A desire to 'belong'

can make needy people

do crazy and dangerous acts.

***

"Liars Club;" (Secret) Kissing Cousins

A small victory occurred today;

Another flawed and failing agency filled with closeted homosexuals--
and based on repression and lies--admitted to many of its problems,
closed its doors, and offered a public apology for past harms caused
by their deceits and frauds. (Color me astonished!)

Exodus International, a delusional group dedicated to pretending that
homosexuality could be 'cured' (what the fuck ?!?) through belief in
'god' finally came forth and admitted it was all bullshit.

Take a note, alcoholics. Your bullshit fest can't last forever.

And your chickens will come home to roost.

(Although, this same thing happening with AA and NA seems unlikely.
When's the last time you saw an addict--dry or otherwise--take personal
responsibility for meaningful wrongdoing?)

(For a more indepth look at the vocal survivors of this group, and the
many obvious similarities to 12 Step Groups, check this out: "God & Gays" )

****************************************************

The Dangers of Heightened Expectations

We are all of us-- in every way, and every sense--
damaged goods. Not worth any less or without
prospect of living good lives, but let's be frank;
Damaged...as anyone alive on this planet is.

There can be progress, but there is no mystical
transformation or supernatural healing. If reason
and perspective are tossed aside, mind-over-matter
and fanaticism can provide a new high that lasts
as long as an individual is willing to feed it, but that
is not the same as the false and misleading promise
of a reincarnated hooplah.

People born and raised in extreme conditions of
conflict, abuse, and neglect will never truly shed the
after-effects of such a living. We can choose to
have a life, and it can be better than we perhaps
imagined, but the scars stay with you.

To offer people blind, blanket hope for hope's sake
is cruel and defeatist. When people do all the work
prescribed by people in 'support groups' and find
themselves staring into the same despondent mirror,
that's the point where adherence to dogma is supposed
to hold sway over the individual and 'help them' start
'witnessing' the mirage.

"Oh--oh, yeah...I see it, too! It's just like you described!
Yes, I wanted it, and now it's here! "

These primitive social indoctrinations are fairly simple
and easily spotted; insinuation and manipulation employed
on a desperate and vulnerable person. Doting illicits warmth.
Repetition seals the deal.

The truth is, I personally will never again be able to let
someone else get close to me.

I'm only drawn to manipulative, dark-hearted bastards
who can't be trusted; nice guys don't register.

Those things are hard-wired into me no matter how many
hours of therapy or meditation I indulge in. Now, I've learned
how to identify and overcome immersion into these sick
habits, but the basis of what I feel will never change. So
I adjust my expectations for life.

But to suggest to folks that positive thinking and
repetitive thoughts will do any more than create a short-term
distraction is disingenuous. And to create the idea that a
bright, shining salvation is-a-coming is a straight-up lie.

But that's the typically selfish and self-serving alkie for ya....

It's not about giving up--it's about averting denial of the
fact that life is rough and will take some serious dedication.
Warts and all, you have to know thy self....and only then
can you be set free.

A dog and pony show won't change what's under the waters.

Game-playing doesn't make anybody a winner.

*************************************************