Are Americans THIS sick...

[Udon Map]

Getting back on topic with the OP’s desire to understand the high use of opioid pharmaceutical drugs in the US, we cannot shy away from including a religious component into the equation simply because some people don’t want to discuss religion, more particularly Christianity.

The USA is entering into a post Christian era. The number of Christians and cultural strength of Christianity are both declining in the United States. This decline is noticeable and is affecting church life, culture, and politics.

Our young people today are brought up with no sense of the sanctity of their bodies and seem to be dead set on destroying them with alcohol, drugs, sexual immorality and obesity in ever increasing numbers.....

Presumably you intended to preface your post with "In my opinion...." Yes?

[semperfiguy]

Getting back on topic with the OP’s desire to understand the high use of opioid pharmaceutical drugs in the US, we cannot shy away from including a religious component into the equation simply because some people don’t want to discuss religion, more particularly Christianity.

The USA is entering into a post Christian era. The number of Christians and cultural strength of Christianity are both declining in the United States. This decline is noticeable and is affecting church life, culture, and politics.

Our young people today are brought up with no sense of the sanctity of their bodies and seem to be dead set on destroying them with alcohol, drugs, sexual immorality and obesity in ever increasing numbers.....

Presumably you intended to preface your post with "In my opinion...." Yes?

I assume that every post on this topic is just the poster's opinion. Would you have us all preface our posts, or just those that have a religious connotation?

[DuiDui49]

Paul,did you read THIS:

...and please pretty please poster in this thread...Give us ALL a chanse to express our diffrent views,including religion and what religion may or may not to do with the opioid problem.Some would call/blame it on pretty much anything EXCEPT taking their own resposibility..

If you don't have anything else to bring to the Opiod Table..kindly stay away..Thank you.

Getting back on topic with the OP’s desire to understand the high use of opioid pharmaceutical drugs in the US, we cannot shy away from including a religious component into the equation simply because some people don’t want to discuss religion, more particularly Christianity.

The USA is entering into a post Christian era. The number of Christians and cultural strength of Christianity are both declining in the United States. This decline is noticeable and is affecting church life, culture, and politics.

Our young people today are brought up with no sense of the sanctity of their bodies and seem to be dead set on destroying them with alcohol, drugs, sexual immorality and obesity in ever increasing numbers.....

Presumably you intended to preface your post with "In my opinion...." Yes?

[sometimewoodworker]

-- snip --

What we are experiencing now in the USA is purely the result of a people that have rejected God and his principles for living, and we are now paying the price for our lack of self-control. If our people sought to glorify God in their bodies, then the majority of our problems would disappear overnight, the least of which would be opioid addiction.

The future is not going to be pretty my friends. Trust me on this one!!!!!!!

You are welcome to believe in fantasy (the act of imagining something) as it helps you act in a rational, non destructive manner

But your statements bear not much resemblance to the current situation.

You will find the religious people have the same problems, obesity, morbid obesity, addiction to drugs both legal and illegal etc. So the belief in a god has little to do with the situation.

In my opinion the problem is mostly to do with the, primarily American, deification of, and rationalisation as the good of, greed. This goes through every part of American culture, certainly including the "god bothering" or religious part, as they expect you to pay them (whoops tythe) 10% of your income.

If you could manage to change the American society view of "greed is good (or god)" then you might be able to reduce the problems it has created.

Opioid addition, because it makes money for some and pushes the costs to others.
Obesity, mostly caused by processed food makers research into how to get people addicted to the high salt, sugar, fat products that generate huge profits.
Gun deaths, mostly caused by the greed of the gun makers, who want a frightened society who can be convinced that more guns make them safer, despite evidence showing that frightened people (with guns) are usually much less safe. For an example of this just look a Canada which is a less scared society.
USA 10.5 deaths per 100,000 with Homicides and suicides almost equal 1.12 guns per person
Canada 1.9 deaths per 100,000 with Homicides ¼ the number of suicides and 0.3 guns per person.

All the above examples are justified by greed is good America as are the extreme disparities in income.
Poor people are generally less well educated.
Poorly educated people are easily convinced of many irrational things.

If the USA had a well educated society it would probably help.

[Udon Map]

Presumably you intended to preface your post with "In my opinion...." Yes?

I assume that every post on this topic is just the poster's opinion. Would you have us all preface our posts, or just those that have a religious connotation?

