Bush’s “Faith Based Initiatives” were all sound and fury signifying nothing. The limited legislation he was able to get passed made no substantial changes to the situation that had been in effect for years (whereby a religious organization providing social services may bid to become a state or county provider–provided they scrupulously separate their religious proselytizing from their good deeds).
Robertson’s Christian Coalition waged a decade-long fight for tax exempt status that the IRS denied on the grounds that it was, effectively, a political action committee.
You are aware, aren’t you, that it’s not just atheists who are fighting Creationism and ID in schools. Do you have any info on the background of the people who actually brought the suit? (I saw the TV program, but can’t remember myself.)
Like Seige, I am a strong supporter of separation of church and state.
I was thinking the same thing, only you said it better, LF. If this message board didn’t exist DT would be (and heck, probably does) spamming usenet boards with all kinds of kooky hateful crap.
You just have to develop that filter. Mine works 95% of time. He occasionally still gets me to see red on the “Death to the American Soldier rants”, but in most threads where these occur, I can anticipate his post when I see his name and largely ignore it.
Liberal,from your post count,it’s obvious you’ve turned all four cheeks and exceeded 70x7 as regards Der Trihs.
From our own exchanges I’m thinking maybe you should switch to boxers or stop sleeping on peas.
That big a deal huh?
Lib, let me ask again: If there is some philosophy / belief which you think is really harmful and deluded, and you are discussing it here on the SMB, would you speak nicely about it, or would you state openly that you do in fact think that it is harmful and deluded?
(Im not saying that religion is either of those things.)
For instance, what do you think of the Red Khmer and Stalinism?
(Im not saying they are like religion, Im just asking what you think of them.)
From a previous thread, I believe he stated that he was “picked on” as a kid, and pittings of himself bring back those memories, so he avoids them.
I can’t imagine someone picking on him. The mind boggles!
As for Der Trihs being the kind of person who keeps the US from being a theocratic state? No fucking way.
At the heart of things, Der Trihs is, and probably will always be, a coward. He has a big impact on a message board, where he can spout his bile at anyone who dares to question him, but I imagine in his limited dealings with the Real World he is quiet as a churchmouse. So to speak.
I think what is most infuriating about him is that, part of me really wants to like the guy. He posts decent stuff in CS when Sci-Fi comes up, his writing is clear and concise.
And I avoid religous threads, so I don’t usually see that side of him.
But his threadshitting in GD in regards to ANYTHING to do with Iraq, his handwaving of opposing viewpoints and his refusal to accept any citation that supports any stance but his own is trolling, pure and simple.
If a new person came here, and acted that way right from the start, they would be out so fast their sig line would just be a vapor trail. But, like others, because he waited to reveal his evil side, he slid under the radar and now it would take an act of god (so to speak) to get him out of here.
In fact, I feel that he is a detriment to the GD forum. If I see a thread about Mid-East policy or something that I would like to read, as soon as I come across his inevitable shit filled postings, I stop reading. Someone could provide the ironclad solution, but as soon as Der Trihs jumps in the thread to say “All US soldiers are murders, Bush is gonna overthrow the government, when we are all dead on the streets of Baghdad it will be like Sesame Street there! I refuse to reply to anything you say because all of your cites are lies and controlled by the gov’t!” I stop reading. His trolling ruins GD for me sometimes.
Seconded. That particular subject is a touchy one personally for me, but in order to learn anything about the subjects that I truly care about I have to seperate intellectual me from passion me or otherwise I can’t really get any work done with my knee jerking up all the damned time and bumping my desk. That being said I do admire DT for never ever wavering on his message. The man believes what he believes so very ferverently and there’s a part of me that admires that kind of dedication. If religious thought was a stack of bricks, Der Trihs could punch through it like a Kung Fu master with that kind of focus. I don’t know that I could ever focus that hard, so that part I admire. I do think that he could do more good if he felt that way about, oh, road construction in the greater Chicagoland area however.
Although he is far from achieving that singlehandedly, I do agree that GD is dead because of him (and his equivalents). A pity because GD was the reason I joined here, and why I am doubting if it makes any sense for me to renew.
Der Trihs consistently says unpopular things in a very blunt fashion. He is reliable and consistent. He doesn’t waver in the face of near universal condemnation, despite often being mentioned as if he were the board whipping boy. He doesn’t have emotional meltdowns all over the board. He, to my knowledge, has never tried to solicit comfort or feedback from others. In particular, he has never proclaimed his imminent demise.
I may not always agree with the content or manner of expression of his posts, but I have a great deal of respect for him because of the qualities I’ve outlined above.
And I would like to stop seeing posts asking him to refrain from agreeing on a position because the poster thinks that gives that position a “bad name.” Nut up and have your beliefs regardless of how others express theirs, be they the same or contrary.
That’s what bugs me more than anything. Believe me, people of all philosophical stripe have to put up with people who express similar views in an extreme or unpopular fashion. If you are really so afraid that people will equate you with those folks, then figure out a way to express your opinion that will differentiate it. If I felt I had to convince everyone not to associate me with every religious wacko who comes along, I would go crazy. I certainly hope that people around here are smart enough to figure out that beliefs are not one-size-fits-all.
