Its funny really, because I find AA has a similar affect on me as christianity does on you. I feel that all the AA people are looking down on me - standing poised and ready to attack should I say anything derogatory about AA and ready to come out with things like, you are not being honest with yourself, you haven't got it, its your sickness talking... its like some of them can't wait to point out that I haven't been sober for long and therefore haven't anything of any value to say, or if I say something they don't like then obviously I'm heading for a drink. I don't like talking about non-alcoholics as 'normal', as I consider myself as normal and don't want to belong to some elite and 'special' group even if it is supportive.
I THINK like others have told me this depends on which meeting you go to, I experienced very similar experiences as you mention in the meetings I have attended which as a result has led me to seek out another recovery path..
When I shared my story for the first time I was not interrupted HOWEVER afterwards I was greeted and told "I had not hit my bottom" , "I wasn't done", etc.
all because I had just a simple light bulb moment to stop drinking for good (yes I had setbacks like everyone else) I did not have the war stories as many in those meetings had, I had no list of ammends as I only hurt myself, and I did not feel it necessary to turn my will over to a higher power, surely I will ask for guidance when I need to but to the AA members I met and spoke to, I was bound for failure, If I didn't Work "the program" I was going to fail.. period. I am not a computer, I am a human being and the word "program" is NOT in my recovery what-so-ever, that is MY opinion and may not be right for others but it is for me .. again.. TODAY.
My God as I understand him, did not give me a floppy disk along with instructions on how to "run" my life, however he did give me the will, the faith, and the wisdom to make choices and through bad choices I learn.
Let me again re-iterate this is just my path and experience with the meetings I have attended. I attended AA in three states, I have also made friends for life in Al-Anon which initially gave me the starting point I needed to take the focus OFF of my then addict husband and onto me.. I found a great deal of support in Al-Anon and I also found again I needed to continue on in a different manner which I was comfortable with. I'll always be grateful however to the stepping stone I got from Al-Anon.
As told to me here and others in various parts of the world, I will always have a seat somewhere amongst AA and I do find some comfort in that. I will admit to putting down AA as a whole sometimes and in retrospect it is unfair. I consider myself to be very very open minded and I want to stay that way. TODAY I am on the right course, tomorrow I might decide to try another AA Room, I'm going to remain open about that. What I do know is that I am MORE comfortable NOT mixing religion with my recovery, I like science, I believe in science and I think somewhere down the line when the right addiction causation is found you, me and or our great great grand kids will see the total reconstruction of the addiction recovery model. Science is already making great progress, they have identified certain genes associated with addiction thereby lending MORE credence to the fact that addicts are born.. NOT made. I won't go any further with that except to say WE don't hear about these breaktroughs for ONE very big reason.. The addiction/recovery industry is a BILLION dollar and more industry, another discussion for another time.
My point is that I have certain things I want out of my recovery path and as long as I stay sober and make the right changes in myself I consider my way to be the right way for me.. TODAY. I am also Catholic, definately believe in God. I admit that I don't really grasp certain things of the bible and I agree with you, it is up to each person to interpret it the way they see fit to live their life. There is a reason why the Bible is called the greatest STORY ever told. Through the years it has been interpreted by so-called experts and I have just come to the realization that IN MY OPINION the bible is based on stories which were created to teach certain lessons.
There may or may not have been An Adam and Eve, A Noah's Ark, or a burning Bush, or a Kane and Able..however each of those stories has some truth in them but re-created for effect (again, this is JUST my take)
I'm getting a little off topic but I did want to thank everyone for their take on the subject as it is nice to be able to discuss things like this without getting jumped on, censored or banned. It has helped me to know that AA will have a seat there for me if I should decide to give it another try, it's also refreshing to come to that realization and LEARN something new without being told I'm flat out wrong, period.
It is very nice to know that there are AA Fellowships out there that go that extra mile, so I just may have not walked into the right rooms.