During actress Debbie Reynolds’ advice column, she responds to a young woman by telling her that sex addiction is a “bona fide illness.” This prompts Andrew Brown of the Telegraph to respond with the following:
I don’t want to get bogged down in debating whether or not addiction is a real illness. Briefly, I think drug and alcohol addiction are sufficiently like illnesses to be treated in the same way as illnesses. And they are definitely medical issues, so their treatment is definitely the province of doctors. They are not to be dealt with as if they were moral issues.
Having said that, I am extremely doubtful whether adultery is an addiction. I don’t think it’s any kind of medical problem or illness. And to say it might be is to take a step towards abolishing all morality and personal ethics. Increasingly I think this is what is happening. More and more all personal conduct is pathologised and treated as though doing wrong equals a biological malfunction with no element of moral responsibility in the individual. The only truly immoral action, it strikes me – in the eyes of many people – is racist or sexist language, or anything that wounds the amour propre of a minority.
This is wrong. An amoral universe will not be a universe where people behave better. They will behave worse, because they have limitless excuses and no moral disapproval from peers to restrain their behaviour.
Well said Andrew. People are born with a desire for sexual intimacy. That’s normal. Babies aren’t born with an innate predisposition to controlled substances (unless their mother used drugs during pregnancy).
Source: Telegraph
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