In my experience, religious discussions attract a higher percentage of zealots who speak with complete certainty about the correctness of their beliefs and the misguided beliefs of others.

[DuiDui49]

God morning everyone reading this excellent Forum thogether with the excellent Forum members !

zealots..hmm never heard that word before so i had to Google it ...

a person who is fanatical and uncompromising in pursuit of their religious, political, or other ideals.

I learn something new everyday..well i'm not going to answer this,Semper if he so wishes..

Thank you everyone that have /going to write write(ten) something in this thread..hopefully we can ad some moore today..

Have a blessed and happy day today..BTW,when did you give your wife a flower last time and said the words "Tank you honey for everything you as my wife enhance my Farang life with.??..Just a thaught..time for a cup of coffee..

Presumably you intended to preface your post with "In my opinion...." Yes?

I assume that every post on this topic is just the poster's opinion. Would you have us all preface our posts, or just those that have a religious connotation?

In my experience, religious discussions attract a higher percentage of zealots who speak with complete certainty about the correctness of their beliefs and the misguided beliefs of others.

[rjj04]

sometimewoodworker summed it up nicely. If the contention is that a loss of religious belief in America is causing the ills, that contention is definitely not backed up by the data. Just go to a site like nationmaster.com and you can see
the that the higher the percentage of "believers" in a country, the higher probability is that that country will have
higher criminality, higher corruption, lower educational achievement, lower longevity (health), lower GDP per capita, etc, etc. Just about every metric of a good society is negatively correlated with religious belief. Now, that doesn't mean that more atheism causes a healthier society, but it certainly is not the opposite. Atheism/agnosticism are indicators of a better society. Could America be different? As sometimewoodworker said the "greed" factor seems to be a big component in my opinion, but I don't have data on that. Certainly there is no way to use .facts to come to the conclusion that lack of religious belief is bad for a society. Look around you here in Thailand, with what must be at least 90% of "believers" and then look at the outcome in the society. The less credulous people are the less chance they will be conned by people like Trump and Hillary.

[DuiDui49]

.."You will find the religious people have the same problems, obesity, morbid obesity, addiction to drugs both legal and illegal etc. So the belief in a god has little to do with the situation. ...or you could choose to say/try to explain it with that their FAIT is not strong enough to fight with "darker side"..my take on it.

-- snip --

What we are experiencing now in the USA is purely the result of a people that have rejected God and his principles for living, and we are now paying the price for our lack of self-control. If our people sought to glorify God in their bodies, then the majority of our problems would disappear overnight, the least of which would be opioid addiction.

The future is not going to be pretty my friends. Trust me on this one!!!!!!!

You are welcome to believe in fantasy (the act of imagining something) as it helps you act in a rational, non destructive manner

But your statements bear not much resemblance to the current situation.

You will find the religious people have the same problems, obesity, morbid obesity, addiction to drugs both legal and illegal etc. So the belief in a god has little to do with the situation.

In my opinion the problem is mostly to do with the, primarily American, deification of, and rationalisation as the good of, greed. This goes through every part of American culture, certainly including the "god bothering" or religious part, as they expect you to pay them (whoops tythe) 10% of your income.

If you could manage to change the American society view of "greed is good (or god)" then you might be able to reduce the problems it has created.

Opioid addition, because it makes money for some and pushes the costs to others.
Obesity, mostly caused by processed food makers research into how to get people addicted to the high salt, sugar, fat products that generate huge profits.
Gun deaths, mostly caused by the greed of the gun makers, who want a frightened society who can be convinced that more guns make them safer, despite evidence showing that frightened people (with guns) are usually much less safe. For an example of this just look a Canada which is a less scared society.
USA 10.5 deaths per 100,000 with Homicides and suicides almost equal 1.12 guns per person
Canada 1.9 deaths per 100,000 with Homicides ¼ the number of suicides and 0.3 guns per person.

All the above examples are justified by greed is good America as are the extreme disparities in income.
Poor people are generally less well educated.
Poorly educated people are easily convinced of many irrational things.

If the USA had a well educated society it would probably help.

[12345]

glorify God[/b] in their bodies, then the majority of our problems would disappear overnight, the least of which would be opioid addiction.

That's some funny sh*t right there. Christians......the 2.2 billion that glorify god worldwide, or just the 70+ % of the population of the USA, keeping on topic, that glorify god. I've yet to meet a Christian that wasn't a hypocrite.

