Originally Posted by
navysteve 
Comparing AA to religion has a lot of holes in it. If I go to a Catholic Church and tell them I don't believe in the Immaculate conception, they will kindly point me to another church. If I come to AA and say I don't believe in your concept of God, no one cares. I can see many similarities between AA and religion, but under your definition, I can see a close comparison between AA and the American Athiest's
Re: what I bolded. This is directly contradictory to my experience with AA. The one meeting I went to (and I admit that's far from a representative sample) was all religion, all the time. And when it came time for me to say something it was clear I was quite unwelcome because I didn't agree with the rest of them. Perhaps a different meeting would have been better for me, but I was doing ok not going so I gave up on it.
I'm not attacking anyone's religion here. And I see your point; AA is a religious program but it is not in itself a religion. To me though, Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Pagans, Wiccans, Native American religions, those who believe in Norse or Greek mythology, atheists, etc. all have a similar issue: they believe something of which they have no direct evidence (they may have had an experience that is good enough for them to believe, and there's nothing wrong with that. But their experience isn't enough to make me believe). I cannot say there is a god (or gods) with any more certainty than I can say there isn't one. And the Catholic church that directs you toward another church is basically saying the same thing: "Well, if you were a real Christian..." This is why I lump all religions into the same group. And again, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with someone's religious beliefs, that is between them and whatever deity they believe in. But it does not provide a reason for me to believe.