I didn't even realize that this site had a secular forum until I saw it mentioned by LaFemme(big thank you) in another section.
I am a lifelong atheist/skeptic/critical thinker. My path to sobriety will unfortunately need to be a rational one which doesn't involve the usual fanfare about God(s) or the compromising of the rational lens through which I view reality. I say that it is unfortunate because there seems to be a disproportionately large amount of this in the recovery community. If only I could subscribe to such ways of thinking, perhaps it would be easier for me? Alas... I cannot.
I tried an AA meeting on Mon. this week and it was bonkers. The woman who led the group explained that she believed in God as she understood him, and to directly quote her: "It ain't my momma's God, it ain't my grandmomma's God, it ain't even no religious or bible God; I choose to call him Jesus Christ." I stayed until the end; they said the Lord's Prayer. Needless to say I was put off, and honestly I just wanted to argue with everyone there. I have always been very confrontational about this sort of woo woo, and realized that I was not going to be able to find my way in meetings which set off my BS alarm every 5 minutes. I admit I do have a chip on my shoulder about other people's beliefs, something I need to work on.
Yesterday night, I went to the only SMART meeting in my area and found it much more to my liking. I didn't really want to argue with anyone there, my BS detector wasn't set off by any of the claims that were being made, and they encouraged the "cross-talk" in which I could challenge or question any aspect of the program that doesn't seem right. This also means that the other members can call me out and correct me if I am being irrational. All in all this is a very good thing, and I am feeling positive about SMART.
Sooooo... Hi, I'm Matt. Sorry for the long introduction.