All the druggies, A-holes, fat F's, alkys that I know, knew..........and that's a lot, are Christians, and even go to church, some regularly, some not so. Though none of my Atheist peers fall into those categories, OK, a few are a tad overweight

With that thought.........GOD seems to be the problem, not the solution......

[semperfiguy]

Presumably you intended to preface your post with "In my opinion...." Yes?

I assume that every post on this topic is just the poster's opinion. Would you have us all preface our posts, or just those that have a religious connotation?

In my experience, religious discussions attract a higher percentage of zealots who speak with complete certainty about the correctness of their beliefs and the misguided beliefs of others.

I agree 100% with your observations; however, I wouldn’t classify myself as a zealot on the basis of simply being persuaded in what I believe, for I am neither extreme nor fanatical to the point where I would deny your right to believe as you wish or threaten to cut your head off because you don’t believe the same as I. But here's where the rub comes in....when committed Christians like me speak, at least in my case, I am speaking on the authority of God's Word and I quote Scripture to support my points of view. To a Christian the Word of God is not an opinion or a suggestion, it is a command and the source of all absolute Wisdom and Truth in the universe. What followers of any belief system would call themselves a follower and not be 100% convinced by the doctrines of that system? If you pick and choose what parts of the canon of belief that you want to live by, then you are not a true follower….you are only a casual participant.

To those who do not accept that there is a God and don't believe that the Scriptures represent instruction, Wisdom and Truth from that God, then anything that a Christian says is criticized as being “hogwash”. If folks want to reject me as a messenger, then that's their prerogative and I'm a big boy and can take it; because, I know that they are not rejecting me, but they are really rejecting God and His Word. The fact that God is rejected doesn't negate the fact that He actually exists, and one day “every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord”, and I believe that because God says it in His Word.

What should concern any person who participates on this forum is that his points of view are not accepted as just that, and one is subject to criticism and persecution for entering into the discussion to present observations from a different perspective. I did not attempt to divert the topic into a religious discussion. I simply offered my comments from the perspective of my Christian world view. Every poster on this forum expresses his comments to a topic only after he has filtered them through his own variation of his world view, and that's the beauty of free speech! I can almost guarantee you that had one posted a comment to this topic who is a follower of Buddha, Confucius, Muhammad or any other belief system which determines their world view, then not one single person would have criticized that post. And that begs the question…why! The simple truth can be found in Romans 8:7 which says: Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. In other words, a man who has not been regenerated in his spirit is by nature hostile towards God and considers Him an enemy. He will not subject himself to the law of God because it is impossible for him to do so in his own strength. Bible prophesy is being fulfilled every time a detractor lashes out at the very mention of God’s name or verses from His Word. That verse in itself should cause one to ponder and ask himself "why do 'I' feel this way towards God"?

In conclusion Sir Udon Map, I have tried to be succinct in responding to your comment as I’m sure you expected me to, and I hope that you will not delete this post simply because you don’t agree or consider it to be off topic. I’m not the one who took it in this direction, so let’s be gentlemen and get this discussion back on topic and help Dui Dui to understand the nature of America’s problem with opiod addiction. God bless!

[DuiDui49]

This thread is starting to become like my mind sometime,derailing big time..and i like it..but like i tryed to say before..MODERATION is key here..
Derailing=by diverting it from its intended course..say Google..so back on course..OPIOID ADICTION..and NOT only in US..I've be working 10 years with one of Swedens most knowledgeable/influential person when it comes to support people with backpain.
I've learned that surgery is NOT the answer,i had one myself,REHAB 12 month everything good..the one day,month 13,relapse..I've tryed everything my Doc told me to try,everything..i speak from peronal experience when i tell you that OPIODS are NOT the answer either..short term okey..but like i hear many people say after beeing on OPIOIDS for everything between 1 year-->10+ years..and they tell me that they now don't take them so much for the PAIN it self,but moore because they have an ADICTION to fight + backpain.

