

I do believe in Evil. I do believe that we see it every day if we are alert. If you don't believe there are minions walking the streets, try holding a sign outside of Planned Parenthood some day. Where is God? He is here. He is allowing us to see this evil. He is giving us free will and our greed and ignorance so often get the best of us.

I am so troubled by this little boy at the zoo. I will struggle with that for a long time. I just told my husband, if I were the mom, I would never get past it. Still, he said, God would provide the grace. I believe He would. I believe in such times, there is no where else to turn. It is often in the darkest hours that we see the Light so clearly through the veil of tears.

So, if we have four more years of progressive repression; if the storms get progressively worse; if we struggle to survive; maybe that's not such a bad thing. Maybe that's what we need to look up instead of in.