Dr. David Tee, an Evangelical preacher whose real name is Derrick Thomas Thiessen, thinks my friend Ben Berwick (MM) and I owe him an apology for some sort of offense that resides only in the dark, empty depths of his mind.
We are still waiting for both MM and BG to apologize and take responsibility for the foul things they have said about and to us. They won’t do it because in their minds, they think they are doing what is right.
I think I speak for Ben when I say that we haven’t done anything worthy of an apology, so one will not be coming anytime soon. Both of us work very hard not to cause unnecessary offense, but when it comes to Thiessen, to speak the truth about him means causing him to “feel” offense. Thiessen speaks in the plural, saying “we are still waiting” for you to apologize. Who is the other person or persons we allegedly offended? Or is this feigned offense all about a butthurt preacher getting upset by something we may have written that he disagrees with?
Memo to Derrick Thiessen: No apology will be forthcoming. Do I regret a few things I have said about you over the years? Sure, but on most accounts, I have written about you truthfully and honestly. You have been given ample opportunity to set the record straight or defend your beliefs, but you choose not to do so, painting yourself as a martyr who is being wrongly “attacked” by atheists and agnostics. You typically write several posts about Ben and me every week. Never charitable, never honest, you choose to paint both of us in a negative light. That’s fine. Such is the nature of the Internet, right? Yet, shouldn’t we expect better behavior from one of God’s chosen ones? Especially, a so-called man of God? What would Jesus do (WWJD), Derrick? Not write two posts a week about two bloggers who, according to you, no one reads (another lie you repeatedly tell).
These days, I rarely respond to the basement-dwelling Thiessen. This post is my reminder to him that he should not expect an apology from me. I sent Derrick a 20″x30″ glossy photo of me pole dancing in the nude. I thought that would satiate his call for apologies and other desires he may have, but alas, Bruce Gerencser swinging in all his glory didn’t do it. Oh well, I tried. (In case Derrick has a hard time with sarcasm and satire, this last paragraph was both.)
Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen 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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Hear hear Bruce, hear hear! The way I see it, Derrick can issue demands for apologies till he is blue in the face. He wants apologies over facts that contradict him, which is an absurd reason to demand an apology. Facts won’t change to suit him.
I, somewhat foolishly, went to Tee’s site to read what he had actually written, and it was the usual illogical drivel. I actually laughed out loud, however, at his opening words which were “we have debated with ourselves…”.! Talk about nonsense!!
As for his substantive points he, very predictably, took the MAGA viewpoint that Kirk was a great hero who was being unfairly attacked by the left. He completely ignored the reality, which is that almost all shootings of a random nature (as opposed to associated with gang and criminal enterprise) and domestic terrorism are carried out by those with extreme right wing, Christian, views. He deplores the verbal attacks on Kirk, who I consider was a pretty vile human being, whilst never once mentioning that almost all on the left condemned the shooting, and he was unable to see that attacks on Kirk’s critics were an attack on free speech. Nor did he once mention the disgusting celebration of attacks on left wing politicians by those on the right. Free speech, according to Tee, should be renamed ‘Me Speech’.
Sigh, oh my, we must apologize, but for what?
I have had a similar experience. A woman on the Internet insisted that I need to forgive myself for the horrible thing I had said. I readily agreed to apologize if I had done anything wrong and asked her repeatedly what I had said that was wrong. She absolutely refused to answer that question. There was just the constant attack that I had said something wrong, and a steady refusal to tell me what I said that was wrong. That is what we face.
Hang in there, Bruce. You will see a lot of attacks because of what you write, but many people need to hear what you have to say.
I find Mr Tee with his royal “we” to be unreadable nonsense. He has an inflated sense of self poorly disguised as Jesus-approved. He’ll say all sorts of things under the banner of “don’t blame me, I’m just conveying the message in the Bible”. He seems obsessed with you and Mr Berwick, and takes great delight in imagining that “one day you will see the truth” (meaning, he thinks his deity will fry you both eternally in hell).
He’s missing you guys. 😉
Doc T likes your blog (and Ben Berwick) for the same reason I do. Large enough to have a decent dialogue, small enough not to get lost in the crowd. If Doc T were to complain on the Friendly Atheist blog he’d find that no one would notice.
An apology is typically issued when a person is provoked by anger, diminished by fatigue, or ignorant of the full picture. An apology is typically rendered to restore a relationship that was damaged by ill chosen words. In the case of Doc T, no such apology can (or should) be rendered since there is not relationship to restore, nor were the words incorrect or emotionally uttered. Let’s face it Doc, you’re outta gas.
I’m still trying to figure out what Dr T has a PhD or Doctorate in. I mean he can claim to be educated all he wants, but until he produces some actual original research I think Derrick T or T is nothing more than a man of “little T character” and “little T energy”.
@Bryce
“Archeology and the Believer” (2025) is Doc T’s doctoral thesis. In the preface of the book he states: “After many years of criticism about my Doctoral degree, I have decided to publish my Dissertation.” What diploma mill he got it from is anyone’s guess though.
To be totally honest, you don’t have the health, time, or emotional energy to be even giving this man a single moment of your time. Life is too short. Too precious. You have said before that he can get through all the blockers and filters you have set up, but in your stead, what I would do is , never even read one more word from him, just delete before you even read, and you will find much more peace. This drama from him has gone on far, far too long. And it’s NOT mean to set healthy boundaries.