For me i choose to stop cold turkey,what a nightmare for a couple of month..still suffering from Insomnia problems but i try not to think to much about that,and i'm NOT going to use any sleeping pills either..MY answer is..YOGA/MEDITATION/HEALTHY FOOD/BICYCLE RIDES/MINDFULLNESS,all in moderation.And i'm happy to say it beats any pill..5-6 days of good healthy food a week and 1 day were i can eat ALL the chocklates i want,or a PIZZA..without it makes me unhealthy..well at least that's what i hope..i can have a Dark Lao Beer too..but no ciggs,no strong alhohol..good sleep (6->8 hours)..and no pills in any form or shape..and mostly i feel GREAT

I think we all have to go back to basics,trust ourself moore and NOT Big Pharma/Doctors and moore..we need to listen in what our body and mind tells us,but somewere we lost fait in ourself and pure laziness ads to that..we think that a PILL will be the thing that helps us..So we,including myself,have trusted my/ours Doctors moore then yourself,not good and we will pay the price for sure..Look at the Antibiotics used and bought over the counter here in Thailand..Which road do YOU want to take,the easy "Pill Road"or start trusting yourself and try something new..the last one is for sure something that needs a PLAN..and we have to stick with it..like a baby trying to takes his/hers first steps in life..we're going to fall/faile many times but i think we would learn alot on the way..not only about manage the pain,but moore import maybe,about ourself.

Thank you all for reading my ramblings ..my wish is that what i have shared so far with you will encurage someone to take the steps to a moore healthy and less painfull everyday life..try it and you might like it

Have a blessed day..//DD..

[sometimewoodworker]

The fact that God is rejected doesn't negate the fact that He actually exists.

There is absolutely no proof of your claim. Provide proof and you will be incredibly wealthy

Nobody has ever proved the existence of any god far less the maleness, femaleness or otherwise of one.

Correlation is not causation.
Belief is not proof.

By making a totally unfounded claim on a subject that is central to your belief you throw doubts about the truth of everything else.

There is the same evidence of the existence of; the Easter bunny, tooth fairy, Father Christmas, angels, devils, goblins etc.

[rjj04]

How this subject has steered to racism and now to religious belief should be enough evidence for us all to think this species is screwed.

Up until a few years ago, I had thought like most people growing up in the western world, that there must have been some bloke named Jesus doing something back in the day. Then I read some books by Dr. Richard Carrier (and others). Using Bayes Theorem one can come to a conclusion with extremely high probability that there was no such god named "Jesus Christ" that walked on this Earth, as almost every historian now believes that there was no Moses. There is no evidence of this Christ fellow. One of the tenants of critical thinking is, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. There is NO evidence in this case, and the claims are absolutely extraordinary. Finally historians are starting to swing towards this view... it took them long enough.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwUZOZN-9dc

Now, I think I need a dose of Monty Python

[DuiDui49]

..and i need a dose of deep breathing

[UdonExpat]

Having recently worked at a residential addiction program for 3 years it is my experience that faith based programs (AA, NA, etc) are successful for some people with addiction problems. Not the only helpful approach; there are no programs that work for everyone. We humans are marvelously complex creatures and one person's salvation can be another's curse. That's just how it is. In my experience, the most important thing for me has been to recognize what works for me, and to do my best to maintain it. It isn't helpful trying to convince others of my way, but rather to inquire what they consider important and help them to improve their strengths.

Opioid addiction demographics have changed in the past couple of decades towards significantly larger numbers of white, non Hispanics. Overdose deaths are causing much of the concern. Along with the increased numbers of heroin addicts has been an increase in the incidence of Hepatitis C, a serious and expensive disease to treat. Many heroin addicts moved from prescription opioids to heroin when their supply of legal prescriptions was exhausted. The cost of illegal pharmaceutical drugs is several times the cost of heroin in the illegal drug market. Free needle programs have been making some inroads in reducing the spread of Hep C, but there is still much more needed. Addicts who are successful in staying clean may still be faced with serious expensive health care issues.

We form varying opinions based upon our life experience. That is what makes things interesting and creates variety in what would otherwise be a boring world of conformity. One of my former teachers repeatedly reminded me that my opinion is my prison. The harder I hang on to it the more it confines and limits me.

If you are interested the following support some of the above.

http://www.kff.org/other/state-indicato ... 2asc%22%7D

http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article ... /302279871

[DuiDui49]

Thank you very much for your, in my humble opinion,excellent post.A give these words a special + mark.

"my opinion is my prison. The harder I hang on to it the more it confines and limits me".

