Fat rats no more

Or so, says the headline in yesterday's copy of the Today tabloid. It says "Obesity vaccine in the works; human next?".

Amazing. Not the vaccine, but the need to even try to develop one. Ever wonder why obesity has suddenly become a medical problem instead of a control problem? It's because many more people are obese today, and it's politically incorrect to say that the majority have a problem with control.

Granted, some cases of obesity has nothing to do with control & is purely a medical condition. This is where the body refuses to function as per normal even though the victim has a sensible diet and lifestyle, and the kilos just pile on. However, I doubt the majority of people dealing with obesity fall into this category. Many are simply the result of not exercising control and discretion over lifestyle and diet choices.

In similar veins, we now have medical terms to describe other forms of control problems, such as anorexia, bulimia, homosexuality, pedophilia, voyeurism, addiction to gambling, alcohol, drugs, etc. Why, in the case of homosexuality, there is even an active and strong movement to campaign for legal acceptance & rights in various aspects of societal and communal living.

As long as we see these and other control problems as medical conditions, the answer will almost always lie with some kind of drugs, vaccine, procedure, treatment, or worse, legal acceptance. If we are frank enough with ourselves and deal with these as they are - we will look at the mind, because that's where it all starts. These are a direct consequence of choices made, and the responsibility lies with the person, not some predisposed conditions that he/she is born with.

The mind is one of the most wonderful and powerful gifts to human beings. It's what differentiates us from the beasts. It gives us the power to reason, to decide, and to choose. It is, however, also one of the most vulnerable. When it is taken captive by sensuality, greed, selfishness, and all kinds of negative desires, it is compelled to reason, to decide and to choose according to what those desires dictate.

You see, as powerful as the mind is, it cannot remain neutral for long, especially in the face of changing values, trends, and societal pressures. It will either hate one thing and love the other, or it will embrace one and reject the other. When the mind is not firmly rooted in positive influences and values, it will naturally gravitate towards the other camp.

It's time to call a spade a spade, and deal with control problems at the source. While drugs, vaccine, counselling and therapy may help the person on the path to recovery, complete recovery ultimately rests with a reversal of the choices once made, and the person is solely responsible for it. He/she has to decide to put an end to it, and not live with it with the help of long-term medication, legal justification or societal acceptance. Otherwise, even though the fat rat may slim down but the mind remains obese.

May God bless you,,
Thomas