In praise of Der Trihs

I’d like to take a moment to thank Der Trihs. Thank You.

He says most of what I am thinking for me, thus relieving my temptation to post. I don’t know where he gets the energy to keep crushing his head against that wall, but Og bless him for it, people need to hear it. Sometimes he takes it further than I might, but for the most part, you can all consider everything he says seconded by at least one other person out there. I think it takes a particularly enlightened mind to see things from such an objective angle, and to take that hard look in the mirror.

Allow me to elaborate. In my mind (in fantasy-idealism-land), we are not Americans, or Iraqis, or black, or white, or Christians, or Atheists, or what-have-you. We are simply human beings. There is only one population to consider: Humanity. With our habit of drawing imaginary lines across our planet, claiming our Nations, Cultures, Religions, and Races, we are simply defining Us vs Them. This is an animal instinct. Having a Them increases the bond among Us.

I am an American (aged 30), and I have been fed certain truths about America since childhood, including very solid definitions of Them (always being updated, it seems). I know that if I had been born in some other spot on the globe, I would have been fed entirely different truths, which everyone around me (maybe even including me) would hold just as sacred. I would have an entirely different definition of Them. When confronted with some issues, wrapped in this team-mentality, I have to step back and consider how that issue might appear from some other angle, minus the preconceptions. It seems to me that most other people in the world do not posses that ability in the same measure. Indeed, a frightening amount do not possess it at all, and actively work to destroy it anywhere they see it. Certainly Dopers in general are ahead of the curve, but Der Trihs has it in spades. Behind every one of his “attacks on America”, I see an objective perspective. More than almost any other poster. America has its virtues, to be sure, but also plenty of flaws, and even our most honest and humble posters will sometimes gloss the flaws over due to the fact that “Hey, that’s my hometown, I gotta pull some punches.” No. There is no “hometown”. There is only Humanity. And we should all be measured by the same stick.

A few ways we differ … For one, I long ago gave up trying to participate or change what people do, where it seems Der Trihs is still willing to stand up with some hope to awaken them. (Yes, I just called him a hopeful person, stop laughing!) I see humanity as more or less doomed. IMHO, societies above about 100-150 individuals will all succumb to treating other people like crap. (Yes, I read that monkey brain thread, and have also encountered the idea elsewhere.)

Second, I am not inclined to condone violence. That may not be fair, as I don’t quite think he would either if it came down to abstract morality, but I can see how many readers would come to the conclusion that he would condone violence. He might say “Everyone in the twin towers was part of the machine and deserved to die for it.” (Please stop me if that is too far, Der Trihs.) I would say “Attacking America was a provoked, retaliatory action, but violence is simply inexcusable under any conditions.” Inexcusable even at the ridiculous hypothetical extremes … What would Jesus or Gandhi really do? Yes, I realize that is fantasy-land thinking, but it is only fantasy because more people don’t choose make it real.

I’ll stop cheerleading now. There are many other posters I admire here, who hold many of the same virtues, and will point out the hard truths just like Der Trihs. Thanks to all of you. But having lurked at The Dope for years now, time and again, I see him standing above the crowd, taking it to the top, and never relenting, in spite of how much crap everyone loves to give him for it. I just wanted to chime in as a long time lurker to post: “What Der Trihs Said.”
(Disclamier: I have no personal association with him or any other Doper in any way. I just think he is under-appreciated.)

(Not sure if this should be in IMHO or in MPSIMS, feel free to mod me. I’d be honored.)

I…I have no idea what to say to that. I’ve come here to post because I think you ought to know that you have at least one person totally stymied.

Hear hear. I too agree with the substance of about 90% of what Der Trihs says.

I just wish he’d be a little bit more, you know, tactful about how he puts some of his ideas across. You can’t argue successfully against anyone, never mind actually changing their mind about something, if you start out by treating them as an enemy and their ideas/convictions as evil!

I’m just assuming we’re being wooshed.

Seriously? Because I fundamentally agree with **Der Trihs ** on several issues, and yet when I read his posts, I find myself thinking “Duuuuuuuude… :smack:”, and then feeling compelled to post, so that people can hear what that thought sounds like when it’s coming from someone who isn’t choking on their own bile.

I would never want Der Trihs to leave - he’s one of the many interesting characters that make this place so great. I don’t mind that he’s got strong opinions, and I think he writes pretty well.

Don’t satirical threads belong in the pit, or MPSIMS?

I share the majority (but not all) of his opinions, but he does that thing that many religious do when slagging off another religion: e.g. currently some Christian commentators go to the fundamental words of the Koran, highlight the many and obvious inconsistencies therein, and slag all Muslims off because of that - while ignoring how the vast majority actually live their lives. Der Trihs does this with Christians.

Also, as you say, he’s abrasively rude about how he puts his case, which is, as we should all know by now - as I have learned from painful experience - almost always counterproductive.

Who’s Der Trihs?

I think the words you’re looking for are “I don’t agree with your post, Guest for a day.” These posts are obnoxious.

Der Trihs has many basic principals correct as I see them (as pointed out in the OP and barring the violence that DT sometimes advocates), though one thing he has very very wrong is that he slanders the name of Jesus. I do understand that people has used the name of Jesus for ungodly things, but instead of condemning the Lord, if he really wants to be honest with himself, should be defending Jesus as not supporting those people who use His name to do evil.

Well no, if he really wants to be honest with himself, he should dismiss your beliefs as he sees fit. Jesus is no more holy to him (or me) than any other mythical figure. Can you not see that?

Honestly, this is one of the most unutterably blinkered posts I’ve read here (and posts like this make me secretly hope he carries on pissing people off).

<mod>

Consider yourself modded.

Moved to MPSIMS

IMHO > MPSIMS

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<late addition>I agree with jjimmm - I wrote the rest of this post before I saw his</late addition>

kanicbird: Surely you haven’t failed to notice that Der Trihs is an atheist. He’s hardly going to ‘defend Jesus’, any more than you are likely to defend Zeus or Thor.

Besides, if Jesus really were the Son of God he would hardly need defending against a few atheists on a message board.

Whoosh or not, it’s a well-written piece. I hope he sticks around.

Yeah… I agree with the basic ideals that Der Trihs has, I just wish he’d be a little more tactful in expressing them. I wonder if he doesn’t alienate more people than he convinces.

No, I think they got it right the first time.

This conversation will be rather one-sided, since the forum placement of this thread precludes responsible opposing viewpoints from being argued.

I see nothing in Guest for a day’s post to suggest that he is anything other than 100% serious. I figured that the two I quoted in post #10 were being sarcastic.

Me. Resident strongly opinionated atheist and left winger. Sci fi/Fantasy/Video game enthusiast.

And to the OP, thanks I guess. Although my ego doesn’t need a whole thread to stroke it.