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to have the courage to face the great unknown and the various other fears that arise from that. Resorting to a belief sold by a church in order to face your fears is not much different than resorting to a shot of courage made in a distillery and sold in a saloon.

It is easy to be in denial about these emotional, mental and spiritual addictions. Being in denial about them does not mean they do not exist. In fact, the denial that one's habits are, in fact, an addiction is one of the primary ways to identify an addiction. Everyone who works in addiction therapy has heard a junkie say, "I am not really addicted. I can quit anytime." To which the therapist will reply, "Yeah, sure, go ahead, prove it. Quit right now."

It is not just a heroin habit that is hard to kick; all habits are hard to quit and some are a lot harder than heroin. Whenever I encounter someone who insists that they are not addicted to some belief or some way of thinking, I always say, "Yeah, sure, go ahead, prove it. Quit right now. Stop believing that or stop thinking that way for thirty days." If you can do that, I may believe that you are not an addict.

Before I go any further into this, let me say that not all addictions are necessarily bad. It may serve you to be addicted to a mid afternoon cup of coffee. That shot of caffeine boosts your mental acuity and improves your productivity. It may serve you to be addicted to the endorphin high you get from your morning run. It provides the motivation to stay physically healthy. It may serve you to be addicted to your belief that you shall be redeemed in the afterlife. It may serve you to be addicted to the belief that you deserve success.

But just because an addiction may serve you or just because the benefits outweigh the negatives does not mean that you should be in denial about your addiction. So long as you are in denial, so long shall you be in bondage. In order to be free, you must first admit to your addictions.

Every person who watches television that I have ever accused of being addicted has told me that, even though they cannot go very long without getting their fix, they were not addicted, they just do it habitually because they like it. Uh huh. Listen up: Television is more addictive and more dangerous than heroin. Of course, if you are a regular user of TV, you are likely going to be in denial about the whole idea that TV can be addictive, let alone admit that you are actually an addict, or acknowledge that your addiction is at least as

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