This guy has been to hell and back.
He has reached up and grabbed on to religion and used it to empower himself and find redemption.
He used faith to inspire positivity and truth in his life.

I know people want to shout him down for believing in a God, but how could anyone ever deny him that which saved his life and likely his daughter's life as well?

I know there is a lot of negativity about religion on the Sift but those at the end of their rope can turn around and use religion by embracing it to find grace.

In my mind, this is where faith redeems itself for me. It's that one intangible thing that a person can latch on to when there is nothing else.

On the negative side, Yes, there are always people embraced in religion that seek to exploit people at this stage and all the crap that goes with that. But when you hit the lowest low and you want out of the muck that has become your everyday, sometimes "faith in an idea" can be more powerful than even the chemicals that are used by the scum of the earth (dealers & pushers) to enslave people.

To me that is positive.

*promote

Promoting this video and sending it back into the queue for one more try; last queued Wednesday, December 14th, 2011 8:04am PST - promote requested by enoch.

Upvote for thought-provoking-ness

well good for him... I had that same revelation with french fries... mmmm... frriieeesss....

"Has been to hell and back"...

... I have a huge problem with the way he's portrayed in this video. It glamorizes the perceived value of having put his life in the toilet for years. Let's remember that this guy was an idiot who took drugs to the point of it ruining his life, and his daughters life - and still didn't quit after his wife died from the very drugs he was taking. These actions don't give him a ticket to sagedom. Among his tattoos he should have one that states - "I am capable of making the worst possible decisions and taking actions that could have led to my death, and made an orphan of my daughter". So where's the moody, weighty video for the guy who tried drugs a few times and decided to stay away from them because they were a bad thing in his life? I'd hold that guy in a lot higher esteem than this idiot.

The moment that he "put his life in gods hands" and took a massive hit of drugs could also have been the moment of his death. His fleeting faith in the possibility of a deity acting as a safety net in his life could have led directly to his death.

To me that is negative.


>> ^Sagemind:

This guy has been to hell and back.
He has reached up and grabbed on to religion and used it to empower himself and find redemption.
He used faith to inspire positivity and truth in his life.
I know people want to shout him down for believing in a God, but how could anyone ever deny him that which saved his life and likely his daughter's life as well?
I know there is a lot of negativity about religion on the Sift but those at the end of their rope can turn around and use religion by embracing it to find grace.
In my mind, this is where faith redeems itself for me. It's that one intangible thing that a person can latch on to when there is nothing else.
On the negative side, Yes, there are always people embraced in religion that seek to exploit people at this stage and all the crap that goes with that. But when you hit the lowest low and you want out of the muck that has become your everyday, sometimes "faith in an idea" can be more powerful than even the chemicals that are used by the scum of the earth (dealers & pushers) to enslave people.
To me that is positive.

@TheSluiceGate
while i agree with your basic premise that choices have consequences.i think you missed the point of this video.
this is about redemption.

in my travels i have come to the conclusion that those who suffer from addiction (of any kind) are battling an emptiness or pain within themselves,in one form or another.
nobody decides to aspire to be a junkie,or an alcoholic and they certainly do not desire to die a slow and painful death,causing massive heartache for those that love them.

the downward spiral is a slow decent into a personal hell and what makes it even more arduous and self-incriminating is that the junkie (at one point) becomes fully aware of the spiral and the self-defeating cycle.they know they cant stop and that creates such a tsunami of guilt and shame it drives them back to the very thing that is destroying them.

that is the beauty of this story.this man found his redemption in the form of jesus christ.
he found forgiveness in christ.
would you deny him this for the simple fact he started on the road to addiction years ago?
who cares if he found salvation in jesus or a talking box of captain crunch.
the fact that he found something that helped give him the strength to deal with his addiction should suffice,no matter what vehicle it was that helped him to defeat his own personal demons.

have you been a junkie?
are you speaking from experience?
should we abandon all those who make bad choices to their own devices?
because i have found that nobody can experience this journey we call life alone and those that have convinced themselves they can are deluding themselves.

Exactly,
It doesn't matter if you "found salvation in Jesus or a talking box of captain crunch."

The fact is, although Captain Crunch is a tastier option, so many people choose religion, often Christianity. Redemption and Grace are the two things someone is looking for when their lives spiral out of control. It just so happens that faith in religion offers this.

And yes, Kudos to those who can find, within them, either the strength to quit the spiral early. Or even more so, those who do it at a later stage, but like Enoch mentions, there is most often a reason why they got to that place in the first place. That healing doesn't just happen on it's own, grace and redemption are very powerful tools and the people that are offering them are offering them a philosophy of forgiveness and unconditional help.

