The Passion of Mel Gibson
©2006, Jack Trimpey, all rights reserved.
Summary: Mel Gibson has apologized for his preposterous, drunken behavior, but he has not apologized for drinking alcohol. A longtime member of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), he has proclaimed himself innocent by reason of addictive disease. Bowing in false humility, he is now obtaining pretend treatment for the pretend disease of “alcoholism.” Intense, public debate continues about his supposed anti-semitism, while no one is concerned that Mel Gibson endangered the public by drinking alcohol even though he was entirely aware of the risks of his using any amount of alcohol. Every so-called “relapse” is a crime against humanity. Mel Gibson’s antics are a perfect illustration of how our mainstream media and our social service system are based upon the inverted rules of addiction, preserving the privilege of substance abuse (“relapses”) among problem drinkers and other addicted people.
Here is what really happened last week, leading up to Mel Gibson’s arrest for DUI and subsequent hate-speech debacle:
Earlier on the day of his arrest, Mel Gibson began drinking alcohol, in spite of his long history of anti-social behavior under the influence. As he took the first drink, he eagerly anticipated the familiar effect of alcohol. His first sensation was the mouth and nasal taste of the beverage, followed by a hot, intense feeling in his esophagus. Then, with a few more drinks, he felt a gentle sweetness spread from his gut throughout his body.
Mr. Gibson felt a physical pleasure similar in some ways to a slowly growing sexual orgasm, but absent the urgency for crescendo and resolution. He felt light on his feet, confident in all that he thought and said, and experienced the illusion of having sublime insight into the true nature of everything. In this realm of sublime pleasure, Mel Gibson’s mental faculties gradually declined, and his moral judgment evaporated into the thin, ethanolic air that surrounded him.
Mel Gibson, in the way of problem drinkers everywhere, had returned to his “home zone,” a realm of unspeakable pleasure known only to those who have crossed the line demarking pleasant drunkenness from the ozone.
The ozone
Let me digress to explain a little about the ozone before I go on with the story of Mel Gibson’s most recent debacle. The ozone is the ohhh-zone, a zone of physical pleasure for which there are no dictionary words to describe, but only the gutteral, animal sounds arising from deeeeeeeep pleasure, “Ohhhh, ohhh, ohhhhhh, this feels sooooooo goooooood. Ohhhh, ooooh, ohhhhh, ohhhhhh…”
The ozone is drug-induced pleasure that far exceeds mere sex or eating delicious food. Accordingly, the desire to repeat that pleasure is also much stronger than the desire for food or sex. Entering the ozone can be a life-changing event, as the case of Mel Gibson illustrates. He entered the ozone decades ago, emancipating within him a base, animal desire to repeat that pleasure for the rest of his life. He went beyond innocent enjoyment of alcohol and began an impossible, biologically-driven quest for total, hedonistic fulfillment.
During one episode of drunkenness many years ago, he actually heard, through his inner ear, the birth of his lifelong passion for alcohol, i.e., “the Beast.” It did not come out with an infant’s cry, but as a slobbering, “Ohhhh, ohhhh, ohhhh,” that grew into a growling command to keep it alive by feeding it alcohol no matter what, because, anything that feels this good must be necessary for survival. “This is what it’s all about!,” it exclaimed. “This is what life is all about! How wonderful this is, and how wonderful that alcohol exists, and how wonderful that alcohol will always be available, no matter what! You will do this again! You will do this forever!”
Indeed, Mel Gibson has continued his quest for alcoholic fulfillment in spite of repeated collisions with his own morality, his own religion, his own family, his home community, and the law. He continues to drink as if his life depends upon it!
The passion of Mel Gibson is the Beast of addiction, an acquired bodily desire that has become the prime mover in all of his personal affairs. His thoughts, his perceptions, his emotions, his beliefs, and his behavior are well organized around the inner mandate to return to the ohhh-zone whenever conditions seem to permit. Mel Gibson is not possessed by a mysterious disease or force that makes him powerless over alcohol; Mel Gibson possesses a desire for pleasure and immorally acts upon it, endangering everyone.
