YouveGotStyleKi

I went to an NA meeting in Uniontown, PA tonight... And I absolutely regret it. I was gonna go to the local meeting like I always do, but a few friends were telling me I should go since it was an anniversary for the meeting...

I have to say, I don't know what it was, but it was NOT an NA meeting. My first big problem was the fact that they were pushing Christianity. No matter who was speaking, they were saying, "Jesus Christ is my savior and he could be yours if you embrace our way of life." Just ridiculous **** like that. Another huge problem was that they completely ignored the newcomers. The way they did clean time was they started with 30 years and worked their way down to a month. There was no, "Are there any new members?" or ANYTHING like that... I felt so out of place. It was almost cult-like. Third, they were breaking traditions left and right... They were taking up a collection for their OWN devices. They spent probably 10 grand on this anniversary thing... But they never give back to area service.

I'm just sickened by how people can get away with what they did tonight and still call it Narcotics Anonymous, because the ES&H weren't there. They were encouraging baptism and church and Christianity... Not God as YOU understand him. It was an absolute travesty.

If you live near Uniontown, do NOT go to this meeting. It's at St. Peter's Episcopal Church on 121 Walnut Hill Road, Uniontown PA, 15041.

scaredykat

Wow, sorry about that. I don't go to NA I go to AA, but I've heard some horror stories up my way too with NA. I think its terrible when the don't stick to the principles of the program.

fluer

Wow. Sounds like you were really negatively affected, sorry to hear that. Not what you want when you go to a meeting! Also sounds like you have been greatly harmed by someone claiming to be a "christian", or said they believed in jesus christ. I am with ya there! There are far too many people doing far too many things in jesus's name, that have only one agenda, and that is their own. This sickens me.

You may want to think about how you come across though as well. In your emotion you come off just as narrow minded, and judgemental as the very people you so obviously are disillusioned with. Just as they be missing an amazing individual in front of them because you do not identify yourself with their belief system, you most likey are missing the chance to meet someone amazing as well because they do not identify with yours. Religion is ugly, but spirituality is beautiful. Some people who identify themselves as believers in christ are religious, and some are spiritual.

I am sorry it was so traumatic for you tonight, and I hope your peace is returned to you quickly. much love.

USMCEOD

Been there,

Thats what turned me off to the Salvation Army rehab center around here. They make you go to church. Even if you throw a fit , it is part of their recovery program and if you don't go you are not following their treatment and can be let go from the center.

Just because you have a relationship with GOD as I do does not mean that he is included in your recovery. To me this is my battle and GOD has nothing to do with it.

GOD has set a challenge before me and it is up to me to accomplish it without his help.

It's the same thing as when Baseball players make a play or score a run and they make a cross on their chest and point upwards. I'm like dude " GOD did you help you, you are good and you did it with nobodys help"

LaDita

I've heard of meetings like this. The first thing I thought of was that it was chaired and or attended by mostly people who are in a particular Christian-based treatment program. There is one like that here that is very religious, like the kind you described and I don't know if they try to 'pull their weight around' at meetings, but I have a feeling that's what happened at this meeting you went to. Either that or this particular religious group saw being at the meeting was a good way to find new recruits/converts.

I'm sorry about your experience. You may want to alert N.A.'s headquarters. However it's my feeling that N.A. bends the rules quite a bit, I'm not sure why.

All About Love

this is effing ******** too be blunt
NA is not about this kinda junk
an not giving back to area service is disgusting!
i am that distressed by this i have made contact with the office of the world services commision before NA as a whole gets a bad reputation world wide
as people from all over read this site....
me, im from australia an i believe that this situation MUST be dealt with asap.
im so sorry for you having to have gone through that how horrible
stories like this bring disrepute to all v NA an i as one gratefull recovering addict working my programme by the steps an the traditions will not stand for this behaviour
thankyou for posting this
i suggest as many members as possible email world services commision/ phone em/ whatever it takes to put a stop to this meeting an get a real meeting in its place!!!!!!!!

doorknob

There's something to be said for secular programs... these kind of issues never come up.

tommyk

Take what you want and leave the rest.

