Notices

Atheism in AA

Old 06-27-2017, 07:21 PM
  # 41 (permalink)  
Behold the power of NO
 
Carlotta's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: WA
Posts: 7,764
Sorry for interrupting the fun but Darkling wrote
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
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.
Carlotta is offline  
Old 06-27-2017, 07:45 PM
  # 42 (permalink)  
Member
Thread Starter
 
darkling's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: the real world
Posts: 166
Originally Posted by Carlotta View Post
What about the book living sober since it is a newcomer meeting with a bunch of young people?.
It's actually on top of the pile of recovery books hubby and I have!
Glad I'm in good company
darkling is offline  
Old 06-27-2017, 08:55 PM
  # 43 (permalink)  
12 Step Recovered Alcoholic
 
Gottalife's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 6,613
Originally Posted by darkling View Post
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.
Sorry darkling, you seem to have misunderstood. I love the fellowship, go to meetings because that is my chance to give back, and like you, because I get to go.

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.
Gottalife is offline  
Old 06-27-2017, 10:32 PM
  # 44 (permalink)  
Member
Thread Starter
 
darkling's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: the real world
Posts: 166
Thank you Mike! No, I didn't quite understand. Now that I DO, I agree:

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.
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.

darkling is offline  

Currently Active Users Viewing this Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are Off




All times are GMT -7. The time now is 10:03 AM.