It is likely that Mel Gibson would have summarily quit drinking, for life, many years ago had it not been for his induction into the fellowship of addiction, commonly known as Alcoholics Anonymous. AA is a social ghetto founded upon the beliefs and values common to addicted people, most notably AA founders, Bill W. and Dr. Bob. AA grants its members medical absolution of moral accountability for their use of alcohol and other drugs, while engaging in diversionary moral preening, explicitly excluding from its “fearless moral inventories” the vile act of self-intoxication. In AA, members worship a self-made deity that is infinitely tolerant of substance abuse, a deity that springs from the sodden imaginations of drunks and junkies, and which sets forth no code of morality or personal conduct. AA is a gathering that Lassie the dog would find most intriguing and inviting.
Back to the story.
The first phase of Mel Gibson’s most recent alcoholic orgasm was tranquil and serene, as described above. However, as he continued to drink in pursuit of perfect pleasure, there arose within him a sensory and mental state best understood as the call of the wild — an adventurous, aggressive attitude unrestrained by human considerations such as morality, taboos, and common decency. He was not unlike the fabled werewolf, at one moment a man and then a grotesque caricature of himself, loping about from person to person as though using smell rather than social judgment as his guide. He felt light on his feet, totally confident in every thought that occurred to him, and his thoughts became words without effort or intent. He became infatuated with every action, movement, thought, statement, feeling, or judgment he made, and he felt no pain or regret as he intimidated and endangered others.
Mel Gibson made grievous errors of judgment while under the influence; he drove a car and, once arrested, he became a barking, snarling dog, spitting at the arresting officers a barrage of racist invective that would have caused Albert Speer to blush.
Gibson Apology Not Good Enough
Mel Gibson’s anti-semitic attack was recorded by the arresting officers and later released to the news wires. The next day, sobered up and in dire straits, Mr. Gibson published a nicely worded apology.
In that apology, Mel Gibson lists a number of things he did “wrong” on the day of his arrest, but he does not apologize for, nor even mention, the most vile act of all — drinking alcohol. As an “alcoholic,” he reserves the privilege of relapses, and he has no shame about consuming alcohol. He expresses shame for his preposterous drunken behavior, but not for the voluntary act of self-intoxication that he knew could transform him into an ugly, dangerous, aggressively hostile, stinking, wild animal.
The complete text of Mel Gibson’s faux apology is below:
“After drinking alcohol on Thursday night, I did a number of things that were very wrong and for which I am ashamed. I drove a car when I should not have, and was stopped by the L.A. County Sheriff. The arresting officer was just doing his job and I feel fortunate that I was apprehended before I caused injury to any other person.
(There is is, right up front. He says, “After drinking alcohol, I did a number of things that were very wrong and for which I am ashamed.” How utterly arrogant! How shameless!)
“I acted like a person completely out of control when I was arrested, and said things that I do not believe to be true and which are despicable. I am deeply ashamed of everything I said and I apologize to anyone who I have offended. Also, I take this opportunity to apologize to the deputies involved for my belligerent behavior. They have always been there for me in my community and indeed probably saved me from myself. I disgraced myself and my family with my behavior and for that I am truly sorry.
(More evasion. He’s so damn sorry about everything but what counts. Who cares about what he did under the influence, once he disabled his moral capacities? Imagine someone who drove a car down a sidewalk blindfolded, killing ten people? Was each collision an immoral act, or was he guilty of one terrible act, donning the blindfold, which made him a blind driver?)
“I have battled the disease of alcoholism for all of my adult life and profoundly regret my horrific relapse. I apologize for any behavior unbecoming of me in my inebriated state (There he goes again, “…in my inebriated state…) and have already taken necessary steps to ensure my return to health.”
(Baloney! He knows damned well he’s never seen any evidence that he has a disease that makes him drink. He still remembers his original suspicions when he first heard the disease concept of addiction explained to him. Only now, getting some phony treatment for his phony disease can be very helpful in diverting attention away from his crime against humanity.)
