Read Part 1.
The question is: should addiction be treated as a disease that prevents addicts from overcoming their problems?The writer Damian Thompson of the Daily Telegraph newspaper, who is a recovering alcoholic, has written a new book on the subject, explaining that his concern is how drug addiction behavior “spreads in society. “
- “There’s an acceleration of dependence.
- ” he said in “Today.
- “”Impulsivity.
- ” he says.
- Is becoming the standard cognitive style of the elite.
Colin Blakemore, professor of neuroscience at Oxford University, says there is a “biological basis” in substance abuse, although there are problems defining it.
? Look at the word Discomfort, not being comfortable with life itself, which characterizes the problem of alcohol?, he says.
At Niddria we teach people that ALL addictions are rooted in everyone’s choice, if we go back far enough into each person’s life story, we will see that at some point we have chosen a certain type of behavior, it is a fact, admitted by Professor Blakemore, that the medical world cannot prove, with reasonable precision , that drug addiction, alcohol, pornography, etc. , is a disease. The Bible, on the other hand, is clear about the causes of these problems in the lives of so many people. Consider Galatians 5:17
Why does the flesh fight the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh, because they oppose each other?;
Many addicts say they do what they do out of boredom, to avoid pain and even to have fun (at least at first), but the reality is that they do it to feed their selfish desires, slaves and lustful, to please themselves. , many of them are now chemically controlled irreparably for their behavior, and there are no easy solutions for their total physical and psychological dependence. But at the end of the day, all its behavior goes back to the root of an election, a decision made in the past. They searched and found their addictions, it wasn’t addiction that chose them, that wasn’t the ‘innocent’ part that was taken by forces out of their control.
So what does the Bible say about that? Actually, a lot. Consider the following:
Fighting evil is, at best, difficult and dangerous, even with the best skills. That’s why God forbade poisoning, of course, there are other ways to violate these principles, but drug abuse is certainly one of them.
Interestingly, in biblical times, drug use was closely associated with black magic and witchcraft, so I think the Bible says very clearly that it is sensible in everything we do (2 Tim 1. 7, 1Pe 4. 1-7; Tt 2. 2,4,6 , 12; 24,25; Galatians 5:23; 2Pe 1. 6). Did we come in it?An exegical and explanatory dictionary of the words of the Old and New Testaments?
In witchcraft, the use of drugs, simple or strong, used to be accompanied by enchantments and invocations of hidden powers, with the use of different talismans, amulets etc. , supposedly to protect the client or patient from the care and power of demons. , but which, in fact, intended to impress the client with the sorcerer’s mysterious resources and powers.
This was certainly my experience in Brazil when we worked with young drug addicts, Brazilian spiritualism, (Macumba and Candomblé), mixing drug use with “attractive minds” in their lives. The result? Mental health problems, abuses, suicides and murders on an epidemic scale in this part of the world.
Addiction, in all its forms, is destructive, greedy and fuels the selfish desire to constantly love more. He never satisfies himself and kills people mercilessly. Consider the following poem, based on Psalm 23, written by a young woman who died of an overdose. .
“The king of heroin is my shepherd. I still love her. Makes me lie in the sewers. He takes me to the murky waters. Destroy my soul. He leads me down the paths of evil. Yes, I’ll walk in the valley of poverty and don’t be afraid, because you, the heroine, are with me. Your needles and capsules make me feel better. You took the dining table to me in the presence of my family. You stole the reason from my head. My glass of sadness overflows. Certainly, heroin addiction will haunt me every day of my life and I will remain forever in the House of the Damned.
Part of the Christian Church’s response to drugs should be to resist all demands for legalization. Are there an interesting article called “Legal Drugs: Stupider Than You Think?”(Written from a secular point of view) worth reading here.
So how do we deal with the problem in our churches?The answer is to send them all to rehab? If addicts can be helped, how can we do that?
More practical advice to follow.