Endigar 043
These are the symptoms that I would say indicate religious addiction:
1. Fatal judgment against self and others.
2. Fear in making decisions, continuously second guessing. Rituals surround the process.
3. Need to blend with the group.
4. Emotions harder to control are labeled negative. Such as anger, which is usually seen as nonspiritual.
5. Freedom muscles have atrophied from lack of use, and thus it is difficult to define freedom.
6. Progressive need to appease God and the group. This leads to purging, mortification, and self-flagellation.
7. Chronic sense of impending doom or judgment.
8. Uncomfortable and resistant to intuitive guidance. Makes an icon out of source documents.
9. Always knows the “right” thing to say, and has difficulty in staying in touch with genuine expression.
The following, although spoken as a statement, merely represent my speculations on religious addiction:
Centralized religion has been used over the centuries to control social behavior. It is easier to control individuals who are beaten down by guilt and shame, and who are indoctrinated to fear inescapable retribution. How the game is played has changed, but the goal has not, which is social control at the expense of individual fulfillment.
The human wreckage has been horrific over the ages. Organized faith established only two doors for all of humanity to pass through. One required religious enslavement, and the other surrendered to reactionary evil.
As a religious addict, I want another path. The heretic has faith, but does not recognize the appropriate set of rules and traditions necessary to qualify. I am most comfortable being a heretic.
I have added a new page, “Proposed 12 Steps for Heretics Anonymous.” I am not really sure where to go from here. The only religious addiction 12 step groups I see out there in cyberspace are controlled by pastors, and doctors, complete with donate buttons. Red flags for me.
Is there anyone out there in the same place I am?
Daily Reprieve 
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