Here’s my message to Mr. Gibson:
“Mel, your apology is as phony as your disease and the treatment for it!”
Mel Gibson cannot apologize for the primary symptom of the pretend disease of alcoholism, because his thoughts are ruled by the Beast of addiction, and governed by the fellowship of addiction, Alcoholics Anonymous. Members of AA do “fearless moral inventories” that exclude the act of self-intoxication, which they consider a disease symptom. Really!
Once a pattern of antisocial behavior under the influence of alcohol becomes well-established, any further use of alcohol by problem drinkers, aka, “alcoholics,” is a crime against humanity. Check the crime stats for alcohol-related offenses and you’ll see for yourself that this is so. Google “Audrey Kishline” for a specific, grim example.
No one cares that Mel Gibson has at least two decades “in recovery,” has a prior history of DUI and abusive drunkenness, and that he is still reserving the privilege of future relapses. No one cares that he has hired a team of licensed professional counselor and physicians to endorse his disgusting charade, “Me sicka, me sicka.” Nor is there any public interest in the fact that no evidence exists for addictive disease nor for the effectiveness of addiction treatment. It is simply assumed that everyone will accept his plan to “get serious” about his process of recovery from addictive disease.
Gibson’s apology is a vivid example of how the Addictive Voice is silently strangling Western Civilization. The Gibson apology demonstrates with pristine clarity how our society has surrendered to the Beast of addiction, expecting nothing more of him than to say he’s sorry for his preposterous drunken behavior. Mel Gibson has been completely absolved of his greatest offense, that of consuming alcohol, and his penance is merely to seek pretend treatment for the pretend disease of alcoholism.
Mel Gibson sicka-sicka?
Mel Gibson is not sick with anything, and there’s no treatment for his profoundly immoral conduct. AA groups and addiction treatment centers are only a giant, fluffy mattress to break his fall and dignify his degeneracy with clinical bullshit. They will reinforce the Addictive Voice, that he should feel no shame for his amoral, drunken behavior, and not for disabling his moral judgment in pursuit of bodily pleasure.
Frankly, the shame of an alcoholic the day after isn’t shame at all; it’s self-serving fear, a cold, icy terror of huge, impending losses. It’s horror, seeing your life going to hell. It’s I-got-caught anguish, humiliation in the eyes of others. It’s writhing in despair for the trouble that lies immediately ahead, a humungous pain in the ass of someone who doesn’t comprehend the meaning of the word, “shame,” but grovels before judgment peeing and crying like a dog. A groveling dog before the awful voice of authority has no comprehension of what brings the scolding. Mel Gibson grovels but has no comprehension that, for him, it is the act of self-intoxication that buries him in a landslide of public condemnation.
No pundit, gossip columnist, or social commmentator has shown a hint of interest in the fact that his involvement with AA has provided no protection to him, or to society. Talk radio and cable news channels are full of shallow debate about whether his anti-semitic outburst is the “real Mel Gibson” or just confused drunken behavior signifying nothing about his character. Others debate whether he should be punished for hate speech, or cited for verbal abuse of a police officer. Real deep stuff.
Is no one concerned that he hasn’t apologized for drinking alcohol? Mr. Gibson knows very well that his use of alcohol is wrong, considering his well-established pattern of ugly, anti-social behavior under the influence. However, he has also been under the influence of Alcoholics Anonymous since 1991, when he began attending recovery group meetings. There, he learned the art of apologizing for his animal behavior while his human brain was off duty, but evading any moral accountability for the act of self-intoxication that triggers the inner werewolf.
Get real, Mel.
