Does AA have the potential to kill people....
when members allow the fellowship to become something it is not supposed to be? I recently visited the town where I got sober. I spoke at my old home group. AA in that town is very different from where I currently live. The fellowship is huge but the rate of recovery is not good. The people I met in the fellowship there were charismatic and AA was much more exciting than it is where I currently live. However, "old sobriety" was not common there. I was dismayed to see that many of the people I knew there had gone back out. One even passed away from an overdose after celebrating a year. It seems like the fellowship in that area has become a popularity contest and a dating service. When I moved back to the town I grew up in I was amazed to see that the rooms were filled with long term sobriety. Having 10, 20, and 30 years in sobriety is the trend in my current area. With 2 years sober I am just a silly new comer. AA in my current area is about sharing a solution and nothing else. I think it is easy for people to get side tracked in AA in the town where I got sober. I think that's why so many relapse in that area. I feel that the members of the fellowship in that town have allowed AA to become something it is not meant to be and it is killing people. AA is not supposed to be about how charismatic a person can be at the podium or how popular you can become among the fellowship as it is in that area. AA is about sharing a solution which is what we do my current area. Any thoughts on the matter?