Secular 12 Step Recovery? What's that? lol

[AprilMay1895]

I just wandered over here. How do you do secular 12 step recovery? I'm curious. I never got the religious/spiritual thing with AA. Seems like there's a black hole in me where most people have a "God connection" and I had zero luck fixing that while in AA.

[Boleo]

I know of several atheists who have gotten great results using the 12 steps, simply by by substituting one the following for the G-word;

PATH - as in "Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path."

Good Orderly Direction (aka RULES) - as in "On the other hand-and strange as this may seem to those who do not understand-once a psychic change has occurred, the very same person who seemed doomed, who had so many problems he despaired of ever solving them, suddenly finds himself easily able to control his desire for alcohol, the only effort necessary being that required to follow a few simple RULES."

WHATEVER RUNS THE UNIVERSE - as in "Whatever runs the universe, I offer myself to Thee-to build with me and to do with me as Thou wilt."

[Spica]

Originally Posted by Boleo

I know of several atheists who have gotten great results using the 12 steps, simply by by substituting one the following for the G-word;

PATH - as in "Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path."

Good Orderly Direction (aka RULES) - as in "On the other hand-and strange as this may seem to those who do not understand-once a psychic change has occurred, the very same person who seemed doomed, who had so many problems he despaired of ever solving them, suddenly finds himself easily able to control his desire for alcohol, the only effort necessary being that required to follow a few simple RULES."

WHATEVER RUNS THE UNIVERSE - as in "Whatever runs the universe, I offer myself to Thee-to build with me and to do with me as Thou wilt."

WRtU - I like it - has a certain ring to it...

[recycle]

The only chapter in the BB I don't have some major issue with is "The Doctors Opinion". Other than using an antiquated definition of allergy, Silkworth comes up with a fine working definition of alcoholism. A physical make up that processes ethanol differently, and a mental obsession over catching a buzz. A "psychic change" is needed to overcome the obsession, and if your temperament is suitable, you can call that change a "spiritual awakening".

A higher power need not be the ultimate power in the universe. It needs only be powerful enough to accomplish the work at hand. Sure it would be nice to have God on your side, but in a pinch Batman will be helpful too. Heck even The Tick will get the job done.

For me, my higher power is reality. Or perhaps the need to perceive reality. On a dumb gut level, I believe that this life has some purpose. I really don't have any empirical evidence to back that up, and I try not to make any pretense of knowing very much about what that purpose is, but it honestly feels like something depends upon the how I live my life. (Sorry about that - I'll stop there, I have found another person's HP is interesting to them and that is about all.)

Being a drunk/addict makes it completely impossible for me even to perceive that life has a purpose. (Much less actually looking for it, and "looking for it" may in fact be the purpose.) And chasing a buzz leads me down the path to addiction every single time, it is just the way I am built. AA has some nice tools to prioritize my intention of how I want to live my life over my short term intentions, a built in fellowship, a cultural of personal growth and change, an opportunity to give back, and free coffee. Those are things I need, and other peoples delusions are not as fascinating as my own, so I am willing to put up with the rest of it, at least for now.

That being said, I think I want a "WWWRtUD?" bumper sticker.