I will now write a new apology for Mel Gibson, one that would be constructive rather than self-serving. Here is an apology based upon the moral dimensions of addiction and recovery, which are contained in the Christian values he talks so much about. This apology is quite different from the evasive crap he issued last week, which was based upon 12-step recoveryism:
Yesterday I got drunk and verbally abused the officers who arrested me. In doing that, I also made reprehensible racist and anti-semitic statements. I renounce those statements because I do not agree with them. I also apologize for causing discomfort or distress to all of the people who read what I said while under the influence. However, I am most horrified at the fact that I consumed alcohol, fully aware of my long history of problem drinking. By drinking alcohol, I release myself upon my family, my loved ones, my friends, my associates, and upon all who stand nearby as an, ugly, dangerous and aggressively hostile, wild animal. I am one of those persons for whom any amount of alcohol sets in motion a series of internal events that endangers everyone, including myself. I am most ashamed of and therefore apologize most sincerely for committing the vile, immoral act of self-intoxication. Therefore, whatever else may come to be, I now personally guarantee everyone that I will never drink again. Not only that, but I’ll never change my mind.
Now, tell me, isn’t that better?
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August 7th, 2006 at 8:51 am
Wow, I didn’t know that about Mel. It surely changes my view of the man.
We oughta boycott the drunk out of business. Tell him to make a Big Plan where alcohol is concerned, or face a boycott.
August 13th, 2006 at 8:20 am
I noticed the attack on Mel Gibson was unsigned. Certainly, the man deserves to be held accountable for his actions. I do, however, feel you’ve laid it on a bit thick.
For the sake of brevity alone, the re-written 180-odd word apology could have been truncated to: “I now guarantee I’ll never drink again, and I’ll never change my mind.”
qsph,
Your truncated version would be insufficient, and would draw more laughs than attention. The apology is about moral reasoning, that for problem drinkers, self-intoxication is more immoral than drunken stupidity, drunken racism, or drunken criminality.
Jack Trimpey
August 18th, 2006 at 3:50 pm
Awesome response to the Mel incident. I’m becoming more and more impressed with the power of the RR approach. As a therapist and coach, my own work has been steeped in the ideas of externalizing problems, languaging for personal power, and reframing in order to both take responsibility for creating distance from ‘problem entities’ like the Beast or depression, as well as centering a person’s choices in the realm of their own values and inner landscape. Bravo for your ‘apology’, given by Mel, in a more personally responsible and empowered postion in his life. Perhaps he will get there soon.
August 29th, 2006 at 5:53 am
very well put. as a newly practicing av recognizer and big plan aderhent, i follow clearly the point being made, but it is made with an evident violent passion against aa that, from what i find, turns a lot of folks off from avrt. too much emphasis on hating the “fellowship of addiction” leads the attention away from the basic tenent of av recogniton and into endless debate over the worth/uselessness of aa and then the need to defend it by the masses.
Dan,
Naturally, being turned off on AVRT® because of my character is just another example of Addictive Voice. Too bad. A lot of people are turned off by other issues, such as global warming, planned parenthood, the United Nations, etc. That certainly is no reason to squelch open controversy about those matters.
AA has achieved what no other religion, organization, or political party has ever achieved in America — immunity from criticism. AA disowns controversy as though they have no accountability to society, and then tells its evangelical members that when they talk about AA, they aren’t talking for AA. Always embedded in the 12-step pitch is the idea that people will suffer and die without AA, meaning that criticism of AA places the lives of others at risk. The illusion is so widely accepted, that I rarely appear on major talkshows, such as O’Reilly or Dr. Laura, without a 12-stepper chaperone, to contradict my presentation as I speak. The rationale is always, “to provide balance,” as though balance is sought when addictive disease and addiction treatment are discussed.
One of Rational Recovery’s most important contributions to society, after AVRT®, is controversy, so desperately needed to a nation languishing in the throes of one-day-at-a-time sobriety in the midst of mass, runaway addiction to alcohol and other drugs.
