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I’m agnostic and probably about as liberal as they come. My brother is atheist and getting and staying sober through AA. The “god” can be anything you want it t
by eeeeeeeeeeeee 8y ago
I’m agnostic and probably about as liberal as they come. My brother is atheist and getting and staying sober through AA. The “god” can be anything you want it to be, as it is for him.
That is not to say that AA is for everyone, but this advice to just “talk to a physician” as if that is the only fix is absurd. Look at how many people are hooked on opioids after “talking to their physician.”
- justtopost 8y agoTrue, but predatory church groups abound. Motivations for helping people with addictions ranges from compassion, to dispassioned dominance and exploitation, with most being somewhere in between (money). This is not to say that they are all bad, but peverse incentives seem more common than most industries, even when the intentions are noble.
- simple_phrases 8y agoExploitive and dominance-motivated people exist in the medical sphere, as well.
- 0xcde4c3db 8y agoI never understood the "god can be anything you want" line. Five of the steps involve accepting "god" as an authority over your life, including "His will for us" and the power to "remove all these defects of character". It reminds me of Henry Ford's infamous "any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black"; i.e. you can have any god you want, as long as it's at least a metaphor for a personal god that deserves authority over your decisions and well-being. Your brother might have no problem with that sense of authority, but plenty of atheists do (e.g. believe that if Yahweh existed, He would be a tyrant undeserving of worship).
- ZeroFries 8y agoYou can reduce those to the authority of the laws of physics, if you want. Try defying the authority of gravity, for example. Then, have faith that the laws of physics will work in such a way that your brain will be altered and addiction no longer so strong.
- SketchySeaBeast 8y agoHow does physics "remove all these defects of character"?
- avar 8y agoIt's accepted physics that all defects of character will be removed at the heat death of the universe :)
- SketchySeaBeast 8y agoRemoved, or frozen in perpetuity?
- ZeroFries 8y agoThe only way to alter one's character are through physics, presumably.