For those in secular recovery...were you ever once religious?
Zen Nihilist
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Left Coast
Posts: 147
Originally Posted by Zencat 
Enlightenment comes at a high price...eternal peace. Peace from concrete, static mythologies from a time of long lost beliefs burred in antiquity.
My experience was the opposite. My religiosity wreaked unbearable internal turmoil. My earliest memories of suicidality were directly connected to the conflict between my religious beliefs and my humanity, as well as what I was being taught in school regarding the nature of the universe. All of it was enough to make an 11-year-old go crazy. Critically evaluating the religious "knowledge" was not an option, which accounts for the unbearable part.
This is probably why 1984 became my favorite book for a long time. Winston knows 2+2 cannot possibly equal 5, but by his ultimate fear, he will come to believe it anyway...
Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Oxnard (The Nard), CA, USA.
Posts: 13,949
Originally Posted by spittake
Originally Posted by Zencat
Enlightenment comes at a high price...eternal peace. Peace from concrete, static mythologies from a time of long lost beliefs burred in antiquity.
I now see the eternal as an never ending continuance of the present moment. To me that means abandoning any belief for some future mystic reward but to accept the I only have now and when I pass away from death...my eternal moment ends. My eternal rewards are now...as long as I stay in the moment.
Originally Posted by vegibean
I'm sure you all have discussed this to death over here but I am asking not only for myself but also my sponsee. I do not believe in "God", nor does she.
I have heard the statement made many times "if you don't believe in a God or a higher power, you're never going to stay sober." I think that's a bunch of hooey. I've reassured my sponsee the same.
So for all of you non-believers, how much time do you have? I have almost two years now, WOO HOO!!!!!!!
BTW, I don't pray, I meditate and have heart to heart talks with myself. I believe that as long as I'm honest with myself, I know the answers within myself.
Any input? Thanks in advance.
I have heard the statement made many times "if you don't believe in a God or a higher power, you're never going to stay sober." I think that's a bunch of hooey. I've reassured my sponsee the same.
So for all of you non-believers, how much time do you have? I have almost two years now, WOO HOO!!!!!!!
BTW, I don't pray, I meditate and have heart to heart talks with myself. I believe that as long as I'm honest with myself, I know the answers within myself.
Any input? Thanks in advance.
As for being a collector of time, clean & sober time I'm sure you meant...and that would be continuous...yes. On this go around...right. Lets see I have about a 1 1/2 years. Now if I were the type of guy that counted emotional, spiritual and life skills maturity in units of time with regards of being in addiction treatment, I would have about ten years accumulated. But all and all I don't judge myself or others by calender C & S time. I have found it to be rather deceiving when assessing someone in relation to being healthy or not.
"To thy own self be true" and good effort on your C & S time V-Bean
.
Zen Nihilist
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Left Coast
Posts: 147
Originally Posted by Zencat
My eternal rewards are now...as long as I stay in the moment.
Originally Posted by Zencat
Now if I were the type of guy that counted emotional, spiritual and life skills maturity in units of time with regards of being in addiction treatment, I would have about ten years accumulated. I don't judge myself or others by calender C & S time. I have found it to be rather deceiving when assessing someone in relation to being healthy or not.
Member
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 26,425
Veggie...i guess i'm gonna give you a wierd answer...
I had 2.5 years as a god person, then serial slipped along for a while...then 7 years as a non god person, followed by and 8 year slip, I got up again..still as a non-god person...and had 23 months. I am now on day gosh i forgot..less than 2 weeks.
The point for me is that my history is really no different than many people who have believed in god from the get go and continued to...
I don't know this for a fact, but...just my sense from talking to many people who are in recovery is taht the numbers are about the same weather you beieve in god or not....I sure hope this doesnt' bring on a statistics war though....
I had 2.5 years as a god person, then serial slipped along for a while...then 7 years as a non god person, followed by and 8 year slip, I got up again..still as a non-god person...and had 23 months. I am now on day gosh i forgot..less than 2 weeks.
The point for me is that my history is really no different than many people who have believed in god from the get go and continued to...
I don't know this for a fact, but...just my sense from talking to many people who are in recovery is taht the numbers are about the same weather you beieve in god or not....I sure hope this doesnt' bring on a statistics war though....
I got nothin'
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: My house.
Posts: 4,890
Originally Posted by vegibean
So for all of you non-believers, how much time do you have? I have almost two years now, WOO HOO!!!!!!!
Almost 4 months...longest ever for me.
I go to therapy, take my meds like I'm supposed to, do SR and take photographs.
Member
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Virginia, USA
Posts: 449
I believe in a higher power for sure, but that doesn't mean I'll ever go back to AA. I'm a little confused why the non-AA threads have to be under "secular". I mean, it's possible to believe in a God but NOT want to go to AA and instead use SMART or Rational Recovery, IMHO!
Reach Out and Touch Faith
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: On a Sailboat
Posts: 3,871
Originally Posted by sobergirl77
I believe in a higher power for sure, but that doesn't mean I'll ever go back to AA. I'm a little confused why the non-AA threads have to be under "secular". I mean, it's possible to believe in a God but NOT want to go to AA and instead use SMART or Rational Recovery, IMHO!
This section is for anyone who follows a Secular Recovery method. I personally am religious but work SMART Recovery.
SC is for those who choose to work this type of recovery. It is not limited to those who are atheists or do not believe in a HP.
It only makes sense that those who are have trouble with recovery methods that are based on a HP will be drawn to secular recovery, however.
Welcome to Secular Connections here at SR and I hope to see more posts from you in the future.
Currently Active Users Viewing this Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
