good point
You make a valid point, as you know I follow the basic text, this is the only way I know, for that I am considered rigid.
I would never tell a newcomer, "just hang out, get comfortable, etc.." Soft selling AA, and what the real deal is has caused much harm, Bill often said, we will destroy ourselves from the inside out, I see this happening.
I try to give an accurate appraisal of AA. There is the fellowship, which has no rules. When I crawled into AA, a bunch of very kind well intentioned folks nearly killed me with love, instead of showing me precisely what they had done to recover.
Then there is the program of recovery that has very specific guidlines and musts. I share my experience and offer to take folks through the work in order to have a spiritual awakening, which for an alcoholic of my description is the only thing that will save me.