Last week, I mentioned in a post that Polly and I drove to Michigan to buy some cannabis to help with drug withdrawals. One man, Dr. David Tee (whose real name is Derrick Thomas Thiessen) took issue with my lawbreaking, saying:
“I am, however, quite willing to break the law myself, and that’s exactly what I did on Thursday.” — Bruce Gerencser
It is this confession that destroys any credibility or authenticity BG thought he had. Anything he has published, is publishing, or will publish is now non-credible because he willfully admits to breaking the law.
Nothing he says can be taken even at face value because he thinks he is above the law. In our ethics and other theological classes, we discussed situational ethics and many people advocate for them.
However, situational ethics does not exist and the end does not justify the means. This type of behavior only opens up a can of worms that ruin society. Breaking the rules is not okay unless you are obeying God’s commandments.
Yes, I broke the law — a law that is a misdemeanor with a $150 fine if convicted.
According to Thiessen, my admitting I bought pot means that no one going forward can ever trust me again; that I lost all credibility and authenticity. Of course, no one but Thiessen has made this claim. As far as my authenticity is concerned, most readers appreciate my honesty. Deciding to tell the whole story was never in question. I can’t talk about not having pain meds for five days and why that happened, and not talk about how I fixed the problem — even if I broke Ohio law.
Thiessen, of course, is a hardcore Christian Fundamentalist. He is a consummate rules keeper, as most Fundamentalists are. Thiessen seems to forget or ignore the fact that I was an Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) for much of my life. I have a firsthand understanding of rule-keeping. I also know that for all my rule-keeping, I wasn’t perfect. I daily sinned in “thought, word, and deed” — or so I thought at the time. There are no perfect Christians — Thiessen included.
No one gets through life without breaking the law. I suspect thousands of readers of this blog have broken the law, and many of them break the law every day. My almost-perfect wife, Polly, breaks the law every day when she hops in our car, sets the cruise at 59 mph, and drives to work. During my driving career of forty-six years (I had to stop driving in 2020 due to my health) I broke the law thousands of times. I received numerous speeding tickets from 1974-1996, everything from ten miles over the speed limit to forty miles over the speed limit on M-59 east of Pontiac, Michigan, at age twenty. My driving was a “Need for Speed” game before such games were even thought of.
When I was a pastor, there were times people slipped me cash as a gift. Legally, I was supposed to claim that money on my income tax return. I broke the law, as did every preacher I knew. Early in our marriage, we were dirt poor. We drove, for a time, without automobile insurance. Again, I broke the law. Such is life. Contrary to Thiessen’s assertions, situational ethics do exist, and we all, at one time or another, make choices based on circumstances, and not what is written in man’s laws or the Bible.
I am generally a law keeper, but there were/are times when I found it necessary or fun (as in speeding) to break the law. As a born-again Christian, there were times when I felt guilty over breaking the law, but most of the time I gave “guilt” nary a thought.
According to Thiessen, it is never right to break the law unless the law is in conflict with the Bible. Then it is okay to break man’s laws. Funny how he doesn’t apply this standard to his own life. Thiessen cannot return to the United States without possibly facing arrest for crimes committed twenty years ago. The thrice-married Thiessen lives in the Philippines because he has to.
I am indeed an occasional lawbreaker. Circumstances will determine future law-breaking. If this is too “real” for you and you can no longer read my writing lest I lead you down a path of moral and ethical decay, I say “he that is without “speeding,” let him cast the first blog post.”
By all accounts, I am a good man. I doubt that cannabis gummies and four pre-rolled joints will change opinions about me one way or another. I did what was best for me at the moment. When Polly had an A-fib attack, I drove her to the emergency room, six miles away. The speed limit was 55. I drove 80-90 mph on dark, barren U.S. Hwy 15. Did I break the law? Sure. Given the choice of breaking the law or saving the life of the love of my life, I chose the latter. And I would do it again. In Thiessen’s world, it is always a sin to break man’s laws (unless they are contrary to the Bible).
Have you ever broken the law? Did you feel guilty about doing so? Do you drive over the speed limit or commit other non-serious, inconsequential laws? Please share your thoughts and experiences in the comment section.
Bruce Gerencser, 66, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 45 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
Bruce Gerencser, 66, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 45 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
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Bruce, your generosity to Dr. T is saintly. I mean by not telling us why he was deposed and why he is on the run from the our legal system. Can it be the Bible commanded him to do something forbidden by man’s law? Good heavens! Maybe i’ll ask the Google about him.
I keep trying to transcribe that portion of the deposition but his (il)logic gives me a headache. Abbreviated version: he was facing charges, was given a court date, and made a deliberate decision to fail to show up because he was unhappy with his public defender, although I imagine this is more along the lines of the PD not wanting to present a “nothing actually says registering to vote is illegal” type defense. His subsequent arrests were in other states and there was a decision not to extradite.