bugsworth

I agree with both DK and Tommy...what I don't understand is why one would be upset by the mention of ones HP...after all the program is based on a belief in God and Jesus just happens to be many peoples savior. I can think of a hundred things going on in this world that would be considered a "travesty" but mentioning Jesus in a religious based program would not be one of them.

deezaldog

Unfortunately there are groups like this. I attend AA regularly and those that go on and on about being saved are tolerated, not encouraged. I also have had trouble with NA. I mistakingly went to an NA mtg and was asked to leave. Incredible. There is a student in my human services class who is always going on about the program and "the people he deals with". He has gone so far as to email through the school system to each of us about NA. I told him it was inappropriate and the eleventh tradition states a program of attraction not promotion. He returned with a long quote out of a book. UGH He also posts flyers all over school about the NA mtg schedule and blah blah blah.
At least now you know where not to go.

doorknob

Deezal, why on earth would they ask you to leave??? An alcoholic is an addict by their own (mine too) definition. In fact, they go to great lengths in their literature to make that point very clear.

lostbutterfly

I was raised a Christian, but that would have freaked me out a bit.

Problem with a meeting like that, is it could land up killing someone. A newcomer who never came back.

Sugah

I've been to meetings where one or a couple members have attempted to proselytize about their particular religious beliefs. Almost invariably, their sharing is followed by others who focus on "god as I understand him" as a sort of damage control for the newcomer(s) in the room. Although I'm not thrilled about either type of sharing, preferring that it remain on the solution as outlined in the steps (and therefore, applicable to everyone in the room, not just those who've embraced a particular conception of god), I understand that follow-up sharing as the "next right thing" in thinking about the newcomer.

And I do see the value in the occasional "spirituality" topic when members express how they practice their spirituality. Lots of people have no clue when it comes that essential aspect of taking the steps, and if it means borrowing the methods of someone else until they find their own, how can that be bad? That, of course, is more productive if there is a variety of spiritual practices expressed.

But what you saw doesn't sound like a member or two who has chosen that time to proselytize. It sounds more like a Celebrate Recovery meeting where more than just the common bond of addiction unites the membership (which is a wonderful thing if it results in recovery, IMO). If the meeting claiming to be NA isn't clearly labeled as a special interest group on the meeting list, then it is misleading and potentially harmful. It takes a group conscience, spoken or unspoken, to create a meeting like that, and as each group is autonomous, I suppose they have the right to do so--in a responsible way.

There are two ways to deal with it. Either choose not to attend that particular meeting, or join the group and attempt to change the group conscience. I've seen the latter happen. It's usually not conducive to serenity.

Good thing there are lots of meetings and groups to choose from, huh, Ki?

Peace & Love,
Sugah

YouveGotStyleKi

The most horrific thing was just how they completely ignored the newcomer. I have come to peace over the night and after praying to the God that I understand, the other issues aren't as bad... But I can't even imagine how a newcomer to that meeting must have felt. Their listing in the book says it's a discussion group... And I can't even imagine what it would have been like had it not been an open speaker meeting. I also agree there is no problem with talking about ones higher power, but when they're saying things like how they were baptized and how they would love to help you and to join their group and ****... They're breaking traditions and that isn't right. One woman actually came up and referred to herself as a "drug addict," which really isn't a good way to describe yourself. Describing yourself like that lets on the perception that DRUGS are your problem.

I'm just really grateful that the meetings in my immediate area are GREAT meetings with GREAT people and a lot of clean time to give me ES&H.

shaun00

Dont sound good....Although i am dependant on god in my life i always object to people forcing it down your throat.
I guess if you put a bunch of addicts or alkies together without traditions this is how the meeting will turn out.......if fact this is exactly why the traditions were written.
On a positive note YOU have a choice today NOT to go again and YOU also see the great importance of the newcomer.......nice post....trucker

mle-sober

Something I can't help but notice is that your experience was so dominated by black and white thinking. That's really common with us addicts and alcohollics. It's one of the things I am always catching myself doing - thinking that things are either terribly wrong or right. With nothing in between.

Most likely, none of the people in this meeting you attended really know or understand how their way of presenting and carrying forward the NA traditions is in conflict with the true traditions of NA and AA. Most likely each of them were trying, in their own way, to share their experience, strength, and hope. It sounds like there was a lot of ego involved but that they weren't really conscious of it.

