I love it when this debate pops up, after two weeks away from this site on retreat, I am of the mind that I will not change thinking patterns that are alread closed, it is good to be free of that delusion. That being said, I view threads like this as dangerous for people on the fence or considering AA. There are some sick AA groups, yet these are not indicative of AA as a whole, nor are they an accurate representation of the AA way of life.
AA is not, has not, and never will be a cult. How many cults are out there that say "don't like it, there's the door."
Here's what the founder of AA had to say.
“Sobriety—freedom from alcohol—through the teaching and practice of the
Twelve Steps, is the sole purpose of an A.A. group,”. “Groups have
repeatedly tried other activities, and they have always failed. It has also been
learned that there is no possible way to make non-alcoholics into A.A.
members. We have to confine our membership to alcoholics, and we have to
confine our A.A. groups to a single purpose. If we don’t stick to these
principles, we shall almost certainly collapse. And if we collapse, we cannot
help anyone.” Bill Wilson
There it is folks, not my opinion, but the facts. There are some of us here that maintain the integrity of the program and are unwilling to compromise, and yet we are branded as fanatics. This is not true, we are alcoholics doing the program of Alcoholics Anonymous. I say this often, if you don't like AA, don't go, how's that for keeping it simple.
I wish all who want to recover well, and there are apparently other ways than AA, I don't have experience with them so I don't share opinions on them.