Jack Trimpey
September 6th, 2006 at 12:51 pm
Having used AVRT to swiftly defeat an addiction to alcohol a few years ago, I think you are right on the money. I’m disgusted that there is still a “strange mental blank spot” concerning addiction, and one’s ability to quit for good. There are plenty of things I would not do because they are immoral, and they are no different than commiting the selfish act of intoxication. I will not steal, cheat on my spouse, or strike my child. I will also never drink alcohol again. People can depend on me. This is far superior to “one-day-at-a-time sobriety.” Let’s stop pussy-footin’ around, and call this behavior what it is…immoral indulgence.
–India
September 6th, 2006 at 4:34 pm
India,
My particular addiction throughout my life has been to excess food and over-eating. I loved your reference to the “strange mental blank spot.” We have a strange mental blank spot that covers up awareness of the fact that we can simply quit doing something that is bad for us. The single most important contribution that Rational Recovery provides is to shake us loose from the ingrained belief that we are powerless. I had a “strange mental blank spot” relative to my ability to simply stop eating incorrectly. I lived with the illusion that I would if only I could. Even if Rational Recovery did not provide any other tool for recovery, removing that blind spot was huge.
CTMS
September 6th, 2006 at 5:01 pm
Jack
I totally agree with your analysis of Mel’s episode and strongly support the rewritten apology that you authored. Not to condemn the irresponsible act of self-intoxication by those that are vulnerable to out-of-control drinking takes the responsibility off their shoulders where it belongs.
Bravo for the honesty of your statement.
September 29th, 2006 at 6:55 am
I am in total agreement with your perception of 12-step programs. I, by my own stupidity and reliance upon my primal urge to feel good, was forced into rehab. I swear that you and I have almost the exact ideas about these “programs.” I placed the word program in quotes because, in my opinion, the groups want to “program” the addicted to change their thought patterns to fit the groups’ way of thinking. Needless to say, because I would not “say the right words” I was kicked out. I needed to complete the course to remain in my profession.
No one believed that people can quit alcohol and other drugs of their own volition. All believed that in order to survive, to become a productive member of society, one must adhere to the groups’ thinking. That thought process is “herd mentality,” i.e., lemmings. Herd mentality is seen in large groups of animals (cows, horses, etc.) The others blindly follow the leader no matter if there is danger in that direction or path. The same with lemmings, they follow the leader and most (not all) jump off Dover Cliff in Ireland to their deaths.
To paraphrase a line spoken by Tommy Lee Jones in Men in Black I, “…a person is smart, people are stupid,” relating to the herd (or mob) mentality. To me, that line is so true. I have personally observed this type of mentality in the group setting. People will change their value systems to conform to the group’s thinking. Why? Only those who do change will know for sure but I can hypothize their reasoning to be that it is easier to be a joiner than a leader. Possibly fear motivates them. What I do know is this. I can and have recovered on my own!
Thanks for validating what I already knew – that I can do anything I set my mind to do! Armed with AVRT, I will successfully fight to be reinstated. Thanks again for having the balls to come out and tell it like it is, no matter how others may try to bring you down!!!
Sue,
Through the impaired professional diversion programs, AA has masterfully eliminated the likes of you and me, people who quit as a matter of principle. Your profession cannot tolerate you as a securely abstinent person because 12-steppers throughout the social service system have blackballed independent recovery. The impaired professional diversion program is an enormous defeat for civilization because the allied health professionals are carrying forward the beliefs and values of addiction itself in a doctrine codified by an addicted man fully in the grip of his Addictive Voice, AA founder, Bill Wilson. The 12-step program is desperately seized upon by people in the throes of addiction, and eagerly proselytized by its grateful, politically rehabilitated, licensed professionals. For medicine to approve 12-step recovery is like wrapping a wound in filthy, disease-ridden rags. For diversion committees to force their own 12-step social cultism on their colleagues is akin to vampirism – once bitten, they now bite.
Jack Trimpey
October 1st, 2006 at 3:24 am
I dont believe that people drink because their base brain believes its necessary for survival. Isnt your base brain present when you are hungover? If it thinks drinking is necessary for survival because it brings pleasure why doesnt it then think that drinking is bad for your survival because it created suffering? Also its impossible to decide now what you will do in the future. Especially to guarantee that you will not change your mind. However I like your take on the idea of Mel Gibson apologizing for everything but drinking in the first place! I never thought of it that way before. That makes a lot of sense. So i guess I agree with your overall point. Why we drink doesnt really matter does it? The important point is that we have a choice and its our responsibility whether we drink or not.
