What the page provokes

The power of the image and the fray over Frey, this week in Table Talk.

Published February 10, 2006 10:43AM (EST)

Social Issues

A Caricature of Itself: Free Speech and Not-So-Free Speech in this New Age of Faith

Fred Parkinson - 04:20 p.m. Pacific Time - Feb. 4, 2006 - #2 of 36

Is this ironic or what?

When depicted as people who bomb and kill, the Muslim response is to run around screaming, "We will bomb you and kill you for that remark!"

And then the Vatican says people have no right to say things that are offensive to religious people! That is offensive to me as an atheist; what gives them the right to say it? I'm sure they hope it will chill thinking, as that is no friend to religion of any stripe.

And Bushworld defends this censorship! Freedom on the march indeed.

Stupidity: It's a renewable resource!

Books

Frey Fray

kitten - 09:58 a.m. Pacific Time - Jan. 31, 2006 - #166 of 177

I think people who don't think his lies matter are people who don't understand the manner in which the book has been portrayed and held up as an inspiration for drug addicts everywhere. Lying about something like how you got clean, and encouraging people to use the same method of "just hanging on" is irresponsible. I believe that people are responsible for their own drug treatment, so it's not Frey's job to fix them. BUT he portrayed himself as some sort of role model, or at least encouraged others to see him that way.

He isn't lying about something innocuous and the lies DO detract from the "message" of the book. Also, he didn't discourage others from seeing him as a leader. Seeing him on the original Oprah show with fans whom he had e-mailed with and who had his "HOLD ON" motto tattooed on their arms leaves no doubt in my mind that he encouraged others to emulate him. Then we find out that much of what he wrote is not true, and it calls into question everything in the book.

I personally don't think he knows a THING about addiction. Everything he wrote is stuff you could learn from reading "Heroin From A to Z," a much better drug memoir, or reading addiction message boards. What probably happened was that he got caught smoking pot a few times in college and was sent to rehab by his rich parents. He's the boy who cried drugs; now he might be telling some truths but they are lost because he lied about other things.

Spreading the idea that Hazelden would not allow a patient to have novocain or tylenol during a root canal is ridiculous. We all knew what rehab center he was talking about, since it was in Minnesota and his parents are rich. They should sue him for defamation, because that shit would be cruel and unusual punishment, had it happened. Making people think that is how they practice drug treatment is really bad.

Anyway, my point is this: When you set yourself up on a pedestal (or allow others to do so), you have farther to fall when you are knocked off by your own lies.

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