In Reply to: Religion in The Simpsons posted by Perry on October 28, 2005 at 16:59:14:
About Homer saying "I'll feel important without drinking." I agree with you. I'm a recovered alcoholic.
I've heard many alcoholics talking about the alcoholic effect they liked the most, and they refer to the feeling of power and control that alcohol gave them.
Me too. From the time I was a kid, I was always insecure, shy, I felt out of place, on up into my adult years.
For example: I was a guy who got tears in his eyes full of inhibitions whenever I got around members of the opposite sex. But once I had enough to drink I felt in control and important. I had to have booze to get that feeling in order to date.
My drinking in the Family took off in the late 70's and we were selling a lot of lit door to door. I remember how a few beers gave me that feeling that I could sell anything to anybody. A few years later, when I was drinking more than just a few beers, it took a lot of mouth spray and mints to try to cover up the smell, but without the booze I felt insignificant and insecure. With it I had that feeling of really being somebody.
If you listen to a couple of drunks carrying on down at the corner bar you'll often hear lots of delusional grandiosity, like Berg. Of course Berg had other extreme behavioural problems as well, his perverted sexuality and other pathologies.
P.S. Some of my recovery from alcoholism has been easier than recovering from the cult. I've been able to use the 12 Steps for cult recovery too. But there are things from the cult experience that take longer to recover from. I'm considering finding a therapist. I won't need their help to stay sober, but I still need help to "walk out of that history" of the life I had in the cult, as Dr Phil said.