Being an atheist/agnostic for 30 years, I avoided AA like the plague. I didn't care whether it was a religious or spiritual program. If it was either, I wanted no part of it. I never actually tried it, but decided it wouldn't work, based upon philosophical and scientific reasons alone. I was quite satisfied with my conclusions. Meanwhile, I continued to drink myself to death. I had dispensed with solutions that didn't appeal to my own personal sensibilities, and resumed drinking until I was senseless.
When at the end of a 28-year long drinking career I finally fell low enough to turn to AA for a solution, I was ready to accept anything that didn't rely solely upon my strength. I had failed countless times to manage this illness on my own. At that point, it didn't matter whether I went to a great meeting or a terrible one, I just knew my way wasn't working anymore. It has only been through getting serious about the steps and really thinking about what they mean, that I have achieved a level of spirituality I had suppressed and denied for decades. It's a learning process that I believe will go on for the rest of my life, and I'm thoroughly enjoying the journey. I don't feel a need to explain or qualify that, any more than I feel a need to explain why I love chocolate. It took a willingness to at least try to believe in something I couldn't explain, something outside of, and larger than, myself. All those exercises in overthinking and analysis kept leading me to one dead end after another, and I didn't want to die that way.