people create their own Hell through lack of self-control. the only thing spirituality or religion (of any denomination) can do positively is to help people learn their self control and discipline. This is why the sub forum has the name “spirituality, morality and religion”
I too am a lapsed Catholic.
I got tired of religion because I learned how arguments between the Protestant Church and the Roman Catholic Church were causing hundreds of lives to be lost. Until 10 years ago, as recently as that, Britain was in a state of actual civil war over the disputed territory of Northern Ireland. Both sides of this war was funded in part by Americans with Irish heritage and it caused more deaths than even Al-Quaeda has in this country. There was bombs and terrorism for most of my lifetime at least 30 years of it, and hundreds of years of warfare before that.
Amy, there are two important things you have to realise about the UK (if you want to learn about our culture).
One is that Church and State are not separate in the UK. Religious groups (particularly the Church of England) actually have the power to make and enforce laws in our Government – we have the “Lords Spiritual” (church spokespeople) as well as the “Lords Temporal” (normal politicians).
Some of these people aren’t even elected!
The Church of England works with other denominations to find common ground, but this is a smokescreen for a global conservative backlash against all our freedom of speech and expression the 60s hippies fought for. The same thing is happening in the USA and many other countries, despite the war over resources Muslims and Christian conservatives are finding common ground and their combined power is chilling.
This is why British youths from the alternative scenes are very cynical about religion.
The second thing is that support for drug users as well as all other medical treatment is provided free at source by a body called the NHS (National Health Service) – it provides everything from family doctors to emergency hospital care and mental health/addiction services. This means that faith based groups do not have a stranglehold over addiction treatment services (they are however welcome to support the NHS provided they do not attempt to preach or convert to the patients).
