Are Drug Treatment Professionals the blind leaders of the blind?

That’s a true or false question. If you picked false you need to read this post.



Well, I picked up a copy of the paper today and saw an AP story that probably ran in many papers in California. The Headline is:



“Study Finds High re-arrest rate”



The article is kind of hard to read but the sub heading says researchers say Prop 36 drug offenders aren’t getting enough treatment to make a difference.



In the body of the article it says researchers suggest longer and more intensive treatment is needed to make a substantial difference, and that efforts should be concentrated on those with severe addiction.



Id like to share my thoughts on these so-called drug treatment programs. Im not against effective drug treatment but one thing you’ll never read in stories like this is the possibility that the drug treatment professional don’t have a clue what to do , and don’t have a treatment that works. Longer “treatment” that is ineffective isn’t going to have anymore impact than shorter ineffective treatment. And will someone please tell me what this “Treatment” is?



I spent time at the so-called California Rehabilitation Center in Corona in the 1970’s and I can assure you I saw very little “treatment”. (Stabbings and race riots aren’t treatment).In fact, one of the correctional lieutenants there told me , “We don’t know what to do with you guys. We just lock you up and hope youll get tired of doing what your doing.” At least he was honest.



I also spent time at the Tarzana Family which had treatment methods they got mainly from Synanon, but which were also ineffective. Ill be posting later about my experience at Tarzana and their treatments.



The closest thing they had to “treatment” was AA and NA, and Ive already shared a little in previous posts how these programs have lost their way in a spiritual sense.



I acknowledge the 12 Steps as a program of recovery.I think there is a rare individual here and there that uses the 12 steps ( which were taken out of the Bible) and finds the experience of repentance and belief in Christ. But your not going to find any tax supported institution program talking about Jesus Christ or Repentance. They are forbidden by law from doing so.Is it any wonder they are ineffective?





What Im saying is that the “Treatment Industry” doesn’t have a treatment for drug addiction/Alcoholism. They compete for government funding and are known to inflate their recovery statistics.

But they are not about to step forward and say they don’t understand addiction or what to do about it. In fact, many of them don’t know they don’t know. They are blissfully ignorant wallowing in the lie they have been taught that alcoholism or addiction is some kind of disease.



Don’t look for them to admit their wrong anytime soon. There are too many paychecks on the line.



"If the blind lead the blind wont they both fall into a ditch?"- Jesus Christ



©2004 Christianrecovery.blogspot.com

How to deal with evil

Evil unrepenant people are everywhere and learning to deal with them is probably the most important thing that anyone can learn. We are called not only to love our friends but love our enemies too.







I thought I would share something which happened to me. During the 14 years I used drugs and drank I was a criminal,like many of us: A thief , a burglar, and a robber. After 28 years of being clean I am somewhat distant from that life. However, recently I had a reminder. I got into a partnership with a mechanic I didn’t know very well restoring a 1972 Plymouth Roadrunner. Unbeknownst to me he was secretly using , probably methamphetamines. I knew he had used drugs in the past but he said he was clean and had stopped drinking (drinking he had stopped but he was still secretly using speed). Although I noticed some dishonesty and lies , I chalked it up to his still being screwed up from his years of using drugs. Last month he stole $175 for a crankshaft on a motor home he was doing some work on for me. I caught him and gave him a chance to make it right. However, the landlord decided to evict him. During his 30 day notice period he stole $2000 worth of engine parts off the Roadrunner.When cleaning out his trailer the landlord discovered baggies with crystal residue and a syringe. I did not know because I was out of town and the landlord failed to look out for my interest. When I got back in town I discovered the theft, but he had left the state and fled to Arizona. The entire incident has probably cost me at least $10000. While going through this incident as a crime victim, I got a better understanding of the deep harm I caused people in the past. Although there were some moments of anger, I observed these reactions and did not give in to the anger .Really, except for the grace of God there go I, and I have no right to be resentful and judgemental toward this man. Somehow, it is a blessing to me to forgive the trespasses of others. I have been there and know that he is a slave of something he does not understand. This is, I believe, the meaning of the words found in the Lords Prayer: “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us”.



©2004 Christianrecovery.blogspot.com

Speaking the Truth in recovery

Speaking up to the world about sin can be dangerous. In fact, it can get you killed. Just pointing out that AA is tolerant and accepting of homosexuality ( it is) causes me to be attacked. Im called a bigot,judgemental, insulted and suggestions are made as to my sanity, and they try and doubt myself. Well, bring it on; the Truth is still the Truth.



At one time AA was a good organization. Early AA had Christian roots and, no doubt, there was some brotherly and sisterly love there, but its come a long way from its roots. Sure, there are still some good AA's around but as an organization its losts its way. I would even go so far as to say that many of the Christian testimonies included in the First Edition of The Big Book have been deliberately deleted from the modern AA literature. I think its pretty well known that AA founder's son , Bob Smith, had pretty much the same thing to say about AA's subtle endorsement of homosexuality.





This site is not about homosexuality or prejudice to gays.Its about Truth and Christian recovery from a life of sin, especially where drugs and alcohol are involved. Homosexuals can recover too. But they (like all sinners) have to repent. There are some good Christian organizations involved in helping them but how can you get better as long as you dont admit your wrong? You cant.



Ill post later about some good organizations that can help you recover from homosexuality, but for now lets get on to other things.

Does AA endorse Homosexuality?

Apparently, there are some arguing that AA does not endorse homosexuality. Well, it does,albeit subtly. Let me present some of the facts to you.



First of all, AA has a tradition. Tradition 10 which states:



No A.A. group or member should ever, in such a way as to implicate AA., express any opinion on outside controversial issues- particularly those of politics, alcohol, or sectarian religion. The Alcoholics Anonymous groups oppose no one. Concerning such matters they can express no views whatever.



