Atheism in AA
Sorry for interrupting the fun but Darkling wrote
What about the book living sober since it is a newcomer meeting with a bunch of young people?
It is AA conference approved and does not talk that much about God if I remember correctly. It is also full of good practical advice for newly sober folks and divided in sections which are short enough to be read and discussed at each meeting.
Anyway just a suggestion.
should have maybe said at the beginning of this thread, that the meeting I'll be co-chairing is a Beginner's Meeting. Quite a few non-newcomers attend, but a few newbies have been known to wander in as well. Not a few of these are international students from the university in town. We're quite the eclectic group some weeks
It is AA conference approved and does not talk that much about God if I remember correctly. It is also full of good practical advice for newly sober folks and divided in sections which are short enough to be read and discussed at each meeting.
Anyway just a suggestion.
HUH? "Tied to meetings"? "Prisoner"?!
I'm not a prisoner. AA is not my keeper. Quite the opposite. It's because of AA and the Fellowship that I can go anywhere and do anything.
I don't have to go to meetings. I GET to go to meetings. The people in the rooms are my family.
If it weren't for the people with chunks of sober time, who have showed me how to walk thru hell itself - with grace - I wouldn't have believed it possible. You can only learn that by being able to watch others do it first.
I never would have believed that someone with years - decades - of sobriety could really be happy - until I met them.
A small group of drunks - strangers! - took me under their wing when I first came in. They baby-sat me for close to a month. I was never alone. They - thru AA - literally saved my life. The only way I can ever pay that back is by paying it forward. That's what I do with every meeting I attend.
The "tied to meetings" rationale just doesn't make sense. AA is world-wide. If you can't find a meeting in person or online, you can sure as hell find another drunk's phone number.
Personally, I don't ever want to be so sober that I don't need AA and the Fellowship any more.
I'm not a prisoner. AA is not my keeper. Quite the opposite. It's because of AA and the Fellowship that I can go anywhere and do anything.
I don't have to go to meetings. I GET to go to meetings. The people in the rooms are my family.
If it weren't for the people with chunks of sober time, who have showed me how to walk thru hell itself - with grace - I wouldn't have believed it possible. You can only learn that by being able to watch others do it first.
I never would have believed that someone with years - decades - of sobriety could really be happy - until I met them.
A small group of drunks - strangers! - took me under their wing when I first came in. They baby-sat me for close to a month. I was never alone. They - thru AA - literally saved my life. The only way I can ever pay that back is by paying it forward. That's what I do with every meeting I attend.
The "tied to meetings" rationale just doesn't make sense. AA is world-wide. If you can't find a meeting in person or online, you can sure as hell find another drunk's phone number.
Personally, I don't ever want to be so sober that I don't need AA and the Fellowship any more.
The fellowship comes in for a lot of criticism along the lines of "having" to be at meetings all the time, life long attendance being required, and if. You don't get to meetings you will drink, people who would not change their underpants without there sponsor telling them which new pair to wear today.etc etc. which describes a fear based sobriety.
This is supported my members I know who have been around for years and whose lives begin to fall apart if they are away from meetings for more than a few days. Maybe they have swapped one addiction for another.
I have seen all this in the fellowship and I can understand how we can be criticized for it.
My point is that none of this need be true for the individual that finds the real AA program and puts it into effect in their lives. In that way, participation in the fellowship becomes a rewarding pleasure, not a fear based need, and the individual is free to participate in any other areas of life they want.
My recovery is an example of that, but if you care to read Bills pamphlet on emotional sobriety you will see he felt it very important to break dependencies on all things human, even AA.
Thank you Mike! No, I didn't quite understand. Now that I DO, I agree:
Oh, I am laughing at this! Yep, a few of the things I do not like about AA. IMO, the above seems to have an awful lot to do with not taking things one day at a time . . .
I'm nodding in agreement about those who are overly dependent on their sponsor. I'd go so far as to use the word co-dependent. I would hope that at some point in someone's recovery, they'll have learned/grown/whatever enough that they can think for themselves. [I have a lovely rant regarding sponsors, but that's for another thread, another day.]
The "fear-based recovery" may be useful in very early sobriety - alot of that is due to fear anyway. But some people push the concept way too far. IMO. At the very least it's annoying, at it's worst, it scares people off that maybe AA could've helped.
I do admit to getting squirrelly if I miss my weekly 1-2 meetings. But a huge part of that is because they're 95% of my "social life." Otherwise, I'm happy being a loner. But I don't work, my husband's been gone for a bit and as much as I love my cats, it's nice to communicate face to face in English once in a while.
While I don't feel like I have to attend meetings, I'm glad that I have the option. As long as I keep learning/realizing new things, I'll keep going back. And I do feel I owe a debt.
I can't quite grasp the concept of being addicted to meetings - but that's ok.
The fellowship comes in for a lot of criticism along the lines of "having" to be at meetings all the time, life long attendance being required, and if. You don't get to meetings you will drink, people who would not change their underpants without there sponsor telling them which new pair to wear today. etc etc. which describes a fear based sobriety.
I'm nodding in agreement about those who are overly dependent on their sponsor. I'd go so far as to use the word co-dependent. I would hope that at some point in someone's recovery, they'll have learned/grown/whatever enough that they can think for themselves. [I have a lovely rant regarding sponsors, but that's for another thread, another day.]
The "fear-based recovery" may be useful in very early sobriety - alot of that is due to fear anyway. But some people push the concept way too far. IMO. At the very least it's annoying, at it's worst, it scares people off that maybe AA could've helped.
I do admit to getting squirrelly if I miss my weekly 1-2 meetings. But a huge part of that is because they're 95% of my "social life." Otherwise, I'm happy being a loner. But I don't work, my husband's been gone for a bit and as much as I love my cats, it's nice to communicate face to face in English once in a while.
While I don't feel like I have to attend meetings, I'm glad that I have the option. As long as I keep learning/realizing new things, I'll keep going back. And I do feel I owe a debt.
I can't quite grasp the concept of being addicted to meetings - but that's ok.
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