I was raised as an Atheist. I am not a Fundamentalist Atheist...just non religious a non believer over any high power. At times in Al-Anon I would get annoyed. Some people take the religious thread of the program and run with it; but that is true everywhere in society. We are still a mostly religious world. Yet, I realize I am a grown up and I CAN choose to ignore those spiritual parts of the steps and know that is just fine. I think many people coming into AA and Al-Anon are so scared of being forever broken they think the only way to heal is to work the entire program literally. You don't have to. Taking Al-Anon literally is just another form of fundamentalism. It's true, "take what you need and leave the rest". By the way, I become very comfortable with telling people that I am an Atheist when they would get preachy to me about god. I don't impose my DIS-belief on believers and expect the same in return.