When does addiction become an excuse?

[vera_dicere]

You only need to have a quick scan down the topic list and see a lot of threads on teh subject of masturbation. A lot of them involve discussions about people being “addicted” to masturabtion/porn and thus, their culpability is deminished.

Now its easy to understand how substances and even habits can be addicting and how people struggle with them. My querry is when does one start using an addiciton as an excuse and when a person does that, does their sin become more serious? [well, hard to top a mortal sin, but still]

Can people get lulled into a false sense of secruity about their often self-diagnosed addiction and so dont’ work as hard as they perhaps could to battle it? And especially with masturbation, as it obviously doesn’t have a wraft of physical risks associated with it, so why would someone want to give up masturbating if it doesn’t physically hurt them, and they can jsut say “well, I can’t give it up, and I’m not really sinning because I’m addicted to it”?

I’m not attacking anyone, I’m just wondering about this. I mean, obviously God knows the full extent of a person’s addiction, but are we in danger of spreading a message “Its bad to masturbate/do drugs/whatever, but we understand if you’re addicted to it, so we will allay your spiritual concerns by saying its not really your fault”. Isn’t this kind of, almost apathy, bad for these peoples’ souls?

I’ve met a few people in my life who have blamed criminal acts on “addiction” and it was quite clear they were just trying to get out of responsiblilty.

Or is this one of those subjects where we just say “Only God knows, stop over thinking it”?

 

[Berean2]

Good points! The whole problem of the “addiction” euphemism goes back to the therapeutic paradigm, where there is no such thing as “sin.” It’s the same deficient paradigm that, right after WW2, caused the U.S. military psychologists (when they tested the SS for insanity and found the men to be perfectly sane) to scratch their heads: “Well, if these guys aren’t insane, what on earth could cause them to behave that way?” Moral and spiritual insanity, guys, aka old-fashioned sin, that’s all (spawned no less by a false religion disguised as politics).

In my estimation, “modern” man’s 2 biggest figleaves are Darwinism & the therapeutic model. What more clever way to [so they think] forever be rid of guilt and shame, than to simply relegate the concept of sin to extinction? Then we can all “eat, drink, & be merry,” bec. tomorrow we’re nothing more than dust: no Judgement, no Hell, none of all that archaic superstitious nonsense!

 

[colmcille1]

Good points! The whole problem of the “addiction” euphemism goes back to the therapeutic paradigm, where there is no such thing as “sin.” It’s the same deficient paradigm that, right after WW2, caused the U.S. military psychologists (when they tested the SS for insanity and found the men to be perfectly sane) to scratch their heads: “Well, if these guys aren’t insane, what on earth could cause them to behave that way?” Moral and spiritual insanity, guys, aka old-fashioned sin, that’s all (spawned no less by a false religion disguised as politics).

In my estimation, “modern” man’s 2 biggest figleaves are Darwinism & the therapeutic model. What more clever way to [so they think] forever be rid of guilt and shame, than to simply relegate the concept of sin to extinction? Then we can all “eat, drink, & be merry,” bec. tomorrow we’re nothing more than dust: no Judgement, no Hell, none of all that archaic superstitious nonsense!

Very good post as is the OP.
The entire “victim” culture thrives on the secular view of man. Moral relativism, as defined brilliantly by Pope John Paul 2, is one of this “culture’s” most convenient tools.
The line of its deduction is depressingly familiar in the western world.
And within the realm of therapy/counselling, I watched a fascinating TV documentary some years back wherin a clinical psychologist described a new phenomenon. I can’t recall the medical term she used but it referred to patients who enjoy the attention heaped upon them and actually use the entire mental health system as a sort of game. They read up on the ailments, become well-versed in the terminology and then proceed to continue as the “suffering” victim but are really only planning their next tactic like a seasoned chess player. In such a scenario, the concept of a personal moral resposibility seems like ancient hieroglyphics and not the life-affirming gift it truly is.

 

[OraLabora]

Orgasm is potentially physically addictive just as any drug.

The pleasure associated with it isn’t the only factor. There are complex hormones released during orgasm that act directly on the brain that provide a feeling of well-being. A natural hit.

 

[Bbigam]

In my estimation, “modern” man’s 2 biggest figleaves are Darwinism & the therapeutic model. What more clever way to [so they think] forever be rid of guilt and shame, than to simply relegate the concept of sin to extinction? Then we can all “eat, drink, & be merry,” bec. tomorrow we’re nothing more than dust: no Judgement, no Hell, none of all that archaic superstitious nonsense!

Addiction is a very real thing. One can be addicted to drugs, alcohol, tobacco, sexual stimulation, any number of other things. True addiction affects brain chemistry and makes it significantly harder to resist the stimulus.

Of course, it’s easy to claim something’s an addiction just because I like it and want an excuse to keep doing it. And even if I am addicted to, say, illicit drugs, although my culpability may be reduced, it is still sinful and still has to do, at least in part, with the choices I make. But acting like it’s not an addiction and that I can easily just stop whenever I want isn’t going to help me any. Treating it like a disease - and sin is like a disease too - and giving the appropriate treatment for the disease is likely to be far more effective than just telling me to stop because it’s bad. Confession is certainly an important part of treatment of that type of disease (or any sin). Sin doesn’t have to be mortal for you to confess it!