In that situation, I think I'd just back slowly away and let them go at it. Not my thing, but clearly it's working for them. At the meeting I go to regularly, there are a few people who talk a whole lot about Jesus, without following up their words with some explanation that Jesus is part of their HP as they understand him. I add those thoughts on in my own mind - kind of supplying the words that they don't for my own benefit. It keeps me from having a knee jerk reaction against them as people.

My own mother talks a lot about Jesus and the importance of being a Christian. I have 2 Jewish sons. So, it's hard not to take offense. Like Jesus' teachings are somehow superior to the Jewish traditions which are, frankly, amazing. But I know that in her heart of hearts she doesn't mean to insinuate that. She's just sharing the truth as she experiences it. I'm glad that she's found a peaceful way to be in the world.

Her experience doesn't overpower or eliminate my experience. Not if I don't let it.

I'm glad to read that you have meetings closer to you that meet your needs better.

YouveGotStyleKi

See, the problem is they ARE conscious of it. They've been taken off the meeting list multiple times over the past few years, but they keep finding ways to fight it.

NoelleR

There were a couple of things I'm a bit confused about in your posts....you've said this meeting was.....:

1) "...it was an anniversary for the meeting...The way they did clean time was they started with 30 years and worked their way down to a month...They spent probably 10 grand on this anniversary thing...;"

2) "...Their listing in the book says it's a discussion group...;"

3) "...I can't even imagine what it would have been like had it not been an open speaker meeting...;"

4) "...they never give back to area service...;"

5) "...I went to an NA meeting in Uniontown, PA tonight...One woman actually came up and referred to herself as a "drug addict," which really isn't a good way to describe yourself. Describing yourself like that lets on the perception that DRUGS are your problem."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

First off, I absolutely agree with you regarding the 'religious' aspects of this group, but then, as a person who's worked the AA/NA programs as an atheist, I've always lets this part of folks programs slide off my back.....even all the extra stuff (like baptisms, etc.).

....and yes, absolutely, I agree that the newcomer should not be ignored, but it seems that you might have been mislead, or at least you misunderstood what you were getting into....According to #'s 1-3, it appears that this group probably is a discussion group, as it's listed, but the night you attended it was an anniversary celebration meeting, whether for the group (being in existance for 'xx' years) or to celebrate anniversary milestones for group members for that month. Where I go, folks celebrating from 1 year up to whoever had the max time celebrating that month would get their medallion and get to speak for a bit. I always found these meetings to be a good time, but rather on the long side.....lolol ....and we did always ask at the end if there were any newcomers who would like newcomer keytag....or chip....or whatever was being given.; we had one fellow who gave out the newcomer chips and call them bus tokens to paradise.....lol

Regarding #4, and how much they spent for that particular evening.....It's been a long time since I've been involved in the 'politics' of groups, but I always saw it as a group could spend as much as they wanted on themselves, and there was no rule telling them that they must give to service areas.....although we always did..... (o:

Ah, and now #5.....it was an NA meeting, and to me, saying I'm an addict, or I'm a drug addict, or whatever.....no problemo.....it's just an introduction. To you it may be saying that drugs are the problem, but to others it's just a way they like to introduce themselves....if you want to get picky.....it is NARCOTICS Anonymous, but that doesn't mean that narcotics are the problem or that I should say I'm a narcotics addict......shoot.......it's just semantics....kewl


NoelleR

YouveGotStyleKi

Another thing I might have forgot to mention is the home group members with a lot of clean time disperse themselves among our local meetings, cornering people and saying, "You don't need these meetings... We have a better way of life, and we'd be happy to take you in." Like, that really is not cool.

Bamboozle

Anytime I find myself in a situation such as that, I leave. I don't do groups, but I have been in situations before that were cult-like. When that happens, I don't say anything...I quietly (and quickly) leave.

I'm sorry you had a bad experience. The next time you find yourself in an uncomfortable situation, you always have the option of leaving. No harm, no foul....you don't have to worry about offending anyone if you are really uncomfortable....and then you can go to your regular meeting.