[QUOTE="junglist101"]People certainly find out about themselves in ways that others may not. From my own observations, what I've seen when it comes to drugs and religion, specifically Christianity, is that it creates guilt and people subsequently turn to God for help. Mostly looking to resolve the guilt and/or stop the substance abuse.
RationalAtheist
The 12 Step Program is a common "cure" for alcoholism (which is the most destructive and pervasive drug in my estimation, as well as statistically speaking). It is found at Alcoholics Anonymous groups and has God built into it:
1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol - that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. Continued to take personal inventory, and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
If I was an alcolholic in need of some help, I think I'd prefer to remain drunk, rather than be confronted with that!
In my younger days, I had one of many psychedelic experiences with a group of friends and one of them never recovered from it. He developed a serious schizophrenic condition (that was probably underlying) triggered by his experiences on the trip.
It's amazing how flawed that list is. What's even more amazing is that I could see myself when I was a Christian, looking at that list, and seeing absolutely no problem with it. In fact, I probably would have told you that it seems like pretty sound advice to me. Just curious, what (if any) was your religious affiliation?
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