In Reply to: Re: Religion in The Simpsons posted by RA on October 31, 2005 at 04:06:49:
I'm so glad you're able to now stay sober, and I hope you do look for a therapist that can help you process your cultic past. After I left in 1991 I didn't seek help of any kind. Instead, I thought I could just bury the past and move on with my life. That was not the best approach. Although I went on to earn a couple of degrees and work a variety of jobs, I also suffered a variety of health problems. However, because I simply buried my past without properly processing it, it all came back to haunt me more than a decade later. In hindsight, I believe I would've been much better off had I sought the counsel of professionals with experience in these matters. It might take some effort to find the right therapist, but it will be worth it.
Btw, I notice that you use the present tense when referring to yourself as a "recovered alcoholic." Do you remember Berg's so called confession that he was an alcoholic? [see Alcoholic Prophet in the article section] I think it is very revealing that he titled the letter: My Confession. I Was An Alcoholic. He uses the past tense to suggest that he no longer was an alcoholic when he wrote that. I'm curious to know your thoughts on that. Do you think it is possible for a person to completely overcome the problem of alcohol addiction so that they can safely refer to themselves as a former alcoholic? When you use the present tense and the adjective "recovered" I understand you as saying that you are an alcoholic, but no longer drink alcohol because of it's harmful effects on your life. Is that a fair assessment? I don't mean to pry too much, I'm just trying to get a sense of how someone like yourself would view the self-assessment of a previously heavy drinker for many years as being a former alcoholic.