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Questions regarding SoS (Secular Organizations for Sobriety)

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desurion

Greenlighter
Joined
Aug 11, 2015
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15
Hi,

So I found SoS, Secular Organizations for Sobriety. They have meetings right down the road from me on mondays. Theres no SMART in my state, just NA and SoS. I am sick and tired of NA. I am an athiest, and not spiritual. I cant stand the "higher power" and being powerless philosphies. I go to the meetings to meet and talk to/listen to other addicts, not for the 12 steps. Also, I am sick of being treated like crap for being on methadone, when I actually need it. Suboxone/methadone saved my life, and its proven in every study to be more effective than NA alone. Its saved thousands upon thousands of people from death or prison. My question is, does SoS frown upon people on maitenance like NA??? Hopefully not. Also, I havent met anybody whos actually been to one of these meetings, so id love to hear from anybody who has. Thanks.
 
Yeah man this is exactly how I feel about the 12 steppers. And they have a piss-poor success rate too. There's a structural problem in making people believe they are "powerless" over their "disease". I think that alone plants the seeds of relapse. Or that someone is an addict for life. All of it is crap.

Never heard of SoS, but I've always recommended SMART. I doubt they'll bar you if you're on MMT.
 
Phil.McKeer said:
Yeah man this is exactly how I feel about the 12 steppers. And they have a piss-poor success rate too. There's a structural problem in making people believe they are "powerless" over their "disease". I think that alone plants the seeds of relapse. Or that someone is an addict for life. All of it is crap.

Never heard of SoS, but I've always recommended SMART. I doubt they'll bar you if you're on MMT.
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Unfortunatly SMART only has one meeting in my state thats over an hour away and a really crappy drive, so its not for me even though id love to attend, sounds perfect, but ill give SoS a go next week.

And Yes, their success rate truely is terrible. It would be MUCH higher if (and this is just my opinion so dont flame me)

1. They supported the use of drug replacement therapy for those who truely need it
2. Stop telling people their powerless - you are more powerful than you can imagine. You got yourself addicted, and you can get yourself clean. And if you did get clean, God didnt do it, YOU did.
3. Incorporate science and facts into the program instead of spiritual concepts

I always hated the religious/spiritual concepts of NA which is why I only went to a handful of meeting over the past 14 months (first got clean 14 months ago, couple small slips, currently 7 months clean), but something put me over the edge the other day.

People were talking about how we are powerless, and I decided this time to actually argue. I said we are NOT powerless. We are ALL stronger than we think. We got ourselves to be addicts, not god, and we can get ourselves clean. Then I said I had been clean for 7 months, and 13.5 months/14 because of a few days of slips. He said to me "God made you clean, not you". I nearly flipped. I said, "God made me clean?? How so? God made me stop picking up? God made me suffer thru w/ds? etc etc... then I said, "well if God made me clean, than he must have made me an addict too" and they said "no, your bad decisions made you an addict". Religion is the biggest, most hypocritical bullshit that there is.... I got myself clean with the help of other people, therapy, DRT, and MY STRENGTH along with a girl. NOT God. And im NOT powerless, and neither are any of you. We are all SO much stronger than we think. The only reason I kept going to NA after my first meeting last year was NOT for the program or steps, but to listen to the stories about people, create a network, have people to talk to, etc. Nothing to do with NA itself, just a room with a bunch of recovering addicts. Again, I am NOT trying to offend anybody who goes to or believes in NA or their religion, I am simply giving MY opinion on it.

Unfortunatly something came up and I was not able to attend the SoS meeting yesterday, but I will definately be going next monday and I will write a full report about it. They incorporate science and leave out religion/spiritual concepts completely, sounds perfect for me.

If anybody wants to find a meeting, go here: http://www.sossobriety.org/meetings/states.htm

The post above has some great links for info for SoS and other non-NA meetings
 
Agreed on all points. An old friend of mine, "G", had a major alcohol problem. Would drink all hours of the day. We'd talk about all kinds of stuff and he brokedown one day admitting how he couldn't control his alcohol intake.

He goes to AA and comes back and tells me that if it wasn't for his "higher power" he'd never have been able to get clean.

I felt so bad that he had really done it all himself but was robbing himself of the credit and giving it to an imaginary entity instead.
 
Phil.McKeer said:
Agreed on all points. An old friend of mine, "G", had a major alcohol problem. Would drink all hours of the day. We'd talk about all kinds of stuff and he brokedown one day admitting how he couldn't control his alcohol intake.

He goes to AA and comes back and tells me that if it wasn't for his "higher power" he'd never have been able to get clean.

I felt so bad that he had really done it all himself but was robbing himself of the credit and giving it to an imaginary entity instead.
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yea... its absurd... belief can be strong, but anybody who got clean, THEY did the work, and crediting a fictional entity with something so important is wrong and it is sad. we're all stronger than we think. dont let anybody ever tell you that youre powerless, its bullshit.
 
desurion said:
Hi,
My question is, does SoS frown upon people on maitenance like NA??? .
Click to expand...

NA has no position on medication, including Suboxone. If people try to shame you for taking suboxone then ignore them because they are an asshole. Its between you and your doctor and likely sponsor (I would take sponsees on Suboxone for example). Hazeldon is now prescribing Suboxone and they were the last holdout (they are great, but very 12 step based).

The major thing I always tell people on Suboxone that attend meetings is to keep it to themselves. To be honest, its really not an issue "for the tables" and is more of a "sponsor/small group of men/women" issue.

PS: I have a "MAT IS RECOVERY" poster on my office wall! I have a few clients on Suboxone. I was on it at one point myself.
 
Phil.McKeer said:
Yeah man this is exactly how I feel about the 12 steppers. And they have a piss-poor success rate too. There's a structural problem in making people believe they are "powerless" over their "disease". I think that alone plants the seeds of relapse. Or that someone is an addict for life. All of it is crap.

Never heard of SoS, but I've always recommended SMART. I doubt they'll bar you if you're on MMT.
Click to expand...

Lets try to avoid this, there are studies that I could show you that show that people who attend meetings are over 50 percent more likely to stay clean then those who do not. I don't share these things because its counter productive to the intent of this forum. We are not here to argue about different methods to recovery. Both AA/NA literature make it very clear that they are not the only way to recover.

Also, when I admitted I was powerless over my addiction, I became much much much more powerful in everything else. "Powerlessness" is often very misconstrued, especially by those who are resistant to the 12 steps for whatever reason. For me, the 12 steps are not "crap" but something that saved my life and gave me a life worth living. I have a great job, good relationships, finishing grad school, moved to a city I always wanted to move since I started working a program. Most importantly, I am still clean!!!

But please do not "bash" any method of recovery, that isn't what this forum is for.
 
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