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Alcoholics Anonymous, a religon?

PureLife

PureLife

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I have to run out right now, so I'm making a quick thread ( oh how lazy of me of ) when I get back ill plunder it with information and sources ( you guys LOVE sources). Basically my question is, is Alcoholics Anonymous/ Narcotics Anonymous a religious group? I was in the program for three years, and did just about everything there is to to inside of it. I personally think Alcoholics Anonymous is a fundamentalist group in their beliefs. It will be difficult for an outsider to understand why this could be? But dig into a little research and you will know why. It's based off catholic beliefs ( I'm surprised they allowed homosexuals inside) and is has an anti-intellectual bias.

More info later. Dig up on your own as well. So the question remains, do you think Alcoholics Anonymous/ Narcotics Anonymous is a religious program for those dependent on drugs and alcohol?
 
It can take a life of its own, but if one has their own religious beliefs, it kinda slides in nicely with them.

However, if one does not want religious beliefs, it is ridiculously offensive and Christan-biased. I had to pick out the chaff myself recently. They're not kidding when they say "take what you can use and leave the rest".
 
^ Trust me, its christian based. That's why most atheist's don't last more than a couple years in the program. If you don't believe in God upon entering the program eventually you will.
 
I know it's Christan based. I'm Jewish. I can see Christan theological background like a stain on a pair of boxers.
 
It may have been written by Christians but they just want you to accept there is a power greater than yourself. Im not affiliated with anything and I can agree with that, no need to name it.
 
^That is exactly IT!

What ever the basis of their foundation, in regards to religion, call it spirituality if you like, the reason for addictions is deep and complex, and the people when they fall into a heap, it is because they carry their own weight, and I can say....they carry their own cross and it weighs them down, when they do not have anything else to hold them. Surrendering the ego which becomes weary, and letting go, surrendering to something beyond, a God, which takes you to the path within you, but most people just hang on to the scriptures as a hold on, for they have not found their own way within, which the scriptures...."God" is suppose to be a step to the inner world to heal the drift and reach wholesome spirituality. Giving one addiction in favor of another, though it is a seemingly better one and indeed it is, but it becomes an obsession for some, rather then use it as a step to their inner resources!
 
^ What? To the poster above that, it has EVERYTHING to do with Christians writing it. You clearly haven't read the Big Book, so why don't you go out and buy yourself a copy, read, and then we can discuss. But to give you an idea of what what I'm talking about, the Big Book quotes and refers to the Bible MANY times. Refers to GOD ( a christian one at that ) MANY times.
 
You know, I just quietly filter out the bullshit in my head at this point. I'm used to Christan overtones in everyday life bothering me. People ask if I'm Christan like it's the greatest thing in the world, I have to go "Close enough" to do no harm. People say you have to choose between fear and faith and that God is purely a God of love? Simple-minded drivel.

There's nothing in the Big Book that actually challenges my beliefs. It's the goddamn meeting "oral tradition" that gets under my nerves and has the Christan stink. And the genuflection. When someone asks me to "hit my knees", it just makes my skin crawl. I understand that there's a lot to dislike. Trust me.

But they are clean and happy, so the common thread that they all share is what I agree with them on.
 
Certainly it is a religion. It doesn't call itself that, it identifies as a fellowship. That word alone makes me think of Christians. Compared to other organized religions it definitley fits in. Here is the first paragraph of the Wiki definition:

'A religion is an organized approach to human spirituality which usually encompasses a set of narratives, symbols, beliefs and practices, often with a supernatural or transcendent quality, that give meaning to the practitioner's experiences of life through reference to a higher power or truth.[1] It may be expressed through prayer, ritual, meditation, music and art, among other things. It may focus on specific supernatural, metaphysical, and moral claims about reality (the cosmos and human nature) which may yield a set of religious laws, ethics, and a particular lifestyle. Religion also encompasses ancestral or cultural traditions, writings, history, and mythology, as well as personal faith and religious experience'


So, yes. Perhaps it's the most modern one and much of it is bible-based like most Christian religions. They say it isn't Christian but they close their meetings with the Lord's prayer, come on now.
 
AA was founded through christianity, heres the steps and their refrences out of the bible:


1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol ... that our lives had become unmanageable.

"I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out." (Romans 7:18)

2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

"... my grace is sufficient for you, for my POWER is made perfect in weakness." (2 Corinthians 12:9)
..for it God Who works in you to will and act according to His good purpose.. (Phil. 2:13)

3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of GOD as we understood Him.

"... If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." (Luke 9:23**)

4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

"Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord." (Lamentations 3:40)

5. Admitted to GOD, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

"Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed." (James 5:16)

6. Were entirely ready to have GOD remove all these defects of character.

"If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land." (Isaiah 1:19)
7. Humbly asked Him to remove all our shortcomings.

"Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up." (James 4:10)


8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.

"Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift." (Matthew 5:23, 24**)

9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

Give and it shall be given you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." (Luke 6:38**)


10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.

"For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith GOD has given you." (Romans 12:3)


11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with GOD as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will, and the power to carry that out.

"May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer." (Psalm 19:14)
"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly..." (Col. 3:16)

12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and practice these principles in all our affairs.

"Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ." (Galatians 6:1-2)
 
Only if you allow it to be a cult..

Go get the positive support, and leave the cultish behavior behind.

It is what you make it to be
 
^I don't think demanding abstinence from a drug whose withdrawals can kill is altogether good to be honest. Its (AA) a good idea, but pretty much dangerous in its approach.
 
The key is balance. A mixture of medical assistance combined with using the program to help you is recommended by most sane individuals, addict or not.
 
I think for one to want to be involved with AA, they should at LEAST have a belief in a "higher power", even if they don't choose to cause it God. If you believe in NO higher power at all, the program would make little sense to you, IMO.

I believe in God, but still felt that AA wasn't right for me. I just don't like the perspective it offers. The whole "I am helpless" perspective. While I think it's good to humble yourself enough to admit you have a problem, I feel addicts need EMPOWERMENT, not the opposite. I considered AA when getting off alcohol but it just gave me a bad feeling.

For one, I don't like the idea that addicts need to quit ALL drugs if they don't want to. I just don't see things in such a black and white way. Why should I give up responsible marijuana use, something I enjoy, because alcohol doesn't work with me? It just doesn't make sense.
 
swilow said:
^I don't think demanding abstinence from a drug whose withdrawals can kill is altogether good to be honest. Its (AA) a good idea, but pretty much dangerous in its approach.
Click to expand...
They give enormous support and asign a buddy to you too, to keep certain you are ok.
Surely they assist with the withdrawals!! What would the alcoholics have done without their assistance!
 
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