SECBH@cunyvm.bitnet (06/04/91)
In article <Jun.3.01.10.54.1991.2556@athos.rutgers.edu> jygabler@ucdavis.edu (Jason Gabler) writes: > Louie substitute the work 'alcoholic' for homosexual for arguments > sake. We all believe ( suppose ) alcoholism ( not comsuming alcohol, > but true alcoholoism ) is a sin. For the alcoholic the wel known > first step to recovery is admitting ones problem/sin. To go a step > further, what if someone who loves you, let say your spouse, decides to As someone who has spent a great deal of his time working with persons addicted to alcohol or drugs, I feel that it is necessary to make a counter-statement to Mr. Gabler's religious interpretation. The non-alcoholic who gets drunk may be commiting a sin. However, the condition of being addicted to alcohol is a complex condition having both physical and emotional components, and it considered to be a disease. Mr. Gabler's statement that the "first step to recovery is admitting ones problem/sin" may be his personal opinion, it is not, however, part of the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. The concept of sin has no place in recovery as presented by Alcoholics Anonymous, nor in any other treatment modality with which I am familar. Mr. Gabler is rendering a religious judgement on a medical problem. As has been the case with leprosy, syphilis and AIDS, all this accomplishes is to put the sufferer in the position of becoming a victim of religious zealotry. Jack Carroll