PS: I'm still wondering if there is a 12-step program that uses Captain Crunch, because I just may sign up for that one.

Hi Enoch, my comment was more aimed at the production style of the video itself and how it glorified this ex-junkie, not necessarily about the religious aspect at all. But seeing as you asked...

"this is about redemption"

I think it's about a man who was taking drugs that stopped taking drugs. You can call this redemptive in a loose sense. I think "recovery" would be closer to the mark, and also is free of any irrelevant religious connotation.

"in my travels i have come to the conclusion that those who suffer from addiction (of any kind) are battling an emptiness or pain within themselves,in one form or another."

I don't agree. There's a myriad of reasons while people become addicted to things ranging from the psychological to the physical. Yours reason is, however, possibly one of them - but to say that this is the main one is an over simplification.

"that is the beauty of this story. This man found his redemption in the form of jesus christ.
he found forgiveness in christ. Would you deny him this for the simple fact he started on the road to addiction years ago? Who cares if he found salvation in jesus or a talking box of captain crunch.
the fact that he found something that helped give him the strength to deal with his addiction should suffice,no matter what vehicle it was that helped him to defeat his own personal demons.
"

I'm glad he didn't die and has turned his life around by whatever method. But what now if, clear of his crisis, he realises that the pillar of his recovery is a fictional deity. Hopefully he wouldn't falter in his sobriety, but if Jesus really is as important in the equasion as he seems to be here then there could be a problem. He should be putting himself and his daughter first, not jesus. Brian Welsh and his daughter, unlike jesus, actually exist.


"have you been a junkie?
are you speaking from experience?"

No I've not been a junkie, but I've seen how drug and alcohol addiction and it's effects on peoples lives around me. This is not, of course, the same as being a junkie, but why do you ask?

"should we abandon all those who make bad choices to their own devices?"

This is falsely reductive statement. Just because I think the tone of this video is all wrong, and that it falsely deifies this ex-junkie doesn't mean that I think people who suffer from addiction should not be treated.I don't think anything I've said implied that.

"Because i have found that nobody can experience this journey we call life alone and those that have convinced themselves they can are deluding themselves."

Not sure of the relevance of this statement, but anyway... Yes of course life is much better and easier when we are not alone - as it is also if one was recovering from addiction.

I do however think that, in terms of deluding oneself, believing that there's a supernatural deity that's going to save you from all harm is one of the ultimate delusions. And a very dangerous one.

@TheSluiceGate
hey thanks for the response my friend.(though in bullet form..blech)
i now have a clearer picture in what you were trying to convey,and if i have your stance correct:

1.you found this video to be a glorification of drug addiction and not the religious aspects.

i disagree and your previous comments do also.i disagree that this was a glorification of any kind but rather ones mans courage to put himself out there and explain where he was and what helped him walk away still breathing.nobody goes around and broadcasts how they are an addict and have lost control of their lives.i feel this video is more of public service for those who may suffer and silence and feel they are alone,which is quite common among addicts.we can disagree on this...our perceptions just differ.as for the religious aspects may i just point to your last paragraph.notice anything?

you are free to chastise this man for his conversion to christianity and putting his recovery on giving himself over to jesus.that is not only your choice but your right but please dont say your premise was not influenced by the religious aspects when it obviously was.you said so in your own words.

2.you are an atheist and disagree with my use of "redemption" because of its religious connotations and would prefer "recovery".

i can agree that "recovery" is also an apt term to use but it does not convey in a complete sense what "redemption" conveys.
you dont "recover" from guilt and shame.
you are "redeemed" and this does not have to have anything to do with religion but it does has EVERYTHING to do with brutal honesty.to have the courage to face oneself with eyes wide open and accept the choices...AND consequences.this is a process that needs to happen to start the healing process which can only begin with forgiveness.
to forgive oneself.
this does not,by implication,necessarily mean that jesus has to come in to your life.
or buddha.
or allah.
or the great spirit.
but usually for addicts it is something outside themselves.this could be a person you greatly admire and respect which could help fascillitate a similar outcome.
hence my captain crunch reference.

i would also like to address that your disagreement with me is actually an agreement.
while i agree with your assesment on my over-simplification let me just point out:
emptiness=psychological
pain=physical
my over-simplification was to shave off all the myriad redundancies to reveal the nugget/core.

