Addiction: Minimizing and denying the existence of Satan and the Devil, or at least to minimize and deny the reality of the phenomenon that these mythic images represent.

Mark Judge writes in stream.org that our therapeutic culture downplays the evil of addiction. Read the whole thing here. CoachSpringer comments in Instapundit,

Spiritual or medical? Don't tie one hand behind your back. Addiction will take your life and ruin other life it touches. And then it kills. Spiritual and physical, I say. Soul, corruption, redemption.

Ditzyblond comments in Instapundit,

I know people who don't think they have a problem, but their families do. And being an addict, the addict brushes all that away by blaming the others. The families have fallen silent because they know it won't do any good, and speaking up will endanger their access to the kids. Just because the others in your life don't say anything, it doesn't mean they think you're fine. For every addict who thinks he doesn't have a problem, you can find a half dozen people who silently recognize there is a problem.

Old School Conservative53 comments in Instapundit,

No, it is not a competition, but if you check the statistics you will find that faith based programs like AA succeed at a FAR greater rate. Their success rate is not great, but the success rates of gubmint run programs, and most private non-faith based programs, is absolutely dismal. I've seen that proved, up close and personal. That said, if a person has an alcohol problem, it seems to me that person would want the best chance of success in controlling the disease.

dhsimmons comments in Instapundit,

I agree that the problem of addiction is a moral problem, but I take a slightly less demonic approach than Judge. I think that most of what is labeled addiction is simply unfettered appetite given the opportunity to claim pathology as an excuse. The reason that people who do drugs or gamble continue to do drugs or gamble is because they like doing it, and as long as they still have resources they haven't expended on those activities yet they are not going to stop. They will pay lip service to the notion that they "should" stop, but they don't really think it or believe it. Most of the time, when they run through tearful apologies talking about their struggle with addiction and how they want to change, it's simply a ploy to buy time or procrastinate, or a manipulation to continue to gather resources to devote to the enjoyable activity. In other words, what we call addiction is simply good old greed, gluttony and dishonesty - but we've empowered people engaging in those three activities to employ the excuse that they're "sick" and "can't help it".

Addicts may be able to convince their therapists that they're not simply lying and self-indulgent weaklings who are simply doing what they prefer to do, because they value short-term indulgence over long-term benefits, but they will have a hard time convincing me.