I've known people who have gotten clean and sober through religion. I've met some people who have moderated their use after therapy and psychotropic meds. I think AA works for certain types of people and other methods are effective for other types of people. Even within AA people have different approaches to the program. Some are very rigid with the steps and the book, some aren't. Some people love the fellowship and want to resocialize within AA, some don't. Some people do tons of service, some don't. So it stand to reason that other methods can work. I personally would love more alternatives to AA.