Conflicting Principles

I've been thinking a bit lately about winning and losing and standing by one's principles. Specifically, I wonder which principles are always worth fighting for, to the extent that one should never give up the fight for them, no matter the cost, and I wonder which principles are important enough to stay true to, even if doing so costs one the victory. For example, say one is running for office, and they really hope to win because they'll be able to do a lot of good in that position, and they learn that they can gain a strong advantage, a near-certain victory, if they betray one of their moral principles, but if they don't betray that principle, they will almost certainly lose. If their candidacy hinges on them betraying of one of their moral principles, should they? Obviously not, but what if this victory is of great moral importance? What if one plans to pass a very moral and important law, and their opponent plans to pass an opposite, horribly immoral law. Then, securing that office becomes a moral imperative. At what point, if ever, does the moral principle one plans to uphold by winning the office outweigh the moral principle one would have to break to gain the office?

I suppose what I'm really asking is which principles are more important than which other principles. What is the hierarchy of important moral principles? Which principles should never be sacrificed, and which principles can and should be sacrificed for the sake of others. It's easy to say that one should never sacrifice any of their moral principles, but one doesn't always have that option. If one can save hundreds of innocent lives, if only they cheat on a particular test, doesn't it become morally imperative for them to cheat? If they choose not to cheat, doesn't that mean that, to them, not cheating is more important than saving lives?

Now, I'm not saying that one should always cheat, if cheating means saving innocent human lives. I'm not making that argument because I'm not sure it's necessarily true. I think that people should choose their own moral principles, including the hierarchy thereof, though it wouldn't hurt to follow divine guidance on that topic, perhaps even to the point of basing one's complete set of moral principles entirely on one particular philosophy or religion. I base most, if not all, of my moral principles on the teachings of Jesus Christ. But I wonder, under this philosophy, which principles are more important than others? Are there any divine laws that can and should be broken, if doing so is necessary in order to obey a higher law?

Certainly, there are some situations in which it is acceptable to break one commandment in order to obey another. The instance of Nephi killing Laban comes to mind. Thou Shalt Not Kill is certainly one of the most important commandments. If it is sometimes necessary and acceptable to break that law, there certainly must be circumstances under which it may be acceptable to break lesser laws, such as those against lying, cheating, and stealing.

Which leads me back to my question of which principles are more important than others. Which principles can be broken when necessary, and which principles must never be broken under any circumstances? Unfortunately, I do not know that the hierarchy is, or even how I might find out what the hierarchy is. I suppose, then, the safest route is to maintain all of one's principles as long as one can, and when one has to break either one commandment or another, one should make it a matter of prayer. God can certainly tell us, on a case-by-case basis, which commandments are more important than which other commandments. He can tell us which principles may be sacrificed under which circumstances and which principles must never be betrayed, no matter the cost.

But in the absence of divine guidance, one may need to go with one's gut. If saving lives seems important enough to justify cheating, then cheat. If not cheating is important, even when lives are on the line, then don't cheat. If one can't simultaneously maintain two moral principles, one of those moral principles is going to have to be betrayed. Hopefully, the scriptures and the Spirit will be able to tell us which principles may be broken under which circumstances and which principles may never be broken under any circumstances.