Thanks for the reminder, Serenityqueen, and I agree that there is an important distinction to be made between spirituality and religion.
I'm always happy to see people at meetings who really live up to the claim that AA practices spirituality, and who demonstrate that by totally accepting, for example, a guy who says that surfing is his spiritual practice and that waves are his higher power, or a woman who changes the "He" in the BB to "She" because she believes in a female deity. I also love the story in the BB from the woman who finds strength through the "great spirit," a Native American version of spirituality.
That said, I know that many people perceive the text and program as religious--even as specifically Christian. That shouldn't be surprising given that the basic text and the steps refer to God with a capital G, Him with a capital H, and so on, and that some meetings end with a prayer that comes from the New Testament. I suspect that's why seekingself cringed; I know that's why I cringed. I'm over it now, for the most part, but I think that feeling turns a lot of people away from AA, and it shouldn't.