Having recently worked at a residential addiction program for 3 years it is my experience that faith based programs (AA, NA, etc) are successful for some people with addiction problems. Not the only helpful approach; there are no programs that work for everyone. We humans are marvelously complex creatures and one person's salvation can be another's curse. That's just how it is. In my experience, the most important thing for me has been to recognize what works for me, and to do my best to maintain it. It isn't helpful trying to convince others of my way, but rather to inquire what they consider important and help them to improve their strengths.

Opioid addiction demographics have changed in the past couple of decades towards significantly larger numbers of white, non Hispanics. Overdose deaths are causing much of the concern. Along with the increased numbers of heroin addicts has been an increase in the incidence of Hepatitis C, a serious and expensive disease to treat. Many heroin addicts moved from prescription opioids to heroin when their supply of legal prescriptions was exhausted. The cost of illegal pharmaceutical drugs is several times the cost of heroin in the illegal drug market. Free needle programs have been making some inroads in reducing the spread of Hep C, but there is still much more needed. Addicts who are successful in staying clean may still be faced with serious expensive health care issues.

We form varying opinions based upon our life experience. That is what makes things interesting and creates variety in what would otherwise be a boring world of conformity. One of my former teachers repeatedly reminded me that my opinion is my prison. The harder I hang on to it the more it confines and limits me.

If you are interested the following support some of the above.

http://www.kff.org/other/state-indicato ... 2asc%22%7D

http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article ... /302279871

[UdonExpat]

good news on the opioid addiction front: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/bus ... dda3a443d3

[thaiguzzi]

Getting back on topic with the OP’s desire to understand the high use of opioid pharmaceutical drugs in the US, we cannot shy away from including a religious component into the equation simply because some people don’t want to discuss religion, more particularly Christianity.

The USA is entering into a post Christian era. The number of Christians and cultural strength of Christianity are both declining in the United States. This decline is noticeable and is affecting church life, culture, and politics.

Our young people today are brought up with no sense of the sanctity of their bodies and seem to be dead set on destroying them with alcohol, drugs, sexual immorality and obesity in ever increasing numbers.

In the Word of God, 1 Corinthian 6 speaks to the issue of glorifying God in our bodies:

“All things are lawful to me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be brought under the power of anything. “Food is for the belly, and the belly is for food,” but God will destroy both of them. Now the body is not for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body. What? Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God, and that you are not your own? You were bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

Before I became a Christian in 1988 I was a slave to alcohol, drugs, s*x and obesity just to name a few. I didn’t believe that I was created in the image of God, and rather than serve God I sought to serve my own pleasures and devices and was on a path to destruction. Now that I have been regenerated in my spirit, I seek to please my Heavenly Father and follow the principles for clean living that He has set out in His Word. I will no longer allow my appetite for sin and the cravings of my flesh/emotions to control my behavior because God has given me the power to resist any temptation.

What we are experiencing now in the USA is purely the result of a people that have rejected God and his principles for living, and we are now paying the price for our lack of self-control. If our people sought to glorify God in their bodies, then the majority of our problems would disappear overnight, the least of which would be opioid addiction.

The healthcare industry and big pharma, in their lust for power and profits, have created and named syndromes for every kind of affliction that ails us and have brainwashed us into believing that our problems can only be treated with their medications. What we have in our country is a sin problem, and once we come to the realization that our bodies were not given to us to do with as we please, then and only then will we reject those things that lead us into addiction. America must turn back to God if it is to survive. Unfortunately, we have exported the particular variations of our sin to the entire world, and the nations of the earth have become eager consumers. The future is not going to be pretty my friends. Trust me on this one!!!!!!!

I hardly ever post on this forum any more. I can see why with the above post.
My 2 Baht's worth, or better still, 2 words in reply;
Jesus Wept.

[DuiDui49]

Holy moly..read WP news regarding the scams going on..US,Sweden,Thailand..humans are humans..Jing & Jang Black &White...the fuel is money..GREED..A truly sad reading.Were is this debate on Medical Cannabis going..down the drain too..beacuse HUGE money is made..And soon we're going to have more or less the same adiction problem with Medical Cannabis..me thinking loud..

Thanks for the post UE..Have a good day..be blessed.

good news on the opioid addiction front: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/bus ... dda3a443d3

[UdonExpat]

While a bit off topic, this T.E.D. talk addresses some of our common problems in sharing our thoughts, hopes, and dreams.

https://www.ted.com/talks/megan_phelps_ ... l%20issues