Dee74, thanks for your patience with my violation of the forum rules.
Which, as I now understand, either "are" or "include":
"Secular Forum Rules Quote: Alternatives to 12 Step Recovery
Recovery from Substance Abuse and Support for Friends and Family of Substance Abusers
LifeRing-Smart-SOS, CBT, AVRT, Problem Solving, Self Management, Self-Empowerment, Rational Thinking, Positive Lifestyle Changes, Self Assessment, Commitment and Follow-Through, Self-Acceptance, Motives and Goals, Peer Support.
"12 Step Programs are off topic for this forum and posts discussing 12 Step Programs will be removed. Please use the Secular 12 Step Forum for positive topics on Secular 12 Step Recovery.
It took me years to successfully open and maintain a secular forum and even longer to allow civil discussions on RR. The debates were so bad at one point I had to close down the forum. The rules are in place to protect your forum. Mocking other programs is not permitted and 12 step topics are not permitted. "
This does come as news to me. It is easy to suppose there are many challenges to maintaining decorum in any forum (on the internet!) much less one with the subject so visceral as recovery, so, perhaps "erring on the side of caution" is prudent.
If my reply was "out of line," then I am confused by the allowance of the title question. "Red vs. Green?" discuss... but never use the word "Green."
I have heard an author speak of the absurdity of being "committed" to perceiving a coin as having only one side, and thus speaking of any particular flip of the coin as being either "heads" or "NOT heads."
I remain a bit perplexed on the question of how to interpret a rule that does not permit "12 step topics." I don't know precisely what all that includes (sharing "experience, strength, and hope;" fellowship; service work; or merely "THE 12 step program of recovery")? Justice Stewart said of pornography, that it is hard to define, but "I know it when I see it." I suppose that is where the discretion of the moderators come into play. As with all exercises of authority, its judicious application is bound, at times, to be applied "too liberally" and, on other occasions, "too conservatively" and almost any choice is likely to offend someone.
Apparently I "joined" the site last May, but had never posted anything. I recently receive an email from this site which presented a link to this topic question and the questioner's remark:
"I've been doing research on alternatives to AA because I've never been comfortable in meetings sharing my feelings in person and I have a hard time with the 'higher power' concept."
I was trying to respond specifically to the "higher power" concern as not necessarily being a critical issue... though, of course, it may be for some. I found that I had never activated my account. A moderator was kind enough to activate the account, which I apparently soon took advantage of to step in a dog pile. Ooops.
I had noticed this thread had been inactive for a year and a half, but still the title question has been presented on my screen as an active topic question. I am glad for people who find a path to recovery that works for them. "Yes, you are unique... just like everybody else." It is certainly possible that what would work for me, would not work for you, and vice versa. What I need is a path that "works for me." I remain interested in SMART recovery options, but have not found their meetings to be so readily available.
Venues like this surely can help people find what they need. It sounds prudent to create "safe spaces" for different perspectives, but excessive segregation of perspectives could promote "echo chambers" as well. As ever, the challenge appears to be in the balance.