Is AA a cult ?
Member
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Essex
Posts: 411
Your question took me back to the first AA meeting I ever went to. It was via a treatment centre I didn't want to be in, and meetings were a compulsory part of the treatment on offer. For what it's worth I don't think that treatment centres ought use AA as part of their regime. It should at the very least be something one does optionally, as that creates a completely different dynamic and relationship with it.
Anyway, attending AA under those circumstances, without and open mind, and not having really experienced a 12 step introduction to it, I had a very anti response to it, and can clearly recall announcing the following day to my counsellor (poor man) with expletives that AA was indeed a cult, and it was there to brainwash people, and I was having none of it. I'd been given a big book, and I so wish I still had that copy -I covered that book in comments, questions, righteous indignation, absolutely scathing, all in red pen. I was angry with a book because that book contained truths I didn't want to countenance, and truths I most certainly did not want to be true about me and my life.
Years on, do I still think AA is a cult? No, not at all. The reaction I had to it early in my recovery journey was based on fear, denial, a wish to continue treating my alcoholism with alcohol & as said above, an introduction to the fellowship, including what happens at a meeting, that could have been better. Today, the programme of AA seems to me to be divinely inspired and profound. You wouldn't have caught me saying that when I was sat back there covering that Big Book in red pen.
Like you, yes I find some AA members challenging....having said that, I find some people in the world generally challenging, as I am sure others can find me challenging - that's the nature of human interaction, or in other words, that's life really isn't it, and it's not peculiar to AA? And like you, I wouldn't thrive on a fear based recovery, that says you go to meetings every day or you drink as there just has to be more meat on the bones than that, and it is hardly what the promises tell us is possible, but I'm also sure that sometimes what I heard is not actually what people were saying - in others words, over time my understanding changed. It's also likely that someone who has maintained continuous sobriety may have some insight to offer in staying sober, under any circumstances. What I was more likely to do once past the red pen in the Big Book stage was to learn (this bit never stops) to look at my reactions and responses to things. This has turned out to be the more interesting journey, and one that has been so worth taking, inside or outside AA.
Wish you well in your recovery Realest
Anyway, attending AA under those circumstances, without and open mind, and not having really experienced a 12 step introduction to it, I had a very anti response to it, and can clearly recall announcing the following day to my counsellor (poor man) with expletives that AA was indeed a cult, and it was there to brainwash people, and I was having none of it. I'd been given a big book, and I so wish I still had that copy -I covered that book in comments, questions, righteous indignation, absolutely scathing, all in red pen. I was angry with a book because that book contained truths I didn't want to countenance, and truths I most certainly did not want to be true about me and my life.
Years on, do I still think AA is a cult? No, not at all. The reaction I had to it early in my recovery journey was based on fear, denial, a wish to continue treating my alcoholism with alcohol & as said above, an introduction to the fellowship, including what happens at a meeting, that could have been better. Today, the programme of AA seems to me to be divinely inspired and profound. You wouldn't have caught me saying that when I was sat back there covering that Big Book in red pen.
Like you, yes I find some AA members challenging....having said that, I find some people in the world generally challenging, as I am sure others can find me challenging - that's the nature of human interaction, or in other words, that's life really isn't it, and it's not peculiar to AA? And like you, I wouldn't thrive on a fear based recovery, that says you go to meetings every day or you drink as there just has to be more meat on the bones than that, and it is hardly what the promises tell us is possible, but I'm also sure that sometimes what I heard is not actually what people were saying - in others words, over time my understanding changed. It's also likely that someone who has maintained continuous sobriety may have some insight to offer in staying sober, under any circumstances. What I was more likely to do once past the red pen in the Big Book stage was to learn (this bit never stops) to look at my reactions and responses to things. This has turned out to be the more interesting journey, and one that has been so worth taking, inside or outside AA.
Wish you well in your recovery Realest
Sober Alcoholic
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 3,539
IMO it is important to distinguish between an organization and the individual members of that organization.
The defining characteristic of a cult is that it demands its members think and behave the same
AA has a tradition that says "the only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking". That leaves quite a bit of room for differences of opinion and behavior. Quite a few members of AA have beliefs that run contrary to the AA program and the traditions and that in itself is all the proof you need that AA is not a cult
The defining characteristic of a cult is that it demands its members think and behave the same
AA has a tradition that says "the only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking". That leaves quite a bit of room for differences of opinion and behavior. Quite a few members of AA have beliefs that run contrary to the AA program and the traditions and that in itself is all the proof you need that AA is not a cult
Member
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: northern michigan. not the U.P.
Posts: 15,281
Originally Posted by Realest 
However there are some members who think they’re an authority justbecause they haven’t had a drink in years. They think they’re experts are things. And they go to meetingseveryday and if you don’t go to meetings everyday then you’re gonna drink.
Administrator
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: CA
Posts: 10,680
I'm a mom of an alcoholic. I just had to fight to have my son arrested to save his life. He nearly died on this last horrible binge after over a year of being sober. I don't care what keeps him sober. I just want him to live.
These topics seem very arrogant and selfish to me. We have a place for everyone here. If not, we try to make a place for everyone or give them referrals.
I just want our children to live. I want our Husbands, Wives, Mothers, Fathers, Sisters , Brothers, and family to live. There is no competition there. Anything is great. If it doesn't work, try something else. Just keep trying.
I tried to help others by creating a secular forum when I'm not secular. This is what we do here. It doesn't matter if I agree with it. It only matters if it helps others.
These topics seem very arrogant and selfish to me. We have a place for everyone here. If not, we try to make a place for everyone or give them referrals.
I just want our children to live. I want our Husbands, Wives, Mothers, Fathers, Sisters , Brothers, and family to live. There is no competition there. Anything is great. If it doesn't work, try something else. Just keep trying.
I tried to help others by creating a secular forum when I'm not secular. This is what we do here. It doesn't matter if I agree with it. It only matters if it helps others.
Member
Join Date: Jun 2017
Posts: 2,909
The fact that some people consider AA to be a cult has zero impact on my life because I chose that it doesn't.
The fact that some people don't consider AA to be a cult has zero impact on my life because I chose that it doesn't.
AA has an impact on my life because I chose that it does.
The impact that AA has on my life is a positive one because I chose that it be.
I don't spend much time on labels because I am more interested in results.
The fact that some people don't consider AA to be a cult has zero impact on my life because I chose that it doesn't.
AA has an impact on my life because I chose that it does.
The impact that AA has on my life is a positive one because I chose that it be.
I don't spend much time on labels because I am more interested in results.
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