RFK Jr. Talks About His 14-Year Battle with Addiction and How He Overcame It Through Faith in God
Politicians often evoke God for cynical reasons. They may be trying to appear pious, claim divine approval for some policy proposal, or fit in with the priorities of their constituents.
However, when it’s a personal story of how God impacted a life, and the visible evidence supports that claim, it’s possible even a politician can bear witness to God’s love.
Recently, Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. shared how turning to God helped him break a 14-year addiction to drugs. Even if he used some politically correct language to describe his journey to belief, he affirmed the power of faith.
Kennedy gave his eye-opening perspective during a wide-ranging discussion on Lex Fridman’s podcast last week. Fridman is a research scientist at MIT.
The Kennedy clan has had many tragic episodes of drug and alcohol abuse. The addiction RFK Jr. struggled with began when he was 15, a year after his father was assassinated in 1968.
In April, the Daily Mail reported on Kennedy’s wild reputation as a youth and his use of marijuana, psychedelics and heroin.
Kennedy admitted his troubled past to Fridman. “When you’re an addict, you’re living against conscience,” he said. “I was always trying to get off of drugs, never able to. But I never felt good about what I was doing.”
The addiction grew despite Kennedy’s religious upbringing. He had to find his way back to God before he could beat it.
Granted, Kennedy’s leftist bona fides showed during some of his commentary on religion, as if he felt the need to justify his terms. For example, he said “God is incomprehensible. I mean, I guess most philosophers would say we’re, you know, we’re inside the mind of God.”
Kennedy also emphasized how it was science — the analytical work of psychiatrist Carl Jung — that opened him back up to a personal relationship with God.
After learning that addicts who believe in God have better recovery rates, Kennedy chose to behave as if he were a believer, even though at first it was a pretense. “I just started pretending there was a God watching me all the time,” he said.
It apparently was enough to start his transformation.
As Jesus said in Matthew 17:20-21, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”
Kennedy said God accomplished the impossible for him.
“I had a spiritual awakening and my desire for drugs and alcohol was lifted miraculously,” he said. “And to me, it was as much a miracle as if I’d been able to walk on water because I had tried everything earnestly, sincerely and honestly for a decade to try to stop and I could not do it under my own power.
“And then all of a sudden, it was lifted effortlessly. So I saw that early evidence of God in my life … and I see it now every day of my life.”
Despite starting off with a “fake it ’til you make it” faith, Kennedy positioned himself in humility and surrender to God.
Perhaps this is why Kennedy has gained traction in his unlikely attempt to take the Democratic presidential nomination away from President Joe Biden. Democrats in recent years have been the blatantly godless party, despite that extremism conflicting with the values of their voters.
Opening up about the role of faith in his life, and not being afraid to discuss his flaws, makes Kennedy seem more real than other politicians.
His willingness to speak the truth allows him to question Big Pharma and even blast Anthony Fauci, a saint to many on the left.
If RFK Jr. is sincere in wanting to serve God and the country, he will have much more to say.
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