I totally feel you. The thing is, I think if more of us openminded folks went to meetings and stood our ground, the Big Book thumpers might actually chill out a bit and not create such a foreboding environment. (I'm not really against people being devoted to the Big Book, but some people here take things way too far- example, at a meeting the other night a woman was talking about how great the "Woman's Guide to the 12 Steps" is, and one of the "old-timers"- who has all of 6 years clean- shouted out mid-share, "That's not NA approved literature, honey" and shut the poor women right up. I was already wary, and have seen people like this in the rooms all over town, do you think it made me want to go back to that meeting? LOL But I think I'm going to, even though I am an admitted retread and therefore not that respected or esteemed in the rooms, I know that "the newcomer is the most important person at any meeting" and that cross-talk is WAY worse then talking about "non-NA approved literature." Anyway, I kind of wished we lived in the same area, Aysha, I really agree with everything you say and you seem to want recovery as much as any Book thumpers I've seen, luckily, AA in my area is a little friendlier, and I'm definitely an alcoholic as well as an addict- sometimes due to the fact that my number one DOC was opiates I wish NA was more of a home- anyway, I digress
