I've attended probably a dozen AA groups and several dozen NA groups. If you go to different AA groups in different communities, you'll find some large, some small, some friendlier, some not, etc. Each group is different and within each group, the atmosphere can be different on any given night (just like churches, restaurants and other organizations). It's exactly the same in NA. I've lived in a town where AA was very strong, yet NA was weak. The last town I lived in, NA was strong and the local AA group was imo, terrible (they let one man run the whole thing,he kept the money and spent it as he saw fit). The town I live in now has both strong AA and NA. I love my home group, yet as with any other group, sometimes the meeting has a negative tone. However, the spiritual principles I learned there taught me to find the good. Sometimes I can listen to the negativity and be grateful that I'm not like that anymore. It also lets me know what my attitude will be like if I stop practicing the principles of this program. Most of the time I hear a strong message of recovery wherever I attend NA. People don't always have pure motives for making negative comments about other groups and fellowships. I see no spiritual principles being applied when someone tries to put a black eye on a 12-step fellowship that saves lives. Someone making that comment might convince a newcomer to not go (to whatever fellowship was being bashed) and that newcomer might DIE. My suggestion is try out the NA group at least 5 times before you decide to stay or go. First impressions aren't everything. Thanks for coming here and asking, instead of forming a judgement based on one person's slanderous remark.
