I've noticed that the people that play the "I'm a Christian!" card get more generousity when they beg for change or for food. It's quite manipulative.

Or alcoholics. My first husband was heavy with drugs before I met him and belonged to SDS before he flunked out of Northeastern in 1969. When I met him in 1975 he was a heavy drinker. His parents lived in a small NH town. Their entire life revolved around their Congregational Church. The minister came for dinner on Sunday-I personally did not like him because he was a bigoted southerner originally from Alabama? Any rate my husband was not religious in the least. Not until I left him after AA, Alanon and ACA. His parents rescued him literally as he was getting evicted and he eventually met a Holy Roller from some other church who spirited him off to Florida where my daughter saw him become a born again Christian.

Most of born again Christians I know never used drugs. Well, 80% of them never did. And only 20% did use.

Whoa! I never noticed that. I did notice how the majority had shame and sorry and needed help and needed forgiveness. I was that person at one time in my life. Even an addict. It took time and reason and study to understand things. I'm here now. I figured it out for me.

Yes ,and alcoholics too!A.A is a religious organization. The claim is that a 'higher power' is what God means to you, but there must always be a god. if your recovery is possible , then all praise goes to this God.

I have noticed a lot of old friends who got too heavily into drugs/drink etc turned to religion and it did save them mentally. I even wished I could have that bolt hole and could believe to escape my drink and drug-fueled insanity but I just couldn't so ended up sectioned and locked away for about a month.

As a former addict, 2 years sober, much of it has to do with two things in my opinion. Conventional treatment typically involves a lot of various 12 step meetings that are inclusive of utilizing some type of a higher power. Additionally research has found recently that religion and its experiences can trigger similar parts of the brain that drugs do such as the hypothalamus. Some folks can literally get a rush from that, extreme sports and even music. Sadly take a trip to any 12 step meeting and everyone is still slamming the caffeine and puffing away at cigarettes. Conventional treatment methods are crap and at best religion just replaces the drug.

As far as I can tell; everyone with serious problems in life has religion in common.

I think it works better during their parole hearings…

Let's put this another way, shall we? I know from experience that many born again evangelicals come from broken lives of one form or another. I also know from the same experience that most of the evangelicals I know do not fit into that category. Childhood indoctrination, yes. Charismatic leader pulled them in, yes. Out of loneliness or lack to a social network, yes.

I live in the most religious town of the 18th most religious state in the US, and the majority of the denominations here identify as born again and evangelical, so I have more than enough chance to engage with them. Some of them are indeed struggling ex drug addicts, some are ex alcoholics, but certainly not most.

Now, I don't know what your experience is or what size sample you're talking about, so I can't say you are wrong, but I do suggest that you be a bit more careful in choosing your wording so as not to make sweeping generalizations that may not be defensible.

My experience in this town is over a period of twenty years and the sample I have to work with is about 30,000 + people. All I can say is that a small number (some) of them match what you describe.

Replacing one crutch with another, hard to judge which is more harmful to them. I have also noticed that a lot of former drug pusher become born again, too.