We Don't Need God to Cure Addiction

Part 3 of the "We Don't Need God" Series by James Hughes

http://wedontneedgod.wordpress.com/

It is ironic to me that in seeking to recover from absolute, life wrecking addiction many counselors, specifically Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous, would advocate another kind of dependence. Their 12 steps advise that believing that you have no power over your own life and that only a mystical god can heal you is the proper road to recovery. What they fail to realize, apart from the fact that there is no such thing as god, is that it is that kind of dependence which is soul-sucking. To offer the abdication of ones mind and judgment as a remedy for the abdication of ones mind and judgment, stating that a different master is what is necessary ignores a crucial element of human nature. Independence is a requirement of human life. It is the fire in a persons soul. It is what enables them to drive themselves toward goals of their choosing. It also means that a person is responsible for the choices they make and the goals they set, and that the rewards or punishments from those actions are theirs alone to receive. By accepting the standard of dependence and irresponsibility, the counselors set the stage for psychological frustration, specifically a lack of self-worth that comes from knowing that life is worth living and that you are capable of living it.

Addiction to drugs and alcohol is a symptom of a minds attempt to escape, not from reality, but from itself. It is a manifestation of frustration, of the wordless struggle, implicitly stating this is how the world is, yet it cannot be. Faith, the belief in something contrary to the facts or evidence, is the main perpetrator of such cognitive dissonance.

In the realm of ideas, everything counts. One cannot simply say If believing in god makes him happy, why not? This precisely is why. This one false idea breeds ignorance and destruction into every mind that accepts it, and corrupts even the noblest of processes.

For true addiction recovery and prevention, we dont need god. We need a a moral philosophy that teaches responsibility and independence, which we wont find in any religion.

Smart Recovery: http://www.smartrecovery.org/
Rational Recovery: http://www.rational.org/
Secular Organizations for Sobriety / Save Our Selves: http://www.cfiwest.org/sos/index.htm
Women for Sobriety: http://www.womenforsobriety.org/

Category:

Education

Tags:

• religion
• god
• atheism
• addiction
• alcoholics anonymous
• reason
• faith

[margiliketarget]

Good job! But a though stand against the world. Keep the work up!

[WeDontNeedGod]

@margiliketarget Thanks so much!

[myhero58]

I see you are still addicted...only to SELF this time...not much different than drugs or alcohol. I pray you find true peace that only comes from knowing Jesus.......

[WeDontNeedGod]

@myhero58 I was never addicted to anything :)

[uberstylee]

@ETERNALNOBILITY: You are quoting from a book where your God actually commands us to kill disobedient children, homosexuals, and anyone that works on the Sabbath....you have NO credibility.

[godlessweasel]

Beautifully done and well said, thankyou :)

[ndrthrdr1]

@sensualfold Google this

heart patient prayer study

and you'll see yet another properly conducted scientific study that shows that prayer does nothing.

[uberstylee]

@sensualfold: GOD IS IMAGINARY AND PRAYWR IS SUPERSTITION. YOU ACTUALLY BELIEVE IN FAIRY TALES? HOW CAN YOU YOU TUBE AND STILL BE CHRISTIAN? AMAZING....

[darrylduke]

I've been sober for over 15 years and have gone through many experiences. I've met people who got sober through God, AA, SOS, HARM Reduction, and on their own. I've found it doesn't matter how we get sober, but that we are happy while sober. For me, helping others is an important part of my happiness. Arguing about how to get sober or what is the best way doesn't help anyone. I don't believe in the devil or Hell, but I do try to believe in myself, and something that created life for a reason.

[sensualfold]

What a sad way to exist "thinking" there is nothing waiting for us when we die when in actuality there is a LIVING Christ waiting for us with open arms. Dont listen or read these words of self pride, KNOW that all that you have and are IS OF GOD. Know that you would have nothing not matter how hard u strive if it was not for him. To think otherwise is a brainwashing. May God bless you and i pray you all wake up to this knowledge before its to late. :)

[ETERNALNOBILITY33]

(cont.) we do have the responsabilty to make those choices but in the end we all will stand before the creator. "the fool says in his heart there is no God" (Psalm 14:1). In Jesus we (all who accept Jesus and his gift of eternal life through his crucifixion and ressurection from the dead) have dominion over the universe at the very near end of this age! He is the King, the creatorof all, and in Him is the fullness of God in a human body (Collosions 2:9).

[ETERNALNOBILITY33]

To even think that this absolutely marvalous and complex world and all existance especially humanity and the human mind could have just evolved is absolutely absurd and foolish. All we have to do is look in the mirror and at all the earth produces to see the laws of the universe at work. They are set in motion by the Living God. Elohim, Jesus. Every law is fixed and is not interupted. We have choices those choices are cause and effect, karma, repercussions whatever we choose to call it...

[WeDontNeedGod]

@ilovecoheed123 If you have proof, you don't need faith. Your comment is self-contradictory.