==================================
notadrunk,
Alcohol and other drugs release pleasure the body equates with survival, as in sex, eating, breathing, and so on. The Structural Model of Addiction is explained in The Crash Course on AVRT®, as a foundation for recovery.
I cannot predict what I will be doing this evening, let alone for the rest of my life. However, I can guarantee you, myself, my family, my community, and everyone some things I definitely won’t be doing, and that includes intoxicating my brain with alcohol and other drugs. I’m not hoping for the best. I know that I will never drink again. If I reserve the privilege of relapse, my family will see me as an arrogant, walking time bomb, ready to explode into drunkenness for no apparent reason.
Do you understand the moral dimension of intoxicating your brain so your moral judgment is dimmed? If your drinking isn’t caused by genetic or psychological addictive disease, then you are left to account for your drinking on the moral plane. Addiction deletes your moral conscience. AVRT® allows you to reboot your moral conscience and live by principles rather than convenience.
Go through The Crash Course on AVRT® at the above link, and get a good foundation in AVRT-based recovery. You aren’t paying close enough attention to the concepts of AVRT®.
Jack Trimpey
October 6th, 2006 at 6:56 am
Mel Gibson reminds me of how I used to be not so long ago. The only differance would be I am not in the public eye like he is. I got on the AA train once and didn’t like it from the start. I did get one 30 day “chip” once. That was my only trophy. One of the old timers there joked about having enough of those chips to roof his house. That was my last night in AA. I’m so glad to have found RR. I am new but I have learned more in a short time than I have in 30 years. I never drink now and will never change my mind. I only wish everyone could be a “beast-killer” like me. Thank you so much. To all the Mel Gibson’s, you must kill the beast before it kills you or someone else.
November 25th, 2006 at 10:30 pm
What a sad comedown for the man who was behind the “Passion of the Christ.”
Rather than relying on AA, Mel should do some reading of the lives of his own church’s saints. Matt Talbot, upon realizing that he was degrading himself by his drinking, took a pledge of abstinence. He didn’t declare himself powerless or ask God to do everything — he acted.
December 1st, 2006 at 3:13 am
avrt is bullshit. theres no beast in your brain. you are pushing your ideas of morality on others. drinking is a choice no more no less.
December 1st, 2006 at 3:16 am
avrt is bullshit. theres no beast in your brain. you are pushing your ideas of morality on others. drinking is a choice no more no less. name
December 22nd, 2006 at 3:15 am
putting my name would have no effect on the veracity of my statement. youre the one showing ignorance. you are just repeating the false statements you have made before. its still not true. I still stand by my correct statements and defy you to prove your false statments without the ridiculous tactics used above making your foolishness apparent. You dont know what youre talking about, youre not a scientist and know nothing of the midbrain its just a bad silly theory of yours. your judgement is not necessarily moral. you are a judgemental fool and totally wrong about my conscience and morality. drinking is a choice period having nothing to do with morality just as my choice to not identify myself is a choice free from your judgement. you can say anything you want on your website and edit my comments or not print them but youre still wrong. you havent proven your thinking right and mine wrong only repeated earlier erroneous statements.
(No Name),
The Structural Model of Addiction you condemn as heresy comes directly out of a junior high school health sciences textbook provided to me by my wife, Lois, who was a teacher at the time I was setting down the elements of AVRT®. If you disagree with that version of the human brain, then I suggest you contact the A.M.A., because it is currently the foundation of medical practice. A good number of impaired physicians have come through AVRT: The Course; all of them agree that our simple explanation of addiction as a normal function of a healthy human body is therapeutic, elegant, and scientifically correct. I find it amazing that members of AA, who hold the most bizarre beliefs about addiction and recovery, perceive that something as elementary as the gross, functional anatomy of the brain is scientific heresy.
