Sir,you are ignorant of some key facts.
Speaking from experience I know that alcohol withdrawal is truely hell. And an alcoholic quitting cold turkey can and does kill people.
I personally have a bit of a problem with the “disease” designation but that is discussion for adifferent time.
Your analogies are specious on their face. The rapist is not physically dependant, the alcoholic most definately IS. The alcoholic does not choose to be an alcoholic, it happens often times over years and is insidious in it’s progression. Most alcoholics are not aware they are one untill hopelessly mired in the addiction.
Some, likely yourself,would say that alcoholics are “weak willed”. The opposite is true, some of the most courageous, strong willed individuals you’ll find are recovering alcoholics.
Go to an open AA meeting sometime, you might learn something.
Withdrawal from any poison is unpleasant. It can be managed and does not require any more than medical administration of proper medication, if required.
There is no such thing as dependence on alcohol. You have a dependence on sustenance, but not alcohol.
There is nothing insidious about alcoholism. People who know you told you for many years it was a problem. You chose to ignore it.
I never mentioned a lack of willpower; that is your shield to hide behind. if you think you require willpower to quit drinking, you will lose. You require only a desire to stop drinking.
AA will teach me the only thing of value that I already know. Don’t drink, even if your ass is on fire.
Anything else?
Why is there a danger in a “cure” pill?
“When the doctor has shown the alcoholic the underlying difficulties and has prescribed a program of readjustment, he says to him, “Now that you understand what is required for recovery, you should no longer depend on me. You must depend on yourself. You go do it.”
Clearly, then, the objective of the doctor is to make the patient self-sufficient and largely, if not wholly, dependent upon himself.
Religion does not attempt this. It says that faith in self is not enough, even for a non-alcoholic. The clergyman says that we shall have to find and depend upon a Higher Power - God. He advises prayer and frankly recommends an attitude of unwavering reliance upon Him who presides over all. By this means we discover strength much beyond our own resources.
So, the main difference seems to add up to this: Medicine says, know yourself, be strong and you will be able to face life. Religion says, know thyself, ask God for power, and you will become truly free.
In Alcoholics Anonymous the new person may try either method. He sometimes eliminates “the spiritual angle” from the Twelve Steps to recovery and wholly relies upon honesty, tolerance and working with others. But it is interesting to note that faith always comes to those who try this simple approach with an open mind - and in the meantime they stay sober.
If, however, the spiritual content of the Twelve Steps is actively denied, they can seldom remain dry. That is our A.A. experience. We stress the spiritual simply because thousands of us have found we can’t do without it.” Bill Wilson (N.Y. State 3. Med., Vol. 44, Aug. 15, 1944)