When I got started commenting and writing on Daily Kos not long ago, I had thought to limit my venting to political stuff, and let my skepticism/atheism out elsewhere. Little did I realize that the two would come together in a phenomenon I will refer to as Obama's Mysterious Ways.
The problem of evil is of particular interest to me, as an ex-christian. I may use 'xian' for short, it's an abbreviation they may use and have used in the past, but it may also be taken as a sign of disrespect towards the religion.
Start with a supposedly benevolent deity; presented with the world as it is, that god has some 'splainin to do. Like, say, for malaria, or parasitic worms in the eyes of children in Africa. I have found the question of 'why does this happen' to be an excellent weapon in argument, and an object of great amusement as it has tied various xian apologists in knots trying to weasel out of it.
Well, today I'm presented with the pro/con arguments about who's 'teaching Obama' anything and sour grapes and etc. And all the disgust and outrage of liberal dissenters is put to the challenge. How dare we express this! How dare we suppress voter turnout, or give ammunition to Republicans, or...just about anything other than marching in lockstep. I haven't done much of that since high school marching band, and that at least had some purpose. I think. Certainly not going to start now.
I've seen the data laid out, indicating that the actual turnout of surly liberals remains consistent. Should include me, since I voted last year. But I see the point against such loud, pissed off, hyperbolic dissent. Stuff I have indulged in myself. I've been over the top. I can't claim to be particularly rational about it. What's rational about outrage or disgust?
In the process, though, shoved under the rug are the objects of my outrage: military commissions, institutionalized torture (Bradley Manning being the example du jour), abject surrender on the public option for health care, or on taxes, or union rights, or mortgages, or the casinos called 'banks'. I find it's a lot easier to bash the dissent than to talk about how it got there.
In the rush to condemn my dissent, I don't seem to ever find the reasonable explanations for things like the purposeful destruction of Manning's personality. One particular exchange involved whether or not Obama likes this. Assuming for the sake of argument that he doesn't -- what then? Where does the argument go? Does he not like the fact that his administration is responsible for torturing people? He is the president, right? Is he helpless to stop it?
Enter the problem of evil. Presented with a benevolent entity with (in theory) the power to stop such evil, wherefore, then, does it persist? The xian would tell me that there is a reason. They don't know it. We may never know it. But there must be. This is sometimes referred to as 'god's mysterious ways'. To which I typically respond with 'woo-woo!' and waggle my fingers.
Here, I am presented with the presumably benevolent POTUS, Obama, with the power (in theory) to stop these outrages. Why doesn't he? Someone, help me believe in Obama's mysterious ways. Come on. Enough with the 11-dimensional chess excuses. The situation is appallingly analogous.
/em waggles fingers