Overcome Addiction - Religion and Recovery |
Without question one of the more successful
treatment models has been the 12 step program, which originated with Alcoholics anonymous.
In the past several years the
program has suffered a great deal of scrutiny in regards to its religious formatting, and
even though it has desperately attempted to escape this labeling, for all intent and
purposes that’s what it is! However, the religious aspect is not what makes successful,
and in fact I believe it to be a detriment to the program. So, what has made this program
more successful than most of the other treatment options? I believe that the success of
this program is largely due to the spiritual aspect. In many regards the choice of addictive
behavior is a falling from spirit, in the sense that addictive behavior is of a self centered,
self serving attitude, whereas spirituality encourages a sense of connectedness and being
of service to others. Most individuals that have chosen to partake in addictive behavior do
so at the expense of others, and they do it with one thing and only one thing in mind; the
need to mask the pain of their emotional issues. Making a connection with spirit allows
the addicted person to view things in a greater perspective and allows them to understand
that one person’s actions affect the many. Therefore, I do view spirituality as being an
important component to recovery but, spirituality is very difficult to pursue if you have
not uncovered and confronted the root cause of the addiction.
The practice of spirituality
encompasses a great deal of self reflection and mindfulness, which ultimately leads to a
more symbolic view of the world as a whole. Remember, the individual suffering from
addiction only views one world, their own! When it comes to approaching spirituality
from the perspective of prayer, consider the fact that traditional prayer will not
accomplish this goal. Going through the motions of reciting traditional prayer without
changing your deeply engrained, self limiting, subconscious beliefs will result in failure.
What is engrained in your subconscious mind is much more powerful than the words that
you speak! In order to gain the understanding of the world as a whole, you must achieve
self reflection and inner peace by quieting the mind.
So, where does religion fit in to the
recovery picture? Well, in my view it doesn’t! That’s right, it doesn’t. Not only does it
not fit in but, I view it to be a detriment to full recovery! So, let’s examine what the
actually true intent and purpose of religion is, and how it stacks up against the probable
outcome of pursuing the incorrect or misguided practice of it. The word religion is
derived from the Latin word Religare, which means to restrain or bind. So, is the main
function to restrain individuals from personal self reflection and bind them to a religious
doctrine, or is it a methodology of teaching a personal connection to God? I believe that
the main objective of any religion should be to assist people in making a personal
connection to the divine or higher power. Unfortunately, that is not always what occurs
one hundred percent of the time!
There are nineteen major religions in the world, of
which Christianity is the largest with over 2 billion followers. Islamic religion follows
with 1.2 billion and Hinduism respectively with 828 million. There is no doubt that
religion plays a major role in most of our lives. Unfortunately, some religious doctrines
rise to a level of supreme empirical restraint, which over shadows the true divine purpose
and leads many down a misguided path? The importance of a binding doctrine and
specific practices should be secondary to ones spiritual relationship with the divine.
Therefore, the type of religion that you choose and its popularity is of very little
importance, as long as you understand the true purpose.
Does spirituality differ from
religion, and can a person be religious as well as spiritual? Yes of course. However, one
can remain bound to a religious doctrine without a spiritual connection to the divine. For
all intent and purposes this is what must be avoided when delving into the recovery of
self destructive habitual behavior. One of the key components to addiction freedom is self
refection and the development of a connection to a higher consciousness and your true
self. Serving a religious doctrine without the true spiritual element and making that
connection will lead to the addicted person trading one vehicle to mask the pain for
another. The outward practice of certain ideals or activities does not correspond to
inner righteousness! When a person hides behind the outward practice of religious
doctrines they tend to live a falsehood, not living in true spirit, failing to own up to the
root cause of their addiction, and their true life purpose. Therefore, I believe that religion
should not enter into the addiction equation and in many cases actually prevents the
individual from addressing the root cause properly.
Remember, this is about spiritual self
reflection and making contact with that higher consciousness, and it is not about being
restrained by a religious doctrine, or trading one compulsive behavior for another. If you
are currently practicing a particular faith, I would highly recommend that you make every
attempt to separate it from the spiritual aspect and the “Five Steps to Addiction
Freedom.” My purpose is not to undermine the benefits of religious practice. In fact I
believe that religion serves a tremendous purpose in our society when practiced in a
spiritual sense. However, mixing it with addiction recovery can be a disastrous recipe for
chronic relapse!
Best wishes,
David Roppo
Addiction Coach
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