In Baltimore, recently, the tragedy involving the death of a cyclist by an Episcopal bishop has generated wide public shock. People found it morally offensive that a Bishop, a spiritual leader of a religious body was responsible for the man’s death. The Bishop is charged with intoxication, texting while driving and then, after striking the cyclist leaving the scene of the accident. Discussions of the tragedy seem driven mostly by anger or moral outrage and, and, of course, a search for accountability.
I believe, however, one very critical issue is not being discussed, namely, the insidious scope and power of addictions that are so rampant in today’s culture of which alcoholism is but one. There’s widespread confusion about just what addiction is.
Addiction creates nightmarish scenarios. Consider this: everything one normally treasures in life like health, personal dignity, friends, relatives, spouses, children, community, career, safety or the safety of others becomes sacrificed in the service of maintaining the emotionally compensatory effects of addiction. For those victimized by addictive behavior, such a sacrifice is simply too mind-boggling to begin to comprehend.
Addiction isn’t always apparent. Not everyone convicted of a DUI is alcoholic. Someone never convicted of a DUI may be severely addicted to alcohol. Detecting addicted persons can be difficult. Addicted persons who remain high-functioning individuals frequently can remain under the radar. An addiction’s most lethal consequence is the loss of one’s capacity to choose. A life out of control is a tragedy waiting to happen. That a life is out of control is not always apparent to others and what’s worse, is rarely if ever apparent to the addicted person until a tragedy occurs. The most insidious aspect of an addiction is its victim’s capacity, not to recognize it.
It’s ironic that a high profile cleric, a spiritual leader, has been implicated in this tragedy. Bill W and Dr. Bob, founders of Alcoholic Anonymous, the most successful instrument for the recovery of alcoholics, despaired of institutional religion being helpful in an alcoholic’s recovery. Clergy frequently lectured alcoholics, sent them off with pious clichés while admonishing them to use determination and “backbone” to “change their ways.” Smooth words, but naïve. AA understands that for an alcoholic’s recovery, a spiritual awakening is a necessity, not a luxury.
Moralism and uninformed judgments only further alienate those seeking help. Addictions are as much a sickness of the soul as of the body. Curiously, Montaigne, the canny sixteenth-century observer of our human condition was on to soul sickness: he wrote to the effect: ‘they remain least aware of them who do suffer diseases the soul.’ Addictions are diseases of the soul. Recovery is an ongoing process involving that crucial first step that must be taken to effect an authentic spiritual transformation: honestly acknowledging who you are and not pretending otherwise.
Bill W and Dr. Bob understood this. They formed Alcoholics Anonymous an essentially spiritually informed community (some regard the founding of AA as the beginning of the self-help movement) where alcoholics could find fellowship and support in their sobriety, be held accountable for their actions but also to be understood. Active members of AA are typically wary of institutional religion and ‘God talk,’ but remain engaged in a serious practice of spirituality. The commitment to observing The Twelve Steps, a spiritual practice, is a case in point.
During my career as an Episcopal priest and psychotherapist, I worked in a state agency with a variety of drug and alcohol dependent persons and their families. I led groups, counseled individuals. I heard stories and saw both healing and tragedy. I also learned a lot about hands on spirituality, different from the rarified kind that’s often associated with formal religion.
In the hundreds of stories I heard, one theme consistently emerged; there was a decisive moment in the addicted person’s life when he or she surrendered his or her defenses and admitted to themselves and others that they had lost control of their lives. Just what precipitates those moments is highly individual; sometimes it’s an ugly tragedy, and in other instances a seemingly inconsequential turn of events. Alcoholics call this critical point hitting bottom. As in traditional religious conversion, a fleeting moment can turn lives around. Conversion means being ‘turned around.’ Addressing an AA meeting, members begin by saying: “My name is (real first name) and I am an alcoholic.” It’s a ritual way of acknowledging who you are without shame.
Being in recovery is continually acknowledging who you are and embracing it realistically. It’s worth noting that the point of surrender in an addict’s recovery parallels the experience persons report when undergoing profound religious and spiritual transformations.
When the legal work is done, and the judgments rendered, I cannot image there will be satisfactory closure for either the Bishop or the cyclist’s family. Wounds of this magnitude, like chronic illnesses, are managed but rarely healed.
Bishop Cook must bear the responsibility for her actions. It’s my hope that if anything is remotely redemptive in this tragedy, it will be that her public visibility – her social and religious status will highlight how addictions are as deadly to those of rank and status as they are to the meek and humble. Addictions are disturbingly democratic, non-sectarian and, I might add, gender inclusive.
Stephan Sonn says
So glad this opinion was presented particularly since it ran so deep into the role that society and
culture interplay into what is essentially an individual action. And that is exactly the point.
The common denominator is one. If you view addiction as a cause, you lift it from a statistical abstract.
There are a lot of unhappy addicted people roaming our offices and bars with no place else to go.
Intervention was part of the answer. But that runs the risk of excess in a free society. This is a terrible mess.
I think that for society to recover from an addictive culture it is time for its churches put the
flock dynamic in perspective and speak to one soul at a time, starting with their own.