The use of alcohol and other drugs by problem drinkers is immoral conduct. “Alcoholics” are simply self-excusing problem drinkers, consequently deeper in the moral abyss of addiction. It cannot be otherwise, because the addictive mandate to self-intoxicate is a drive to deeeep pleasure, akin to the drive to overeat, and akin to the drive for sexual error. The pursuit of deeeep pleasure at the expense of others, while defaulting on one’s moral responsibility to remain productive and independent, contradicts the basic values and morality instilled in children by their parents. In other words, once a pattern of harm or risk to others is established, the use of alcohol is wrong, wrong, wrong.
Failure to comprehend the moral dimension of addiction is part of the comprehensive breakdown of morality that affects all addicted people. It is no accident that fellowships of addiction always deny the moral implications of self-intoxication, and that the 12-step of AA is founded entirely upon original denial, i.e., the belief that self-intoxication by problem drinkers is an innocent act, a symptom of an unidentified disease for which there is no cure, but only the enticing drama of one-day-at-a-time sobriety.
From your comments, (No Name), I get the impression that you will not be dissuaded from whatever it is that you believe. However, I am not writing my comments to you, but rather as a writing exercise that might edify other readers of this blog. I like to place before the public good examples of recovery group disorder, so that more people can see the corrosive effects of 12-step recovery upon the human intellect and moral conscience.
So, you might wonder, am I suggesting that the dreaded “relapses” that hold you firmly in recovery will amount to immoral acts? If you are only wondering, then shame on you. Of course I’m telling you that your precious relapses will be profoundly immoral acts! I guarantee you that you won’t be trying to make yourself feel bad as you open the container and raise the drink to your waiting, trembling lips, as you might claim during your next drunkalog.
Will that deter you from having any more relapses, (No Name)? If not, then you’re a good 12-stepper, with no more moral conscience than a child who must struggle to be good every day, and who needs adult supervision to stay out of trouble. In that case, you have a new family that will keep you in perpetual childhood, with fearless moral inventories and a neeto God you can make up all on your own.
It is possible, although not very likely, that you will feel some twinges of manhood, and realize that there was never anything wrong with you in the first place, e.g., addictive disease. You might recall your original self, and that you are an individual soul, a moral being with free will and knowledge of right and wrong, just as your original family taught you long ago. In that case, you might decide to never drink again on moral principle, as many problem drinkers decide, and get on with your life as a normal, healthy man who simply never drinks for personal reasons, and finds the company of “alcoholics” aesthetically and intellectually displeasing.
You can be sure I won’t hold my breath.
Jack Trimpey
February 2nd, 2007 at 3:58 pm
I am living proof that AA doesn’t work. I will never drink and never change my mind. I do not have to hide at AA meetings to cover my shame on one day at a time recovery…rehashing the past…hoping the cravings go away…reminded one day at a time what a loser I am in a room full of drunken sot losers. I was embarassed to be associated with such mind altering “truths” as we read out loud the excuses of our illness. It is truly a God-less group of mind twisting amorals. I have regained my moral standing in one decision. Oh sweet freedom…the truth has set me free. How could a person (who shouldn’t drink) see drinking as anything less than a immoral action? It is a sick, disgusting, act against life itself. Jack, I believe God brought me to your website as living proof that there is truth in AVRT. AA is truly a scourge to mankind. How sad for all the victims. If you see this get out NOW…save yourself years of misery and wasted time. Join the living.
February 4th, 2007 at 2:34 am
Jack, I fail to understand the reasoning behind the attacks bought on by ‘name’. You discovered a method of halting self destructive behavior and published it, in hopes that it may help someone else to better their life and the lives of their family members. Why would anyone attack a person that is merely offering - not forcing - their experience to those who seek to learn from it?
I tried the AA way. I left every meeting with the intense desire to drink - a complete flip from the desire to be sober that led me to the meeting mere hours earlier.
