There Ain't No Drug
Have you ever been enjoying a nice, relaxing television show, when a drug commercial comes on, that makes you laugh and uncomfortable at the same time? And then you think to yourself, "People buy this stuff?" I certainly have. Recently I read an article about a spray that apparently stimulates the "cuddle hormone" allowing for more affection from the male half of a relationship. I posted the article on my facebook page later with the caption, "Need emotion in your relationship? Just use this spray!".
The reason I bring this up is that more and more drugs are being created for problems that don't require a drug. That or drug advertisements create the illusion that their particular product will solve all of your problems. You know what I'm talking about. Those commercials that come on and you see the main character of the commercial in a down and out mood, the colors are bland, and you get a sense that he or she is helpless. Then he or she takes the drug and suddenly his or her life is completely better. The family comes together, everything is perfect, the colors in the commercial get brighter, and inevitably you get the cheesy slogan at the end after all the side effects are run by your ears at lightning speed.
Now, this is not discounting the effect of the drug and what it can do for some people. I just think that buying a drug impulsively is a bad idea. A smart customer should research all options before making a decision, especially what the side effects are! Also, advertisers should be clear and list the side effects clearly so that customers aren't effected negatively. It could also prevent future lawsuits.
But there's another problem. There are tons of drugs that deal with symptoms and not with the real problem: yourself. For instance, if you have a hangover, there are drugs you can take to relieve the pain, but you caused the problem by drinking too much. If you smoke, you will get cancer eventually, and there are drugs that are taken as a result, but you could have decided to quit earlier. If you have heartburn, you can take tums, but you could have prevented it by watching your diet. There are so called "weight loss pills", but you could have exercised. If you have problems cuddling, now there is a spray that can help you get over your bad self. In each of these cases, the problem ultimately came back to the person. The simple solution: do what you can to be healthy and if necessary, be held accountable.
In the same way, we are all sinners. Nothing we do can make us right with God. Sure, we may feel better, but the root of the problem never goes away. Deeds don't obtain righteousness. Only the blood of Christ shed on Calvary can set us free. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves. It is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast." Ephesians 2:8-9
As Switchfoot put it in their song Mess of Me, "There ain't no drug, the sickness is myself."
The reason I bring this up is that more and more drugs are being created for problems that don't require a drug. That or drug advertisements create the illusion that their particular product will solve all of your problems. You know what I'm talking about. Those commercials that come on and you see the main character of the commercial in a down and out mood, the colors are bland, and you get a sense that he or she is helpless. Then he or she takes the drug and suddenly his or her life is completely better. The family comes together, everything is perfect, the colors in the commercial get brighter, and inevitably you get the cheesy slogan at the end after all the side effects are run by your ears at lightning speed.
Now, this is not discounting the effect of the drug and what it can do for some people. I just think that buying a drug impulsively is a bad idea. A smart customer should research all options before making a decision, especially what the side effects are! Also, advertisers should be clear and list the side effects clearly so that customers aren't effected negatively. It could also prevent future lawsuits.
But there's another problem. There are tons of drugs that deal with symptoms and not with the real problem: yourself. For instance, if you have a hangover, there are drugs you can take to relieve the pain, but you caused the problem by drinking too much. If you smoke, you will get cancer eventually, and there are drugs that are taken as a result, but you could have decided to quit earlier. If you have heartburn, you can take tums, but you could have prevented it by watching your diet. There are so called "weight loss pills", but you could have exercised. If you have problems cuddling, now there is a spray that can help you get over your bad self. In each of these cases, the problem ultimately came back to the person. The simple solution: do what you can to be healthy and if necessary, be held accountable.
In the same way, we are all sinners. Nothing we do can make us right with God. Sure, we may feel better, but the root of the problem never goes away. Deeds don't obtain righteousness. Only the blood of Christ shed on Calvary can set us free. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves. It is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast." Ephesians 2:8-9
As Switchfoot put it in their song Mess of Me, "There ain't no drug, the sickness is myself."
Word.
ReplyDeleteSo many of the drugs are unnecessary. I know this because I'm a pharmacy technician, studying to be a pharmacist.
But worse than unnecessary, they are often times very dangerous and even deadly! Like all the antidepressants that lead to suicide. Or the fact that 70% of chemotherapy patients die from the chemo (compared to the 30% to 40% who die from untreated cancer).
Sanitation and hand-washing alone caused lifespan to lengthen and diseases to end in the 1940s, a decade before antibiotics and immunizations existed, yet the pharmaceutical companies (and my pharmacy class teachers) still claim that the drugs were the cause of the positive change.
Truly amazing that the drugs were effective a decade or two before they were invented! **sarcasm**
The best advance in the 20th Century was sanitation, especially indoor plumbing that took waste outside of the house and living areas. Washing hands, killing rats and disposing of menstrual cloths also helped stop the spread of 19th Century diseases like cholera, typhoid, dysentery, H1N1 and polio ...... all things laid out in the OLD TESTAMENT thousands of years before man understood why God told them to do it.
The Jews have followed Old Testament sanitation guidelines for centuries, and they were not effected by the plagues that ravaged 1/3 of the European population.
God has always been smarter than us. :D