3.you are not some big meanie.

my apologies if i implied that you were in any capacity.i chose my words carefully in order to provoke you into revealing your TRUE motivation and in that context i succeeded but allow me to apologize for the manipulation.
i didnt want to respond in a presumptuous manner,even though i had suspicions to your true dislike of this video.

and here was my general thinking.
why would somebody find a video where a man admits,on VIDEO,how he almost killed himself due to his addictions and lost that which was most dear,and his consequent "recovery",be perceived as a bad thing?
and the only conclusion i could come up with was the "jesus" factor as being the bitter pill.
just look at the views to votes ratio.you are not exactly alone my friend.

would you feel the same way if this man had started recovery from meeting a distinguished scientist? or philosopher?
who helped him see the world differently and hence gave him the courage to face what he needed to face?
i presume (falsely maybe) that you and many on this site would have cheered this man for his courage but since this man gave his life to jesus and credits jesus for his recovery he is relegated to the silly bin.
my response is:whatever works for ya.do it and do it NOW.if that means jesus or the FSM then by all means...have at it.

i AM an ex-junkie.
and i dont mean i had a small "problem" but i was the rip-snorting we-are-going-for-a-fucking-ride kinda junkie.
the wake up across state lines on the beach-how the fuck did i get here kinda junkie.
i assist those who wish to be clean.
i let them stay in my spare room so they can go through detox (worst experience a person can endure imo).
i do not judge.
i do not preach.
i make it ok.
because i am fluent in the language of the broken and forsaken because i was once just like them.
this is mainly where my "nobody can do it alone" comment was inspired.because a junkie cannot get clean by him/herself.their self loathing is too dominant and the desire to numb themselves from their own past too strong an impulse to ignore.

so when you see a junkie you may (rightly so) see a person who has made some bad choices.maybe you hope they will seek treatment and get better but they need to accept responsibility.
i agree with that, but you judge them while not understanding THEY have already judged themselves and their judgment is so much harsher than you could ever imagine.they believe themselves to be less than nothing and execute that verdict with a raging self-hatred everytime they use.which then becomes a never-ending cycle of guilt and shame.

i attempt to break that cycle for those who seek to become healthy and whole again.sometimes i succeed but more often i fail.
so if jesus is a part of somebody finding the strength and courage to face their demons then who are we to judge?

i do hope you take this comment in the spirit it was written.
with honesty and respect.i truly appreciate your contributions to this subject (which is obviously close to home for me) and indulging my curiosity with how an atheist views subjects such as these.
it would be interesting to see how many votes a video similar to this would get if there was no reference to jesus or god.

thank you TSG.

Hey Enoch,
yeah we agree on some things but disagree on more.
To clarify, I'll take the central point as you have mentioned above:

"why would somebody find a video where a man admits,on VIDEO,how he almost killed himself due to his addictions and lost that which was most dear,and his consequent "recovery",be perceived as a bad thing?
and the only conclusion i could come up with was the "jesus" factor as being the bitter pill"

I don't understand why this is the "only conclusion" that you could come up with when I've already stated the contrary and given the central reason *twice*. I've also stated that I'm glad he kicked the habit by whatever means, including religious ones (no matter how misguided I feel these reasons to be) and that my criticism lies in the style and tone of the video production. To me it reminds me of a Maralyn Manson video that attempts to glorify the darkness in life and the attractiveness and worthiness of suffering. Allow me to try again.

The style and the tone of the video screams "listen to this worthy man for he is wise through the experiences he has gone through, and his words have more weight than yours".

To entirely take religion out of my point: I have the same problem with how public figures such as Kurt Cobain are deified after their suicide. That somehow through ending his life he gave his words more weight and his outlook more credos. That now he was a tortured glorious soul, that really knew the truth about life. So now rather than his death being a tragedy for himself, his child, and the mother of his child, it was re-contextualised into some form of glorious statement.

The same is true in the coverage of suicides in the media here in Europe. Always there is an air of romance in the notion of killing oneself due to some form of suffering. That's what I abhor, and that's what comes across in this video.

To re-state my very first comment:
"... I have a huge problem with the way he's portrayed in this video. It glamorizes the perceived value of having put his life in the toilet for years. Let's remember that this guy was an idiot who took drugs to the point of it ruining his life, and his daughters life - and still didn't quit after his wife died from the very drugs he was taking. These actions don't give him a ticket to sagedom. Among his tattoos he should have one that states - "I am capable of making the worst possible decisions and taking actions that could have led to my death, and made an orphan of my daughter"."

The religious aspect is an absolute sideshow.

Moving this video to Sagemind's personal queue. It failed to receive enough votes to get sifted up to the front page within 2 days.