# An open letter to Der Trihs **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 15, 2012, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-der-trihs/609602 "2012-01-15T14:59:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-der-trihs/609602/41 "2012-01-16T00:37:13Z")
Rightness does not excuse dickhood. And honesty need not invariably be brutal. Not that **DT** ’s affect strikes me as “brutal”; he’s clearly not arguing from a position of power or domination. I actually see a conscience in him, wounded and bitter, but indomitable. I appreciate some of what he says, but generally he says it in a way that does not invite intelligent discussion. I don’t think **DT** _is_ a troll, although, out of emotion or passion, he clearly _does_ troll. And I know what I’m talking about here, because I, too, have trolled the Dope when passion took over. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-der-trihs/609602/42 "2012-01-16T02:36:40Z")
A reminder, people – unlikely as it seems, we are in neither the Pit nor GD. Keep it MPSIMS appropriate, please. Thanks, **twickster** , MPSIMS moderator ---
**Author:** ![sisu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@sisu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sisu)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-der-trihs/609602/43 "2012-01-16T02:48:01Z")
Welcome to the light! ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-der-trihs/609602/44 "2012-01-16T10:09:34Z")
I must say, recently, any religious stuff aside, I’ve been finding **DT** has been bringing the funny in more threads than I remember in the past. Which is great. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-der-trihs/609602/45 "2012-01-16T15:16:40Z")
Sometimes you have to be a dick when arguing against very entrenched and stupid beliefs ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-der-trihs/609602/46 "2012-01-16T18:09:37Z")
No, you don’t. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Stringer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Stringer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringer)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-der-trihs/609602/47 "2012-01-16T18:33:00Z")
Der Trihs has been my favorite poster for years. The xtians he argues against don’t deserve respect and he sticks it to them as bluntly as possible. I love it. ---
**Author:** ![newcrasher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b3f665/32.png) [@newcrasher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcrasher)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-der-trihs/609602/48 "2012-01-16T18:36:46Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > No, you don’t. > > Regards, > Shodan FWIW. **Shodan** , an I remember you most for this type of response. And being the douche that signs all his posts. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-der-trihs/609602/49 "2012-01-16T18:42:14Z")
> [@newcrasher](#): > > FWIW. **Shodan** , an I remember you most for this type of response. And being the douche that signs all his posts. I’ve already posted one reminder that we’re in MPSIMS. If you want to take people’s inventory, do so in the Pit. No warning issued. **twickster** , MPSIMS moderator ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Sensitive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Darth\_Sensitive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Sensitive)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-der-trihs/609602/50 "2012-01-16T18:43:45Z")
> [@newcrasher](#): > > The last nail in my theist coffin was discovering [http://www.reddit.com/r/atheism](http://www.reddit.com/r/atheism). > > Faith is ridiculed in such an open and honest way…it made me realize that I wasn’t alone as an atheist. Good God. r/atheism sucks. I registered at Reddit just so I could get that holier-than-thou subreddit off of my front page. ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-der-trihs/609602/51 "2012-01-16T19:28:14Z")
I like \*\*DT \*\*too. I often wonder how people like **DT** handle people of faith in real life. I personally try to kill people with kindness when they find out I’m an atheist and question about it. I’m so confident in my opinion I just smile and calmly respond to anything they may bring up. Even if they are rude, I will NOT act the part they want me to play as an uptight know-it-all, I just smile. I believe some people have to change their minds about atheists before they’re able to even consider being non-believers themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-der-trihs/609602/52 "2012-01-16T20:31:18Z")
> [@MyFootsZZZ](#): > > I like \*\*DT \*\*too. I often wonder how people like **DT** handle people of faith in real life. I suspect the only ones he ever meets IRL are his father and stepmother. I suspect he doesn’t lash out at them like he does on the SDMB. Maybe that is part of it - he can’t insult them, because he’s too intimidated, or something. So he screams here. > [@](#): > > I’m so confident in my opinion I just smile and calmly respond to anything they may bring up. Which is in marked contrast to how **DT** and his like respond, at least on the SDMB. Wouldn’t that indicate that perhaps those who respond to people of faith with hate and raving are not quite as sure of their opinions? It might be like some gay-bashers. If you are sure of your own sexuality, it isn’t nearly as threatening to see that someone else thinks differently than you. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-der-trihs/609602/53 "2012-01-16T20:36:23Z")
