The book listed few characteristics of religious addicts as:
- Attending church to feel significant and secure.
- Using prayer as a medium to feel good.
- Taking pride in the number of hours spent in prayer.
of God, which is paying God with zeal and commitment while expecting good feelings, financial rewards and other blessings in return.Transactional use
The book also highlights the issue of emotional manipulation by churches, as well as religious doctrines that borders on paganism. The author, who went through similar experiences,
Spiritual Sobriety asks us to abandon our selfish, addictive ways and replace them with healthier expressions of spirituality. It
Spiritual Sobriety doesn't just exhort us to abandon our addictive ways, it also reveals what we can do to replace them. It tells us to:
"refrain from using religion as a punishment against others or ourselves; seek to be rigorously honest rather than unfailingly good; and retain the best of (our) spiritual devotion in positive, life-enhancing ways". ...
Spiritual Sobriety is a book I wished I read many years ago. It is full of personal experiences and insights into the nature of modern Christianity's brand of perversion. The book doesn't pose to have all the answers, but gives simple guidelines by which you can start your own journey to recovery.
On the negative side, few people might be put off by few New-Age-y concepts the book bandies around. Spiritual Sobriety isn't perfect, but just like a sudden flash of lightning across the sky, it shines a bright light on a problem that many prefer no one talks about.
Many thanks to Covergent Books for review copy.
No comments:
Post a Comment