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To: hunter112
Hunter, I'm going to respectfully ask you a question: Exactly what do you have against this person? So she's Catholic. Big deal. Seems to me that she has also found the means with which to have peace with God and with herself. What have you against that?

By what means do you find peace with regard to the wrong that you have done throughout your own life? Just asking.

177 posted on 01/15/2007 10:23:32 AM PST by 60Gunner (ER Nursing: Saving humanity... one life at a time.)
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To: 60Gunner
Exactly what do you have against this person?

I don't have anything against her as a person. She has every right to live the kind of lifestyle she chooses for herself, whether I find the reasons right, or obsessive. When she writes a book on the subject, intending for it to be a guide for other people who suddenly feel guilty about having sown wild oats (sorry, that phrase may apply only to men, but it conveys the idea I want to impart), then the ideas presented in that book become an open topic for discussion.

Going to the exact opposite extreme of being a pass-around groupie in the rock scene is not the only legitimate choice there is. There's also the choice of finding a reliable therapist (or maybe even a really good friend) and working out reasons as to why you are a different person now than you were then.

By what means do you find peace with regard to the wrong that you have done throughout your own life? Just asking.

A good question. I, too, tried the path of joining a repressive religion as a way of dealing with a traffic ticket for drinking while driving, and it didn't make sense to buy into a whole package of beliefs just to keep myself from ever having to confront questions of the responsible use of alcohol.

Some years later, as part of my gaining custody of my son (his mother was about to marry a convicted child rapist) I was ordered by the court to undergo an alcohol evaluation. This was at the prestigious institution of St. Peter's Hospital in Olympia, WA, and after a two hour interrogation by a professional, he concluded that I was not an alcoholic. Still, I did not object to the stipulation in the custody judgment that I refrain from drinking as a condition of his custody.

After my son turned eighteen, and left home, I was free of that solemn obligation, and decided to re-evaluate my drinking with the help of my spouse at that point. I gradually began to have a glass of wine here and there, and by using my still-sharp palate, I was able to find very good wines at decent prices to take over to my in-laws home at holiday gatherings. They were accepting of my decision, and appreciated the opportunity to share in tasting my "finds" at these occasions.

Using reason, with the help of someone who genuinely cares about your well-being, is a way of dealing with any excess.

Thanks for asking.

223 posted on 01/15/2007 11:03:49 AM PST by hunter112
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