Posted by Elizabeth on September 15, 2001, at 18:02:04
In reply to Re: Religion and the Board » Dr. Bob, posted by Wendy B. on September 5, 2001, at 9:35:47
Replies to a couple of your posts:
> no, he didn't, it is my interpretation, though, of what he said about his evangelical brand of christianity... all evangelicals feel it's their calling to call others unto the religion, *as i understand it*.
Have you ever heard the expression, "Your right to swing your fist ends where my nose begins?" It applies here.
and from another post:
> JahL, are you kidding? there have been many posts advocating the supposed therapeutic use of many controlled substances... see the following thread for just one example of exactly that, called "let's do drugs."It was a discussion of self-medication, and completely on-topic IMO. There was no recommendation that people buy drugs illegally; the author was asking for book recommendations. There's nothing illegal about writing or reading scientific information about illegal drugs.
The title of that thread appears to be tongue-in-cheek. Although I can't read the author's mind, it seems pretty obvious to me that he wasn't suggesting that anyone go out and illegally buy street drugs.
You should be aware that a lot of the drugs that are FDA-approved for the treatment of mental illnesses, or are used off-label with good results, are in fact "controlled substances." There have been a number of on-topic, reasonable posts in which people have spoken favourably about some of these controlled substances (for example, the efficacy and mild side-effect profile of benzodiazepines compared with antidepressants for anxiety).
And yes, to answer a question posed in the post you cited, it is thought that some (perhaps most) people who use or abuse alcohol, cocaine, heroin, etc. are self-medicating. These drugs are effective for certain conditions (social phobia, panic disorder, ADD, depression) but safer alternatives are available (such as benzodiazepines, amphetamines and similar stimulants, and opioid partial agonists).
Religious proselytising is not on-topic by a long shot. IMHO, it's also kind of tacky.
-elizabeth
poster:Elizabeth
thread:1870
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20010718/msgs/2054.html