First let me say that your post is quite inspiring, well thought out, and informative. Thank you for your openness on such a touchy subject. Few people are willing to reveal their struggle with addiction on a public format. I read all of your posts on IWN and look forward to more although I have been holding comments there because my presence seems to be upsetting some due to my gender.
I can mostly agree to the above question but, on the other side of the coin, I do believe that public policy can disincentivize faith and actually be destructive to it. I am referring to the false notion of the "separation of church and state". That has led to the teaching of and acceptance of many negative materialist philosophies that work to eliminate the true triune spiritual nature of the human condition: body, mind, and spirit. What do you think?
Thanks so much Peter! I appreciate you kind comments and agree with you that public policy can do that...well worth thinking on more and perhaps a post to come. Thanks for being here!
Thank you for your reply and kind words. Thinking further on the subject, I've come to the place where I have a problem with the idea of a "genetic predisposition". It seems to me to be, as I stated above, a scientific materialist categorization of something that is beyond science. Labeling it as such renders an addiction as something that can, perhaps someday, be fixed by a scientific process such as gene therapy.
Whereas I would proffer that everyone has some type of addiction. However the condition of worldly public psyche is that many addictions are, unfortunately, quite acceptable and therefore not considered addictions sloughing them off as "everybody does it" and "no one gets harmed" etc. I'm thinking about things like lying, narcissism, self aggrandizeing or more private conditions that even those close to them know nothing about.
I base this on the Biblical idea of the Fall of Man. Jesus said that "All have fallen and come short of the glory of God" and that "None are good, save One" and Paul says that even though he knows what's right he continues to choose what is wrong.
This is in NO way an attempt to lessen or dismiss the struggles of those who are caught in those more publicly ilviewed conditions but more to strengthen the need for a "higher power" in all people's lives that, in my view, is Yahweh God the Creator of all things visible and invisible.
"Can public policy incentivize faith?"
First let me say that your post is quite inspiring, well thought out, and informative. Thank you for your openness on such a touchy subject. Few people are willing to reveal their struggle with addiction on a public format. I read all of your posts on IWN and look forward to more although I have been holding comments there because my presence seems to be upsetting some due to my gender.
I can mostly agree to the above question but, on the other side of the coin, I do believe that public policy can disincentivize faith and actually be destructive to it. I am referring to the false notion of the "separation of church and state". That has led to the teaching of and acceptance of many negative materialist philosophies that work to eliminate the true triune spiritual nature of the human condition: body, mind, and spirit. What do you think?
Thanks so much Peter! I appreciate you kind comments and agree with you that public policy can do that...well worth thinking on more and perhaps a post to come. Thanks for being here!
Thank you for your reply and kind words. Thinking further on the subject, I've come to the place where I have a problem with the idea of a "genetic predisposition". It seems to me to be, as I stated above, a scientific materialist categorization of something that is beyond science. Labeling it as such renders an addiction as something that can, perhaps someday, be fixed by a scientific process such as gene therapy.
Whereas I would proffer that everyone has some type of addiction. However the condition of worldly public psyche is that many addictions are, unfortunately, quite acceptable and therefore not considered addictions sloughing them off as "everybody does it" and "no one gets harmed" etc. I'm thinking about things like lying, narcissism, self aggrandizeing or more private conditions that even those close to them know nothing about.
I base this on the Biblical idea of the Fall of Man. Jesus said that "All have fallen and come short of the glory of God" and that "None are good, save One" and Paul says that even though he knows what's right he continues to choose what is wrong.
This is in NO way an attempt to lessen or dismiss the struggles of those who are caught in those more publicly ilviewed conditions but more to strengthen the need for a "higher power" in all people's lives that, in my view, is Yahweh God the Creator of all things visible and invisible.
Beautiful. Love the read. Thanks.
thank you!
Found this randomly, glad I did! Great, personal writing, on a very important topic.