************************************************************************************

If AA lived up to the above tradition, I would have no need to speak out about the matter but they dont. Let me preface my remarks by saying I dont hate homosexuals as I have falsely been accused of. I wish them the best and hope they find repentance of their sin.



As far as AA is concerned, consider the following evidence:



Go to the AA website: www.alcoholics-anonymous.org . Click on the link About A.A.. Then click on the link,"Do you think your different". At the bottom of the page are various links to AA pamphlets which are sometimes seen at meetings. Two of them are relevant:



My name is Padric (gay)



My name is Mary (lesbian)



As you can see being gay or lesbian is equated with being old, black, native american, and Jewish. As you can see from reading the stories they clearly give the idea that AA is accepting of homosexuality, and so it is. At least on the west coast, meeting pamphlets denote meetings that are men only, women, or gay. What is that but promoting homosexuality as a viable life style? Personally, I only went to one Gay AA meeting (by mistake) and I can assure I heard no talk of it being a character defect that needed removing. That is not to say that all AA's agree with it, many dont.





Years ago I attended a round-up in Grants Pass, Oregon. The AA organizers of the event had set aside a certain segment of the round-up for gay meetings. Then, as now, I was outraged. At one of the podium participation meetings I stood up and said it wasnt right for the organizers to do that, that they were endorsing homosexuality. The room was full of at least 100 hundred people; I could see half the heads in the room nodding in agreement.





Read again the words of Padric from the AA website:





"I'm also glad I feel this special A.A. closeness to many straight people, something I never would have thought possible. In fact, for years I stayed sober and so held on to jobs by going to meetings of A.A. groups that were mostly straight. In A.A. today, I know sober leather fans, transvestites, and members of every other sexual group there is. But the only important thing here is that we are all human beings, all alcoholics, and all in A.A. together."





Does not that sound like acceptance of all kinds of perversion? Of course it does. Just to widen my paint brush a little I would say the sister program of Narcotics Anonymous has the same problem. This statement is said in the readings before almost every meeting:





Anyone may join us regardless of age, race, sexual identity, creed, religion or lack of religion.



So both programs are tolerant of and accepting of homosexuality. Rarely, if ever, will you hear it spoken against. Rarely, if ever, will you hear it called a character defect which needs to be removed.



It is accurate to say that both programs are tolerant and accepting of homosexuality. And that their official literature promotes that acceptance and tolerance. Anyone that tells you different is

not being honest.



©2004 Christianrecovery.blogspot.com

My Name is Padric and Im Gay

No, my name is not Padric and Im not Gay (Thank God). However, the link to AA which was mention in the posting "Has Alcoholics Annoymous Lost its Way" did not work as world services had changed the link. The link below should take to the right place.





My name is Padric (gay)





The point being that the Official positon of AA is that its ok to be gay. Maybe its about time Christian Churches started protesting about this. Maybe Pastors shouldnt let AA meet at their facilities if they are going to take such position? But then again Churches like the Episcopalian Church wont even take a stand against homosexuality, will they. Which raises the question: are they even really Christians?

Has Alcoholics Anonymous Lost its way?

HAS ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS LOST ITS WAY?



I have been a member of Alcoholics Anonymous for 28 years. AA has become a worldwide and an American Institution. Treatment centers throughout the United States tout the 12 steps and Christian Churches in the USA provide meeting places for Alcoholics Anonymous. It is not polite to criticize AA. But countless American depend on AA and its teachings, so it is legitimate to ask “Has AA lost its Way ? ” I say it has.

Its not that there is anything wrong with the 12 steps. AA’s founder, Bill Wilson, rightly said that the principles of the 12 steps came from the bible. Consider what one early AA member had to say years ago:

One morning, after a sleepless night worrying over what I could do to straighten myself out, I went to my room alone-took my Bible in hand and asked Him, the One Power, that I might open to a good place to read-and I read. "For I delight in the law of God after the inward man. But I see a different law in my members, warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity under the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me out of the body of this death?" That was enough for me-I started to understand. Here were the words of Paul a great teacher. What then if I had slipped? Now, I could understand. From that day years ago, I gave, still give and always will give time everyday to read the word of God and let Him do all the caring. Who am I to try to run myself or anyone else?*

Times have changed since then. All references to the Holy Bible have been taken out of the later editions of the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, and not by accident. But that’s not all.

AA has a tradition which states:

“No AA group or member should ever, in such a way as to implicate AA, express any opinion on outside controversial issues”

Despite this fact, AA has taken a position of subtly and not so subtly endorsing homosexuality. There are many examples but one will suffice. Contrast that previous statement by an early AA with this statement by a modern AA:

In A.A. today, I know sober leather fans, transvestites, and members of every other sexual group there is. But the only important thing here is that we are all human beings, all alcoholics, and all in A.A. together.*

The sad fact is that the Gay Rights movement has infiltrated Alcoholics Anonymous and its literature. Being Gay is equated with being Jewish, Black, or Native American on the Alcoholics Anonymous World Services Website: http://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org/english/E_Pamphlets/P-13_d1.html

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think Gays and Lesbians out to be excluded from AA, but only told that sin is sin. Anything less is a disservice to everyone, and contrary to the will of the Creator whose blessing we all seek.



AA has lost its way, and should promptly admit its wrong.



*The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, First edition

**My name is Padric, and I'm and Alcoholic (gay)



©2004 Christianrecovery.blogspot.com



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Genesis

The purpose of this blog is to present TRUTH about the problem of addiction ( be it drugs,alcohol, ore whatever) instead of the steady diet of lies we are mostly getting in this society. The author wants people to know what the problem is as well as the fact that there is a cure. Perhaps if you have a problem or have a loved one that has a problem, we will be able to steer you in the right direction.