The Bible cannot help drug abusers

I recently argued that biblical counseling, which explicitly ignores man's wisdom, opinions, experiences and concepts of behavior, was ill-suited to the task of helping teenagers overcome adolescent difficulties. In an editor's note, you intended to refute my argument, but you illustrated its validity instead.

Please allow me to explain.

You said that "statistics have shown that young people who attend churches, temples or mosques are less likely to abuse substances or become involved with gangs." That's a powerful statement. It is credible and compelling because, quite naturally, you chose to cite evidence, relevant, modern evidence of human experience.

In your defense of biblical counseling, your first choice was to use a tool that biblical counseling shuns. That was a good choice.

While your statistics are compelling, they actually say nothing about biblical counseling. For one thing, it seems unlikely that mosques or temples offer it.

For another, your data are insufficient to make a correlation. Summer camp may teach kids to swim, but that's no reason to credit the ghost stories.

You have given no reason to believe that biblical counselors have anything relevant to offer to struggling teenagers. You have, however, demonstrated what relevant information looks like. Your evidence suggests that bringing teens, parents and peers together for weekly, lengthy, well-mannered community events leads to lower substance abuse. While I suspect that some people would hijack such events for their own unhelpful agendas, it seems like a good idea overall.

In my opinion, this human dialogue has been a wise use of experience to promote good concepts of behavior. Thank you for the opportunity and your input. Chris Habecker Thousand Oaks