Atheist jailed for denying ‘higher power’ in Calif. drug rehab gets $2M

[whatthehey]

73. I agree with the last bit

The courts by definition appeal to moralizers.

It just seems that we as a nation cannot be honest about alcoholism at either end of the spectrum. Moralizers and fundies pretend it's all about character and "sin", but at the other end of the spectrum we have the "just like any other disease" folks who do all kinds of mental gymnastics to try and explain why, unlike any other disease, the only known successful intervention is, assisted or otherwise, willing yourself not to be stricken with it. To me the middle path makes more sense. If abstinence works that's great. If moderation works that's great too, and having one or the other work doesn't mean you never had a problem in the first place. Obviously the higher power boondoggle is bullshit, and in either case it's the peer support, mental conditioning, guilt syndrome and education that really works.