Adrian, you ask "does something change" within the adamant non-drug-user who yields when he's faced with peer pressure? Absolutely! He had one way of being: "I am committed to being drug-free" and then he was being another way, "What these people say is more important than my commitment to myself and my well-being. I must submit to their desires in order to be (liked, respected, etc.)" His friends did not put a gun to his head and force him to do drugs. He made a free choice, although this is one of those circumstances I was talking about, where outside influence is so strong that it LOOKS like force.
Brutha's gun in hand story is the same. Because I live in a gang-infested, poverty-stricken, pain-filled environment does not force me to choose murder as an option. There are infinite other choices than taking a life, but it sure LOOKS to these kids that they have no choice.
And Vee -- Once again, responsibility and blame are not the same thing at all. If a woman is raped, when I say she is responsible, I am not saying she is to BLAME for what happened to her. I am saying she has choices that she can make before, during, and after what happens to her -- and responsibility entails looking boldly at the choices she makes. Again, that does not mean blaming herself. You're not responsible for everything that happens in the world; you are responsible with what you make it all mean, and you are responsible for living a life you love, no matter the circumstances. No one else is going to GIVE you a life you love. Only you can do that.
And finally Keith: I disagree with you. If the average person wants to be a cannibal, he
can certainly be a cannibal. And there are consequences to that, and he is responsible for those consequences, and why in the world would the average person want to be a cannibal? What kind of deep longings are lurking deep in your psyche?!?
