tomsteve--
Read again. There is no bashing going on here--in fact this seems to be a very thoughtful thread on this issue.
I also think that you seem to be setting up a straw man when you criticise those who think that they can quit "on their own power." I doubt anyone here would ever claim they could do it on their on power--or why would they be here? Anyone who thought they could quit on their own power would not be seeking a recovery program or support online--they would not need either.
But for many of us, it seems that it is not a "god" that recovers those in AA but rather the faith (and hard work) of those in the program. I remember that a sponsor told me to use a doorknob as my higher power because it was the belief itself rather than the object of that belief that made the difference.
Many would disagree---but I think he was right.
Ultimately it does not matter. If it works for you, why question it? And if it does not, why not seek out something else? Common sense would indicate that there is no one perfect path that will fit each and every individual anymore than there is one perfect religion that fits each and every believer or one perfect medicine that will heal the flu in every flu sufferer. Recovery is not a widget, so I for one am glad that AA, NA, SmartRecovery, AVRT, therapy, etc are all there so that alcoholics and addicts stand a fighting chance of finding the light bulb that fits their socket.
It is not bashing to say that there are many roads to recovery. It is not bashing to say that any particular method recovery did not work for a particular person. Just because X did not work for one person does not mean it will not work for another person.
Anti-depressants are a good analog. No one pill works for everyone. The one that helps one patient, will do nothing for another. The one that makes one person stable, unstablizes another patient with intolerable side effects. And there is no way to predict with anti-depressant will work for any individual. It is trial and error--just like the task of finding one's way to recovery. And it is not bashing welbutrin to say that it was ineffective for a particular person. There are plenty of others that it works for.
I think we need to have the same understanding of recovery.