The stories of devastating failure and painful struggles within from the members around the room only deepened my feelings that I was doomed to fail, and therefore, must be a failure. I was a daily drinker for many, many years. I felt lonely and misunderstood, feeling that no-one could know how strong the pull of alcohol was. All day long while at work I would tell myself “I’m NOT going to stop at the liquor store on the way home, I don’t want to”. Sure enough, I would end up in the drive thru lane feeling like a failure. The dismal thought of attending an AA meeting instead only added stress, which I counteracted with another drink. How sad!
After searching for a better way by researching my ‘hopeless disease’ online (online learning - which I just learned is another disease - Ha!), I came across your website and a HUGE weight lifted from my shoulders. I clicked my way to success in mere minutes by reading your FREE web pages about the addictive voice and the basic animal desire to feel good (I called it ‘numb’) and relaxed. I instantly saw what I knew all along. I was the reason that glass kept being refilled. Wow… Just imagine! It’s been a while since it had a drink. Not counting the days, weeks or months as there’s no need. It’s something silly I used to let happen.
Please don’t let a few insecure people get to you. They are clearly angered that there is a simple way to stop what they have worked SO hard to justify. It must turn their world upside down.
One more thing — THANK YOU, more than you will EVER know!
March 2nd, 2007 at 3:53 pm
Thank you Jack Trimpey. I was in (mostly in) and out of Alanon for 35 years. During a meeting in the mid 1970’s a newpaper article was passed around the group. This was a rare and momentous occassion since only Alanon approved literature was allowed to be read in a meeting. This news was so important that an exception was made. The article said that the Medical Association (I think it was the AMA) had declared alcoholism to be an actual disease. I was stunned and perplexed. About 30 years after well-meaning but mistaken Dr. Silkworth decided it must be a disease the medical community finally agreed. This reminds of the story about how 3 blindfolded men were sent to define what an elephant is. The one holding the tail said it is like a rope, the one holding a leg said it is like a column, the one holding the trunk said it is like a hose. So of course a man with a medical degree would say alcoholism is a medical problem, a psychologist would say it is a psychological problem, a religious professional,priest or rabbi would say it is a moral problem.
I believe alcoholism and similar addictions have been moral issues from the beginning of human history and still are. When you identify the problem you know where the answer lies. I have attended many open AA meetings, to try to “understand.” AA says their “disease is baffling.” As long as well-meaning but misinformed people try to treat moral problems with medical means they will always be baffled.
July 9th, 2007 at 1:00 pm
If alcoholism were not a disease then alcohloics could drink in moderation and rationally use their superior logic to control this foe. A great test to see if you have the disease is to go try and drink. If you dont have the disease you will easily be able to stop if not youve got it. It can be held in remission by doing a few simple things but will remain with you forever,hence Mel Gibsons relapse and Robin Wiliams relapse. Its not even a matter of willpower….if you are trying to tell me the guy on the street pushing a supermarket cart willed himself there your simply wrong. By all means if this works for you then keep doing it. But if youve tried and tried to know avail and have reached the end of your will power and human potential then try seeking God. Constant use of any chemical can hardwire you to be an alcoholic…period.So if this fails and you find you need to step out of the battle and let God fight it….go to A.A. If this is working then keep using it.
Sincerely
Steve
September 27th, 2007 at 8:57 pm
In regards to the photo of mel gibson I am just as likely to take a photo of the web pubishes and deface it in the same way in defence. defacing a photo out of hatred is sill desecration. I sentence you to apoligise to Mel and remove this hanious act from the web sight.
As for the publisher of the blog he has emotional issues conected to his father and should sough help in a thereputic comunity.
March 23rd, 2008 at 1:54 am
Mabey some people like being imorale. Its far more interesting then endless arguing and judgement endured by the likes of RR, AVRT and the 12 steps. Were all animals…..sicka!! Let the unholy battle continue forever and may our victims cry out in anguish and may the likes of you people get over it.