On the rare occasions I am accosted by Jehovah’s Witnesses or Mormons or whichever Jewish group tries to re-Jew you, I am invariably sweet and pleasant and chipper and non-hostile. Let 'em see how well-adjusted and happy an atheist can _be!_ ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-der-trihs/609602/54 "2012-01-16T20:38:40Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > I suspect the only ones he ever meets IRL are his father and stepmother. I suspect he doesn’t lash out at them like he does on the SDMB. Maybe that is part of it - he can’t insult them, because he’s too intimidated, or something. So he screams here. Which is in marked contrast to how **DT** and his like respond, at least on the SDMB. > > Wouldn’t that indicate that perhaps those who respond to people of faith with hate and raving are not quite as sure of their opinions? > > It might be like some gay-bashers. If you are sure of your own sexuality, it isn’t nearly as threatening to see that someone else thinks differently than you. > > Regards, > Shodan No, I don’t think so… the message boards are different than real life. Even I have mocked religion here! And it’s not \*\*DT’\*\*s job to convert people. Religion does effect those who aren’t religious… what better place to vent than here? ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-der-trihs/609602/55 "2012-01-16T20:51:22Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > No, you don’t. > > Regards, > Shodan You, you do. Regards, Yog Sosoth ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-der-trihs/609602/56 "2012-01-16T23:22:17Z")
While I am in the “smite and bludgeon them with kindness” camp that doesn’t mean that many a time I am not lying. It is hardly easy to see how religion encroaches on our lives, how it permeates absolutely everything around me and it just gets fricking tiresome. Sometimes I wish it wasn’t counterproductive to just shout at people and tell them to shut the &_!_&# already!\* \*I am looking at you old friends from college on Facebook who lived the wild life and now found religion and became self-righteous idiots. ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-der-trihs/609602/57 "2012-01-16T23:43:32Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > So does bullshit. > > Regards, > Shodan Well, you would know. Thank for starting this thread **newscrasher**. I agree that **Der Trihs** comes in for a lot of flack on this board, often his views but equally often because of how he chooes to convey them. I respect that he has courage in his conviction - he’s an atheist, believes religion is a blight on humanity, and he’s not going to sugar coat that for anyone. I find myself agreeing with pretty much everything he says on religion and admire that he says what a lot more people should be saying. If he helped you think critically about your own views then I think he is to be commended for that in itself, even if it hadn’t led you to deconverting (critical, rational evaluation is all I ever ask of theists, I don’t expect them to believe the same thing as me necessarily). If you’re interested there is a very good vlogger on youtube who has created an extremely high quality video series about his own experience in going from a fundamentalist baptist faith to being an avowed atheist, including a very scholarly consideration of what religion actually teaches (the history of god part 1 is particularly good). [Check it out](http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLA0C3C1D163BE880A&feature=plcp) if you’re interested. ---
**Author:** ![raindog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@raindog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raindog)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-der-trihs/609602/58 "2012-01-17T01:42:01Z")
> [@MyFootsZZZ](#): > > No, I don’t think so… the message boards are different than real life. Even I have mocked religion here! And it’s not \*\*DT’\*\*s job to convert people. Religion does effect those who aren’t religious… what better place to vent than here? Hows about you and I mosey on over to **Quasimodem** ’s thread and tell him to man up? I mean, this is a message board ferpetesake! Whats he thinking? This _is_ real life. With real people with real problems sharing real emotions and getting real support and real empathy. It is a small segment of all of our lives. It’s a diversion. It’s entertainment. But unlike the coffeehouses of 30 years ago, it is a global community of _anonymous_ people; but people nonetheless. And for those with deficient characters and deficient intellects that anonymity offers you the opportunity to abuse another real person; all done with intellectually anemic catch words like “venting.” ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-der-trihs/609602/59 "2012-01-17T03:01:16Z")
Der Trihs sincerely posted that the first thing he’d do if he got super powers would be to kill all of the US soldiers in Iraq. I’ve mentioned that particular post in the past whenever Der Trihs’ name comes up, because it sums up why I can’t take him seriously. The dude can’t participate in a freakin’ goofy thread about hypothetical superhero powers without turning it into a soapbox he can shout from. When you see his name in front of a post in a thread, it’s perfectly reasonable to skip that particular reply because _you already know what it says_ if you’ve spent any significant amount of time here. It boggles my mind that people are standing up for him. He’s easily the single long-term poster with the highest hate-to-content ratio of his posts on the site. What is there to like about that? ---
**Author:** ![Stringer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Stringer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringer)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2012, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-der-trihs/609602/60 "2012-01-17T03:14:23Z")
> [@Mosier](#): > > Der Trihs sincerely posted that the first thing he’d do if he got super powers would be to kill all of the US soldiers in Iraq. I’ve mentioned that particular post in the past whenever Der Trihs’ name comes up, because it sums up why I can’t take him seriously. Thinking US soldiers are evil isn’t an uncommonly held belief. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-der-trihs/609602.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-der-trihs/609602.md?page=4)