I am just wondering why all these drug treatment centers around the country are being run (almost secretly) by religious groups. The worst part is that courts are ordering people to go to these places who have minor drug or alcohol charges and are not interested at all in getting help and really don't have a problem. By the way as I am sure you could of imagined, these places cost money, a good chunk, that is to be paid by the people forced to go there and have this, sorry Owen I cant get my point across without using the best word in the English language to describe it, bullshit preached at them. Another thing about this that is not right (nothing about it is), the government is funding these places, big time, hundreds of millions of dollars are going into these programs while the little school down the road from here can only afford to have one computer and the level of education is at an all time low everywhere. The courts are profiting and handing business to these centers who are making big bucks, well the religious group leaders are the ones really lining their pockets because the actual places are usually run down and have low budgets, the money is going right into those good Christians' pockets because they deserve it because they are so righteous, so they want you to think. It is also against policy in every form for the government to give money to religious organizations, I just wonder why every form of government right up to and especially the president and the people that run him to continuously break the law and get rewarded while someone like us gets in a little trouble and is bent over by the court system. It doesn't have to go on, we the people are supposed to have the power, right? Hopefully, soon, we can look at morals and ethics before profit, and quit giving all the money to the true evil that exists in our country and try to take better care of the people.

I was prompted to rant about it because my brother was recently court ordered to attend these classes in North Carolina(where everything is run by one religious group or another), where he was very put off by it so I did some research and the more I looked into it, the more frustrated I got. I admit, I am a little biased against any religious group and feel everything they do good is just a mask so they can continue to get rich but I am not saying that everyone that is religious is bad , I have met a lot of genuine people in my life that are religious in some way or another. I should leave my religious views aside in this political forum though so that aside, I just feel like the money going into these places and the ridiculous amount of money the courts take in can go to better the state, not to line the pockets of the politicians. Another thing I have noticed in the courts, because yes, I have had the unfortunate experience of having to go to court more than once for small offenses( really shouldn't be offenses but that is another discussion altogether) is that there is all these people standing around doing nothing all day, why are we paying these people and where do I apply? I know there are bigger problems that need to be addressed but I feel like a huge part of the problem is the lack of education and any tax money going towards politicians and religious leaders' (usually they are one in the same) bank accounts is education being stolen from the kids in this country that they claim to love so much. I just wonder sometimes if all the compassion in this country has been replaced by greed.

It also makes you wonder what the real motivation of the faith-based organizations are.

Are they really trying to help these people?  I question the motives behind taking a person who may be having personal problems of various sorts and placing them into an environment that promotes the use of unprovable theistic principles to heal.

In the example of an addict (not to imply that that was the case here), someone who is most likely already having issues becoming re-connected with reality probably shouldn't have additional pretend ideas foisted upon them as fact, however subtly that may be.  Not only do they have to fight through the issues that got them into the center in the first place, now they have the added burden of picking through which illusory version of reality works for their particular situation.

Substituting one false reality for another seems ill-advised at best.

Then again, perception = reality, so maybe it's all moot.

Right now, sleep is my religion.  It refreshes me every day on a consistent basis making it easier to face the world.  All I have to do is pray for about 6-7 hours a night in a supine position upon my metal and fabric alter, although sometimes I have religirous holidays when I pray on my side.