Brit: I stayed away from AA for years because of the very same things you are mentioning as concerns. I also Googled the program plenty of times and thought, "No way am I getting into anything that is asking me to surrender myself to a Higher Power...or any version thereof..." I am also not big on organized religion either. At all. So the God element didn't sit too well either.
I'm still not sure about the Higher Power or God stuff (being spiritual helps me but still not big on giving up/surrendering personal power). However, I have found that getting myself around other people--not AA dogma or religion--has helped me immensely because I have stopped isolating myself which was my biggest problem when drinking. I got to thinking that I was the only one feeling like I did, that I could never explain all of the horrible things that I had done/felt/continued to feel to everyone else who was "normal," and so the only alternative was to keep drinking...alone.
AA has helped me stop the isolating behavior and get around people who knew exactly what I was going through...which has been a major thing in keeping me sober this past month. Like others said here, sometimes it's a mix of many different things. I also find value in SMART and talking to a regular therapist. And being here, of course.
And I am not convinced AA does address all the underlying things that make one start drinking. I think it is pretty unrealistic to expect any one thing to do that.
What it does do, at least for me, is keep the isolation tendencies to a minimum. But maybe that wasn't part of your drinking pattern so something else might be better for you.
Also, I think how little or how much the focus is on religion or cultish behavior depends on the group. At the one I am in (which is part of why I chose it), the person who leads it off always says she doesn't care if we surrender to God, the light post outside of the building, or our cat. Whatever it means to us, just as long as we don't pick up again.
But anyway...you seemed to like your first meeting when you posted about it awhile ago so I hope you don't let the internet freak you out too much.
I also didn't think you were bashing AA or should draw fire for your questions/concerns...they are certainly ones I considered myself. But I am glad I forced myself to keep an open mind.
Hey, Congrats on Day 6!!!