Why he would be arrested now relates to the child support. Under the law where that charge originated, the statute of limitations is suspended if you go into hiding and/or flee the country to evade the legal system, so that is also still hanging over his head.
I don’t know if it’s in every state, think it is, but where I live people have found a loop hole in federal law and are buying THC legally from smoke shops and gas stations under the name of Delta-8 and my very religious friend said his doctor told him to go buy THC-A flowers and smoke it for his injury and told him where to get it. Apparently that is legal too because of some loophole as our state has not legalized pot. How does Tee bag know that you aren’t buying something like that? The high school kids in this bible belt town are able to buy Delta 8 at the gas station and then driving down the road high as a kite hollering at passersby.
I live in Wales where, on 17th Sept, the speed limit on 30mph roads is being reduced to 20mph. Apparently if hit by a vehicle at 30mph the victim is 5 times more likely to die than if hit at 20mph so it will reduce road deaths and accidents. And there’s the air pollution thing too which is concerning many in the UK. I have to say, most of us are dreading it – and in this small island traffic cams are everywhere so few will get away with breaking the law. However caring about the safety of others we may be….I can’t help thinking that many are hoping this new law is proved a failure…..though I guess we’ll just be forced to get used to it.
In California, USA, where I live, speed limits on rural highways are mostly about sight lines outside towns, and are often the result of long negotiations by residents inside rural towns. When Caltrans has a posted speed limit of 65 in the middle of nowhere, on hilly terrain, it might not actually be all that safe to exceed that limit, but only because the Corvette, passing someone else going the other way at 85 mph, will appear out of nowhere in your lane as it comes up the hill. Husband and I joke that Caltrans people who determine speed limits all drive full-size pickups, and the view from lower-slung passenger cars (like that hypothetical Corvette) is not something they can contemplate. Vehicle height makes a difference.
Having said that, do I exceed the speed limit? Of course, judiciously, depending on the road. The rule of thumb in California is that no Highway Patrol officer with bother you about 5 mph over the speed limit, UNLESS that speed isn’t safe. So, if you are weaving in heavy traffic, or driving too fast in really bad weather, all bets are off. Absent that, county roads at night are fair game…just mind the deer and other critters. Last night, driving on a dark county road where the traffic was only just too heavy to use my bright headlights, I nearly ran into a dark gray mottled cat that was hard to see against the asphalt. But I missed, and it lived.
Oh, and THC having been legal by state law for YEARS in California, have I tried the stuff? Sure, edibles. I don’t have enough pain to warrant them, and don’t like the side effects. Worth the experiment. Federal law is stupid about THC.
CBD, obtained in accordance with both state and Federal law, does help with inflammation. Search the web for reviews on purveyors.
Situational ethics doesn’t exist! Oh wow, Tee bag’s stupidity never ceases to amaze! Here’s a law that’s still on UK statute books (not the exact wording but heyho)
“ All males over the age of 14 are required by law to practice longbow for at least two hours per week. And apparently if you live in York, it is permissible to shoot a Scotsman with a bow and arrow. Just make sure it isn’t on a Sunday.”
Great minds. I had been drafting a post on this very subject. Since you’ve already broached it, here’s the basic version:
First we cover what may be my single favorite exchange in the record we’ve been discussing:
“Do you vote, Mr. Thiessen?”
“No.”
“Did you ever apply for voter registration?”
“It’s illegal to do so.”
“Yes, it is. Have you ever done so?”
“Yes.”
[Ed.: let us pause here and reflect on Derrick’s recent blog post: “…this confession … destroys any credibility or authenticity (he) thought he had. Anything he has published, is publishing, or will publish is now non-credible because he willfully admits to breaking the law. Nothing he says can be taken even at face value because he thinks he is above the law.”]
“When did you do that?”
“Ten years ago, ten to fifteen years ago?”
“Where?”
“It was in (State 1).”
“What did you do?”
“Didn’t vote.”
“Did you apply for voter registration in the state of (State 1)?”
“Yeah, I applied, but didn’t vote, didn’t use it.”
“How did you apply?”
“Just filled out a card and sent it in.”
“What name did you use?”
“David Ford.”
“You knew you had to be a US citizen to vote?”
“Yeah. I didn’t vote.”
“Did you know it’s illegal to create an application to vote using a false name if you’re not a US citizen?”
“It didn’t say application for one was illegal. To have one or use, it’s illegal.”
“Did you get the voter registration card?”
“No.”
[omitting several comments that are summarized as “you can’t prove I ever had physical possession of the voter registration card, and besides, I never used it, so no harm, no foul”]
…
“Did you apply for voter registration anyplace else?”
