Jean77

Is it possible to be part of the AA fellowship and yet not completely agree to all the beliefs of the higher power?

Caldus

Absolutely. No one is expected to believe everything (or even anything) about what AA offers when they walk through that door. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking.

HappyDestiny3

I am don't understand your question..

What are all the beliefs of the HP..

And sure you go to meetings and such.. But the program is a spiritual one, and the 12 steps are the program.. But if you just want to go listen, talk, and drink coffee then sure you don't have to believe anything.

You don't need to worry about the HP at the moment for you just need to work on step one.. And get a sponsor to take it further..

So hate to break it to you, but even a atheist like me has a HP.. Because you can't work the steps without one..

tomsteve

welp, theres only one belief on a higher power that the program as outlined in the big book talks about: one that can help you solve all your problems.


Lack of power, that was our dilemma. We had to find a power by which we could live, and it had to be a Power greater than ourselves. Obviously. But where and how were we to find this Power?

Well, that's exactly what this book is about. Its main object is to enable you to find a Power greater than yourself which will solve your problem.

2granddaughters

AA's HOW IT WORKS states that "Half measures availed us nothing" so that may answer your question.

You said "Is it possible to be part of the AA fellowship and yet not completely agree to all the beliefs of the higher power?". The operative word there is "yet"
Change "yet not" to "not yet" and you'll be on the right track. It's a program of growth and change.


All the best.

Bob R

Mountainmanbob

chrisb245

I Have tried the partial program many times and I keep drinking and using.

changer

this is an interesting question i think it depends on the kind of sobriety you are looking for. when i thought about it, the phrases 'the only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking' and 'half measures availed us nothing' popped into my head at the same time.
so i don't have any answers, don't have that kind of power but i think you may find your answer in the rooms. talk to your fellows, hear their experiences. best to you.
hil

Kathleen41

If you are asking about religious beliefs, "Beliefs in a higher power" in AA means you believe in something more powerful than yourself. That can be the AA group or your sponsor in the beginning, of course those people can let you down, they are only human! Therefore, It is important to develop an individualized understanding of a "higher power." I call it God, you don't have to. You can call it Mother Earth, El Diablo, Shiva, or Zeus!!! No one in AA should ever push their understanding of "higher power" upon you. The Big Book of AA speaks of a personal, customized belief in a HP. Although, admittedly, the groups in my area seem to be very Christian, which is reflective of the Bible Belt in which I live.

If you are talking about only taking bits and pieces of the program, I would say that is unlikely to be effective, and perhaps you aren't truly ready to quit. This is Bill's (AA founder) thought for today: "Few people will sincerely try to practice the A.A. program unless they have "hit bottom," for practicing A.A.'s Steps means the adoption of attitudes and actions that almost no alcoholic who is still drinking can dream of taking. The average alcoholic, self-centered in the extreme, doesn't care for this prospect--unless he has to do these things in order to stay alive himself." Bill Wilson

I hope this is helpful.

Mark75

Absolutely!

Keep an open mind.

Music

All that's needed is the "acceptance" of the idea that there's a "power greater than yourself" that can help you to stop drinking. I realized very soon after coming to AA that if I couldn't recognize the fact that there was a power greater than me, I was in trouble. Why?? 'Cause that meant that I was my higher power and I "should" be able to figure out the problem. I couldn't stop!! So, now what??

What's nice is my concept of a higher power are built on my "beliefs" of what/who a higher power is. Your beliefs are your own. Start there.

Threshold

I believe the keys are honesty, open mindedness and willingness.

It may not make sense, you may not "buy" all of it, but if you are are willing to listen and consider and try the program a lot of things can happen. As long as we are willing to allow our thoughts, feelings and behaviors to change, and willing to consider things we shut our minds to before, recovery is possible.

It's just recently that I began to understand what my HP is. I allowed that there was something that could help me recover and I moved forward on that faith, and it's taken over three years before I had much of a clue what it is that is helping me recover. I didn't have to know what it was or how it worked for it to help me! That's the weird part of it all. For many people the program does work if we work it, even if it makes no sense.

muvinon

You're a member of AA anytime you state that you are. The only requirement is a desire to stop drinking.

Db1105

Yes

Carlotta

I am a little confused about the question. If by that you mean not being a Christian or being an Atheist, absolutely. I am not a Christian and in my home group we have 2 Muslims, a couple of agnostics and people from all walk of faith and what not. My sponsor was a Buddhist.
The key is to deflate our egos and realize that we as individual are not all mighty and powerful. You can use GOD (good orderly directions) as your higher power if you are an atheist.
Now partial AA, I don't think it would work. Like the others, first thing which came to my mind was: half measures availed us nothing. If you can't relate to the program, you might be better off trying another system.
Anyway, when it comes to alcoholism, whatever recovery we do, the common denominator is that we have to decide to quit and not pick up that first drink or drug no matter what. It is futile to quit and have an half baked recovery while thinking in the back of our heads that some day it might be ok to drink again.
I should know. I relapsed the day I put my recovery on the back burner then a year later I picked up a drink. This time around, my recovery comes first then whatever can just follow.

LonerMan

The reason it says "Higher Power" instead of God is because of many, many people don't believe in the popular Gods.

There was a huge debate about it when the BB was being written and common sense prevailed. Good thing, too, as AA is international and that encompasses a whole lot of different Higher Powers.

No way would I have stayed in AA if any specific religion was mentioned.

nandm

I feel I am living proof that it is possible to struggle with the God thing and still have the program of AA work. Even after 12 years I still struggle with the "God" concept because I can not accept anything that resembles the childhood "God" I grew up with so that pretty much eliminates all religious "Gods." What it took for me was to realize that yes there are things in this universe far more powerful than I. For example electricity/energy is more powerful than I am it is in everyone and pretty much in every living thing in some shape or form. It makes our muscles contract, conducts message impulses to our brains, makes our hearts beat, allows us to think, etc... In plants that energy is primary in the form of photosynthesis. In animals it does pretty much what it does for us. Who knows maybe our consciousness is actually just a bundle of energy. But since energy can not be destroyed just redirected, energy is much more powerful than I. I alone cannot do all those things and one day I will die. So there is an example of a power greater than myself. I just learned to think of that energy when the words Higher Power or God came up in AA. Over the years my conception of a Higher Power has evolved somewhat but I still am not ready to think of it as that brutal "God" of the Bible that I grew up with. That does not make me any less sober or the program of AA work any less for me.

Jean77

Found this very interesting and helpful, thanks!

Joe Nerv

As mentioned several times already in this thread, the only thing required for you to be a member of AA is a desire to stop drinking. Period. Regardless of what anyone else may try to lead you to believe.

I have also seen many people get and remain sober without folowing the guidelines in the Big Big, and without ever believing in a higher power. In AA.

I myself wouldn't be sober without the application of the steps, but I'd be lying to you if I said it couldn't be done. It can.

Mountainmanbob