Why Addiction Is Not a Disease

This book as been declared anathema by many of my ordained colleagues and the powers-that-be in the greater church.  If I have learned anything at all in my near seven decades on Earth, it's that anything determined to be "unclean" by a large church body, be it that of Rome, Canterbury, or Geneva, deserves a serious examination.

The Biology of Desire: Why Addiction Is Not a Disease

If you wish to reduce an otherwise emotionally balanced and apparently rational healthcare or pastoral professional to a stuttering rage, all you need to do is offer the following observation, as did the person who sent me this book:

Addictions and other bad habits were defined as "diseases" for one reason only: insurance coverage. Today, we see an expansion of behavioral issues - and even phony issues - labeled as diseases for the same reason.  Secondarily, having a disease eliminates moral responsibility, and nobody enjoys taking moral responsibility for rotten, decadent, or depraved behavior. It feels morally, if not heroically, better to be a "survivor" or a "victim."

When the highest status one may achieve in a culture is that of "victim", not only are we thus all diseased, but the culture is doomed.