SOS
A Brief History
"During my first years of sobriety I questioned a number of alcoholics, searching for the common thread of their successes in maintaining a lasting sobriety. When I was about three years into my sobriety I began to challenge the concepts of Alcoholics Anonymous.... By the time I was sober five years I had compiled an extensive file of responses and, four years to the present day, I've collected data from more than two thousand « sobrietists ». Both from this research and my own experience of recovery, I have put together a specific secular approach to achieving and maintaining long-term sobriety. I call it the « Sobriety Priority ». I wish to offer it here as « a » way (beware of anyone who offers « the » way) to achieve and maintain sobriety for life” James Christopher, 1986.
The SOS movement began with an article in the Summer 1985 issue of FREE INQUIRY magazine, the leading secular humanist journal in the USA. James Christopher, the son of an alcoholic, and a sober alcoholic himself, wrote « Sobriety Without Superstition », an account of the path he took to sobriety.
This path led Christopher from seventeen years of a fearful and guilty alcoholism to a fearful and guilty sobriety with Alcoholics Anonymous. Christopher felt that there must be other alcoholics who wanted to achieve and maintain sobriety through personal responsibility and self-reliance. He also felt that turning ones life over to a « Higher Power » was not compatible with current research which indicated that addiction is the result of physiology, not psychology.
As a result of the tremendous response to the article from those who wanted to maintain sobriety as a separate issue from religion, Jim Christopher founded the Secular Organizations for Sobriety.
Today there are SOS groups meeting in every state in the USA and throughout the United Kingdom, Belgium, Australia and Israel. SOS has gained official recognition from health professionals, clinics and US court system. In 1987 the California courts recognized SOS as an alternative to AA for recovery programs and the Veterans Administration has adopted a policy which prohibits mandatory participation in programs of a religious nature. In 1998, the American Association of Psychiatrists published a chapter written by James Christopher in its main professional textbook "Substance Abuse".