tommytoca

Hello everyone!

I just joined tonight. I'm 4 days sober going on 5 tomorrow. I lost my GF of 8 years one out of two jobs (I quit before they could fire me) and was extremely sick for the first 2 days I stopped. I wanna keep going because I haven't felt this good in 4 years. I drank about a 12pk a day. I literally have no support because I'm ashamed of my self to tell anyone about my problem (even though everyone knows).

This is why I wanna look into AA. I could be wrong about this but the reason why I'm sceptical is due to the religious slant they put in place. I hope I don't offend anyone but it goes against my beliefs. If any one has any advice about AA or any alternative with out religion involved I would appreciate it.

Thank you,

Tommy

ScottFromWI

AA is not inherently religious. Some AA groups focus on a particular religion, but there are many different ones. There are even AA groups specifically for atheists. Give a few meetings a try if yiu think it might help.

tommytoca

Thanks Scott,

I'm going tomorrow to check it out.

Dee74

Welcome to SR Tommy

D

LadyinBC

This is just my experience and I am just speaking for me here and not judging. Personally I found lots of reasons not to go to AA. This was one of them.

When I quit drinking I had to turn my thinking around. One thing I started asking myself when doing things that made me feel uncomfortable was "would I have gone to these meetings if I HAD to go in order to get drunk". And the answer was yes, I wouldn't have cared what they talked about in these meetings if I would have had to go to them to get my booze.

I do go to these meetings, I take what I need from the meetings and leave the rest. There are parts of the program I find useful and I use them for me. Also there are lots of other programs out there that you can do, I actually do several. There isn't one program that I agree with 100% so I take what I need from all of them. Even if it is just one thing, it is worth it to me.

I go to AA meetings just to be around others and to listen. You are not obligated to do anything you don't want to.

margherita

hey, I am not religious at all either (I am an atheist), but I still have been going to AA meetings around 5 days/week and they have been SO helpful. First of all, you have all those people attending the meetings who are/have been going through the exact same thing you are. I find it so helpful to know that there are others going through the same stuff as me with alcoholism, they offer support and they are just there to listen to you without judging! I even made a couple of friends who call me and text me and it just makes me feel not so lonely in my battle. I actually expressed the same reservations to several people I met in AA as I am really struggling with this concept as well and so many people told me they are not religious either, and you can basically replace "God" with anything you want - so your Higher Power can be the universe, positive energy, common sense, even the AA group itself! I always feel so much better when I go to a meeting, I leave feeling understood, hopeful, like there is a actually way out of this to have a healthy, happy life, and I see the people who have been so strong and have managed to stay sober as my support system.

In any event, check out Agnostics Anonymous, maybe you could try a meeting of theirs? Worldwide Agnostic A.A. Meetings

desypete

i am in no way religious my friend and i am a very active member in aa in my area. i got the help i needed from the people in aa and the meetings helped me more than i can ever say

i got hope there amongst the people of aa and in the condition i came into aa i needed carrying for a while and some of the members really did go out of there way to help me

give it a try and see what you make of it, try different types of meetings its the only way to get a true picture of aa
good luck to you
and dont let the god thing stand in your way as aa is much much more than a god thing even though some members do get carried away with it all happily we are not all like that in aa just give it a try and see what you think

Hope4Life

AA is not a religious program.... it is a spiritual program. In some area's it might be more religious than here in calif but here, you can substitute ANYTHING you want for God. The group conscience, for instance.

In our meeting tonight, I asked an American Indian guy to read how it works, instead of 'God', he said 'The Creator' and no one complained. Remember, the steps say 'God, as you understand him'. You can put your faith in a door knob for all anyone cares... of course turning your will over to a door knob might be a little weird!

As others have said, go to more meetings and take what you need and leave the rest.

DoubleBarrel

It's funny, cause when I was drinking, I went to bars that had loud obnoxious people saying all kinds of BS that I didn't agree with.
I hung out with people who had views that I didn't endorse.
I listened to music I hated on the jukebox.
I put up with smoke even though I don't smoke.
I spent tons of money that I couldn't afford.

Yet when getting sober, I looked for any little thing as a reason I couldn't get involved with AA. Religious thinking was my sticking point too.

Until it wasn't. I decided I was willing to go to any length to get sober.
I still consider myself atheist, and I am a member of AA.

The ONLY requirement is a desire to stop drinking. I believe that the steps have helped me learn how to live a life sober.

andyroo72

Hey there,

I reckon you should give it a go. AA has got a serious spiritual focus, but you can interpret that how you will. Usually, the only proviso for attending a meeting is that you want to stay sober. I get a lot out of just being around other people who are committed to sobriety for an hour. That's worth it in itself, I reckon.

Hawks

I think its important to frame the program as it was in the time it was written.

Alcoholic folk, Bill Wilson included (who wrote the program) were physically at deaths door and facing being locked up for "Alcoholic insanity "

A rather nasty sentence, that often meant institutionalised for life. If you didn't behave well in those institutions, they either chemically sedated you for the rest of your days or if that was too expensive, a frontal lobotomy was performed.

(seen the movie "One flew over the Cuckoos Nest?)

Faced with that prospect, many former agnostic and atheist folk, had an astonishing change of heart about the God stuff in the AA program.

Things mushroomed from there.

The two founders, Bill and Bob were both agnostic, as was AA number 3 and most of the pioneers.

Scepticism about the God stuff was as common then as it is now.

Good luck with your sobriety journey

fantail

You can also look into Life Ring, which is a secular support group. I think there are a few others as well. Also if you contact any major hospital, they often run support groups of their own. I know Kaiser Permanente has some. In Boston you should have access to lots of alternatives.

Treerat66

Hi Tommy, welcome to SR.

Hollyanne

Welcome Tommy.
I would imagine that AA meetings in Boston would be great.
Go to a few, meet some people.
Ask them what meetings they like and either go with them or meet them there.
The God stuff is not a big deal.
Lots of people I know are agnostic/atheist.
I don't go to church, but I believe in something.
Well done on 4/5 days!
Keep it going.
This is a great place.

least

Welcome to the SR family. I'm glad you joined us. Give AA a good try. Go to several different meetings to find the one(s) you like. And if it's not your thing, there are other programs out there to help you stay sober. Visit our Secular forum for a look at some of those other programs.

Soberwolf

Hope it all works out for you