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Oh Those Sacred Twelve Steps How Ironic! A woman does a Blog on Alcoholism - One member makes it all about him and another man expresses the fact that "he became convinced early on that AA dogma was a load of crypto-Christian hogwash, and never did any of the stuff he was supposed to do to stay sober." I do an unrelated post of Chocolate and he quotes "I love 12 Step meetings! I get a kick out of telling them I have been sober for 32 years without 'working' a single one of the Sacred Steps." I was at a crossroads in my life where I didn't have a life and would never have a chance of getting a life without making some serious changes. The 12 Step Community became more than just not drinking - It's a Life Style Choice. I have been mocked by family members for choosing recovery. I suspect their motivation was to exert what they perceived as a superior status. They are welcome to that perception. I walk the path that is best for me and I don't have to justify it. So what motivates this SSF member who thinks the Twelve Steps are a bunch of X-ianity Nonsense. I suppose he has a constitutional right to his opinion which is like an azzzzzzzzzzzz everyone has got one. Politically, I am a Liberal. Spiritually I am a Deist Spiritually, I can respect a person's constitutional guarantee to Religious Freedom. I am very happy to be a member of the "Sacred" Twelve Step Community. Indeed, I have worked all of them including the THIRTEENTH.  Abracadabra  |
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You have to choose what works best in your life for you. I think if your chosen path is getting you the positive results you want, AND if those actually ARE the results you REALLY want, then that is the right path for you. GBU, Gavin
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4/22/2013 3:54 am |
Hi Star: I can understand how Rent feels because the first time I walked into an AA meeting I spotted the Serenity Prayer on the wall and the first word was "God" and I almost left. As soon as someone talks about God, it's a real turn off for me. Also in all the AA literature they say they are talking about a 'Higher Power' but you know they really mean God. Every time you see the word "He" it has a capital H on it, so as an Agnostic I never really felt like I fit in there.
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4/22/2013 8:09 am |
I am very happy to be part of AA as well. I have received many benefits from it over the decades. But that in no way changes my belief that AA dogma is horse patootie. My conclusion is that AA fundies have fallen for the very common perception that correlation signifies causality. The treatment of depression is, I think, an interesting comparison and relevant in this case. Studies have shown that people who are on a waiting list for therapy improve at the same rate as people as those who are receiving therapy for their depression. This would indicate that once a person seeks treatment for their depression, they have taken an important step in recognizing the problem, and they begin to improve. The same principle might well apply with alcoholism. Just because someone goes to AA, 'works the program', and stays off the sauce does not prove that AA and/or 'working the program' is responsible for that person's sobriety. For starters, many go to AA, 'work the program', and can't stay sober. The reason this happens, by way of AA dogma, is that these people were 'constitutionally incapable of being honest with themselves', or they didn't really 'work the program', or they chose the wrong sponsor, or they didn't go to enough meetings, yada, yada. Secundo, many people come to AA, and drop out. What happens to them is unkown, but I suspect many of them get sober through other means. I've seen some data that the majority of people who stop drinking do it without any outside resource. Two people in my sweetie's family did so. I did it for seven years. I think AA is simply group therapy. Hanging around with people who drank a lot, quit, and are happy without booze tends to make an impression. Whether the group therapy starts with a reading from the Sacred Writings or singing the Mickey Mouse song makes no difference. The problem with buying into an ideology is that one tends to reject anything that runs counter to that belief system, no matter what the evidence. Communists, Republicans, Mormons are all guilty of this. AA'ers are no different.
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4/22/2013 8:12 am |
I am reminded of several passages from the "Big Book" One is to "Remember we deal with Alcohol Cunning Baffling Powerful." I say those that state they got sober without working the steps are still fooling themselves. They just got "Un-drunk"!! There I just thought up a new word!! They just were not willing to go to any lengths to achieve serenity along with sobriety, I have acknowledged many times over the decades that I have never achieved sobriety, I've just been on a decades long dry drunk. Pretty much the same line I get from fundie christians who want me to be reborn in the Blood of the Lamb.
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4/22/2013 8:16 am |
Hi Star: I can understand how Rent feels because the first time I walked into an AA meeting I spotted the Serenity Prayer on the wall and the first word was "God" and I almost left. As soon as someone talks about God, it's a real turn off for me. Also in all the AA literature they say they are talking about a 'Higher Power' but you know they really mean God. Every time you see the word "He" it has a capital H on it, so as an Agnostic I never really felt like I fit in there. The HP and God stuff in AA has never bothered me. We are all entitled to our delusions. I have simply ignored all that theist stuff. Occasionally, when I'm a bit off my oats, I will ask those who claim 'conscious contact with God' to find out what Apple will be trading at on the NYSE next week.
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4/22/2013 8:17 am |
You have to choose what works best in your life for you. I think if your chosen path is getting you the positive results you want, AND if those actually ARE the results you REALLY want, then that is the right path for you. GBU, Gavin
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4/22/2013 10:56 am |
AA saved my life. I know people who have gone to meetings and when the going get tough, they leave, they dont wish to face themselves or share anything about themselves. There will always be an excuse proferred for someone who just doesnt want to go to a meeting. I used to go every evening at 6.30. but things have changed now and I dont need all that many. I remember the programme for living, and I have the 12x12 and the Big Book. Thanks Star. (YIFS)
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I've been an agnostic since age 16. The HP and God stuff in AA has never bothered me. We are all entitled to our delusions. I have simply ignored all that theist stuff. Occasionally, when I'm a bit off my oats, I will ask those who claim 'conscious contact with God' to find out what Apple will be trading at on the NYSE next week. God as I understood him when I first walked into A.A. would have kept me drunk. Abracadabra
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