“No.”
“Specifically, did you apply for one in (State 2)?”
“No.”
“Did you ever use the name Peter Sullivan?”
“No.”
“… Do you recognize this?”
“No.”
“This is a voter registration card for (State 2). What’s the name that’s at the top?”
“Sullivan, Peter.”
“What is the address listed for Peter Sullivan applying for this registration card?”
“(redacted)”
“That’s where you lived, correct?”
“Yes.”
“And what is the occupation listed?”
“Writer.”
“And you are a writer, correct?”
“I was.”
“And what is the date of birth listed on this registration card?”
“(redacted)”
“That’s your date of birth, is it not?”
“Yes.”
…
“… Can you tell me any reason – this thing has your address, your date of birth, your occupation. Just a coincidence?”
“No, because off and on I would help people out and have them stay with me. Some were not the most reputable people, but they needed help and this could be the way they paid me back.”
[Ed.: I don’t know about you, but whenever I’ve done someone a favor, they’ve repaid my kindness with, usually, a meal, or returning the car they borrowed with a full tank of gas, not by committing a felony on my behalf.]
“… This says, if I’m correct, ‘I’m a citizen of the United States.”
“Okay.”
“Is that what it says?”
“Yes.”
“And does it also say it’s a felony for someone to sign this and submit it if that information is not correct?”
“Okay. That’s what it says.”
“So your testimony is that you did something similar to this in (State 1), but you’re denying any responsibility for doing this in (State 2)?”
“Yes.”
Incidentally, you’ve received just a taste of the mental gymnastics he’s capable of. Maybe later we’ll get to the visitation rights he demanded to his child, that he then never availed himself of because “I believe it’s my right not to do so.”
A police precinct commander and a lawyer—who, to my knowledge, never met—told me the same thing, verbatim: Everyone breaks the law at least once, whether or not they realize it.
According to Tee-total’s reasoning, the person who drives within the speed limit is Godly, even if their passenger dies before reaching the emergency room.
About cannabis. While it’s legal here in New York, the state has been slow to grant licenses to sell it. As a result, there are an estimated 2000 illegal shops in New York City alone. Some customers are, to be sure, young people getting high. But many more are like a friend, a few years older than I, who is a chronic pain suffered.
Bruce: “When Polly had an A-fib attack, I drove her to the emergency room, six miles away.”
Zoe: Leaving the doctor’s office while collapsed in the back of our van, Biker Dude drove like crazy to the hospital as per Dr.’s suggestion. It would take too long for the Ambulance. As we came to the road to take us into the city, it was completely dug up and being redone. It was illegal to go past the “do not enter” sign but Biker Dude had no other choice or road available to him and he had a wife who thought she was dying in the worst agony of her life in the back of the van. He just kept going, by the trucks, the workers, over the holes and bumps and he got through somehow he got through and I spent the next 10 days in the hospital trying not to die. He broke the law and so did I.
Okay now Tee. Time for you to spill the tea. Confession is good for the soul.
Now I wonder how folks like “Tee” square their “always obey the law” beliefs with the fact that laws vary by location.
An example is the “Idaho Stop,” which the Gem State legalized in 1982. Briefly, it allows cyclists to cross an intersection at a red light if there’s no cross-traffic. Several US cities and states, as well as Paris and some other European locales, have adopted similar laws.
The law actually makes cycling safer: It allows cyclists to proceed ahead of vehicles that had been traveling in the same direction but are turning right at the intersection. Cyclists have been struck and killed when crossing with the green light—most often by buses and trucks.
I argued this very point with a police officer who ticketed me In Westchester County, New York. He claimed to be a cyclist himself and that the laws are there “to keep you safe.” Dishonest and patronizing: Does that someone we’ve been talking about?
In a prior debate with him, Tee would not condemn the ultimately fatal treatment of George Floyd by police officer Derek Chauvin, preferring to hide behind words like ‘law’ and ‘justice’, whilst never acknowledging that Floyd never received justice for his alleged crime (the heinous crime of possession of a fraudulent bank note).
His refusal to acknowledge that kneeling on a man’s neck for several minutes, until (and after) Floyd fell unconscious, was a gross mistreatment of Floyd, and seemed more concerned that Chauvin would not be treated fairly. I guess, in light of what we know, it is no great surprise he’d side with the aggressor.
If Tee is a good example of how his god wants people to behave, then his god is a real jerk. My own Christian family and friends don’t worship that god at all. Their deity is about grace extended to stumbling humans, and Jesus’ commands about how to treat others. Tee would undoubtedly proclaim that they are not “true Christians”.
I can’t help but think of “Beavis and Butthead” singing “breaking the law, breaking the law”.