Hi Paul
Well the reason we have to filter the messages in AA is that they were created by people so they were even not perfect 70+ years ago and add to that the messages really have not been changed in all these years even increases the need to filter out parts of the AA message.
Also there are (non-HP) AA messages that were derogatory statements against secular people even when they were written. There is no need for secular people to attend these meetings, the HP messages in these meetings is not for them anyway.
I think that the Founders of AA may have intended the Primary Purpose of AA to be to help the Alcoholic but when implemented the AA message has so much more dogma that a member has to deal with.
I do not recommend for a newcomer to skip meetings but there comes a time when you have to follow this suggestion below. After a person has looked at the teachings of AA they will know the right thing to do. The Founders were not Omniscient.
I use Buddha's suggestion and after reading most of AA texts none of their claims prove that Secular people are bad people or have that they have a immoral way of life and those types of suggestions are in the AA texts and it is something a Secular person has to deal with and the most used method (denial) by Secular people in AA is not healthy. That is why most secular people in AA are "still in the closet".
Buddha said:
Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in Anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is Conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.
---Buddha. Gautama Siddharta, (563 - 483 B.C.)
Originally Posted by
paulmh 
AB said:
Morning AB!
There's not a great deal that I disagree with in this, but I have a completely different take on it. Here's my version.
The human benefits of meetings confirm that alcoholism is a condition of isolation, and staying close to others who have similar experience is a big part of the solution to that isolation
Learn to filter out any messages, or the shares of any individuals, which cause you consternation. In the future you never know when they might be useful or pertinent. But just now let's train ourselves not to get resentments about other people just because they don't think the way we think they should. That was part of our problem in the first place.
Understand that the primary purpose of AA is to keep drunks sober, and to help drunks achieve sobriety. Understand that they think that escaping the hell of alcoholism is more important than anything else. Understand that life and the fellowship isn't perfect, and that the most important skills we learn in life are to do with tolerance, compassion, willingness to be of use to others and openmindedness. Understand that in practice and training we learn how to benefit ourselves as we benefit others, and support them even when we don't agree with them. When we do this, we find genuine fellowship, in spite of our differences.
Have a good 'un!