Originally Posted by
Che 
I think the main criticism people have with AA is "Why does it have to be bundled with religion?" Why can't it just be about recovery, instead of including God and basically excluding non-Christians? It's that frustration that leads people to extrapolate their hatred from 'AA not being secular is horrible' to 'everything about AA is horrible.'
I think a lot of people are helped by AA. I think a lot of people feel excluded from that help because it is so religious. For goodness sake, it has its own 'big book.' If that's not a kick in the head to atheists, I don't know what is. I don't think people who are used to being surrounded by religion realise just how offensive that is. You get responses like 'it's not just about religion, there's help if you aren't religious' but that doesn't make it any less alienating. Religion has a necessarily 'holier than thou' air about it because they genuinely think you're going to Hell because you aren't of their faith... It's hard to be around people like that, even if they aren't always conscious that this is the doctrine of their organization.
AA is great if you believe in God. Not so much for everyone else.
PS:I know what I've written is probably offensive. I'm not saying AA is a cult. I'm just saying it seems from my outside perspective to be intertwined with religion. A poster above said you have to recite religious scripture... I think if you don't know why that would be uncomfortable for an atheist, you ought to step into our shoes for a day. Of course, I have other reasons for not attending AA, but I really do think if those other reasons were gone the religious aspect would still be upsetting enough to seek other methods.
When I was a zit faced 120 lb teenager, ugly, no friends and it was a bitch to get a girlfriend, I loved Atheism and I loved being an Atheist. I loved to listen to my NIN albums and my Marilyn Manson albums and talk about why religion is ********.
Wake up to 2011. I am 180 lbs, muscular, lifting, have gf, have close friends. I still think religion is ********, but I've got some experience under my belt. I can say, no it doesn't make sense to stone gay people or women. Yes it does make sense that if you live by the sword you will die by the sword. Etc etc.
Frankly your religion is your choice. When I was a skinny little ***** atheism made perfect sense. I was at the bottom of the food chain. I hated all those assholes who were beautiful and their parents had money and no drugs no mental illness and it just seemed like "yeah, of course you believe in God, you've never had to overcome anything of significance in your entire life". Now that I have some things, now that I like myself, I have some things going on, I'm more like, I dunno, is agnostic the one where you believe theres a greater power out there? Yeah I believe theres something greater out there. I believe theres something after this life that is beautiful probably beyond words. But you know over and over again when i see atheists I see that social outcast I was. I see fat men with beards and skinny kids with acne. People just don't grasp how much their outward appearance can effect their interaction with their environment and ultimately the course of their life. You know recently I asked a weight lifting buddy why everyone in this one high class restaurant was jacked and muscled up. He said "because you want someone whos clean and takes care of themselves touching and handling your food. You wouldn't want some scraggly person with beat up clothes and a poor appearance touching your food right?". And thats just talking about food.