Evil
Evil takes many forms. It can be overt like an Islamic terrorist murdering innocents, or covert like a petty woman lying to ruin a good man’s life, but all evil fundamentally serves to shatter earthly tranquility, spread sin, and turn mailable mortal souls towards evil.
One particularly insidious form of evil is attempting to weigh different evils in a vacuum. This can seem like an honest discussion at face value, but without a specific scenario to add nuance, all it achieves is providing an excuse for evil. After all, if a manipulator argues that lying should be tolerated because it is “better” than violence, it allows the manipulator to more freely prey upon good men and unduly constrains those who would stand against the evildoer.
This is particularly important because in this imperfect world, evil is sometimes necessary. If the previously mentioned Islamic terrorist is actively murdering innocents, it becomes necessary to kill him to save the innocent lives even though that act is itself evil.
However, since we mortals are inherently flawed, we can never know for certain what evils are necessary. Only God, in his infinite wisdom, can truly know what is necessary. Thus, even when we believe an evil is necessary, we should recognize our own limitations and shy away from it.
Within our earthly context, the best form of this restraint from necessary evil is a judicial process where a neutral judge and jury meticulously examine evidence to prove guilt, weigh moral factors, assess societal impacts, and decide on the appropriate evil to mete out as punishment. However, since this process is normally too cumbersome to be feasible, we will generally have to accept more uncertainty when evil is not a simple mistake the perpetrator takes full responsibility for correcting.
Unfortunately, there are no surefire ways to prevent mistakes from being made, especially when dealing with socially prominent or large-scale problems where fair trials are generally impossible. Considering possible scenarios ahead of time can help us make better decisions in the moment, seeking counsel from the wise is always prudent if time permits, and an incremental escalation process can help avoid the most extreme options, but ultimately, we’re only human. We can never be certain if an evil is truly necessary. All we can do is try our best and ask God for forgiveness when we inevitably fall short.