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Addiction, God and RFK Jr.
I was amazed at the candidate’s honesty
In an interview with Lex Fridman, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. talks very candidly about his relationship with God and how it helped him overcome addiction to drugs and alcohol. In doing this, he is unusually candid for a man running for president.
I am used to politicians dodging controversial issues and refusing to be forthright if it might hurt them politically. Yet Kennedy doesn’t take the easy path — instead, at a time when more and more Americans are saying they are atheists or agnostics, he talks about his own belief in God.
However, he does so in a way that is poignantly honest, that reveals his own struggles, and that could actually help others who are dealing with addiction.
He explains how, despite growing up in a devoutly Catholic family, he fell away from his faith. Later, he became a slave to addiction.
While he was an addict, a friend of his who was also an addict became a follower of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon. Kennedy and the others in his group of friends made fun of the “moonie” but the follower had given up drugs cold turkey. He would visit his former friends but was not tempted to join them in drinking or using drugs.
At some point, Kennedy realized he desperately wanted to get the monkey off his back, and thought — believing in God, whether or not He exists, might help him.
There is a passage in the Bible about how, if you have faith even the size of a mustard seed, you can move mountains and that nothing will be impossible for you. (Matthew 17:20–21)
For people struggling with addiction, it is as heavy a burden as any mountain. Yet, Kennedy was coming to the conclusion that perhaps God provided the answer.
He saw this not just in his friend who gave up drugs and alcohol, but also in talking to a doctor friend of his. The man had treated thousands of patients and reported that his patients who believed in God got better faster and had a more enduring recovery than those who didn’t.
I have seen this myself when I went through chemo — those in the chemo ward who had faith endured the treatment better and had better outcomes. I have seen this more recently in myself and other…
