Humanist Steps
 

Humanist Steps
Below is another version of secularized steps created by the renowned behavioral psychologist B. F. Skinner and first published in "The Humanist".

1. We accept the fact that all our efforts to stop drinking have failed.

2. We believe that we must turn elsewhere for help.

3. We turn to our fellow men and women, particularly those who have struggled with the same problem.

4. We have made a list of the situations in which we are most likely to drink.

5. We ask our friends to help us avoid those situations.

6. We are ready to accept the help they give us.

7. We honestly hope they will help.

8. We have made a list of the persons we have harmed and to whom we hope to make amends.

9. We shall do all we can to make amends, in any way that will not cause further harm.

10. We will continue to make such lists and revise them as needed.

11. We appreciate what our friends have done and are doing to help us.

12. We, in turn, are ready to help others who may come to us in the same way.

From the SOS web site:
http://www.sossobriety.org/12steps.htm

Thanks Don
 

I apologize for having called people who don't believe in God arrogant and presumptuous.

That was a belief I suppose stemmed from ignorance and fear.

Hey Don!

Thank you for this! The steps have never made sense to me before, but this list I can relate to, imagine really using. Is this what you have used yourself?

geee sounds a lot like AA's twelve steps... oh and wait there are twelve here... so why is everyone so opposed to AA?

Hey, Levi;
There are some people, humanists, atheists, agnostics, who reject the concept of a higher power needed to overcome an addiction.
They do not reject secular assistance however.
At least that's how I read it; I could be wrong, or even short sighted. And I await others to answer this too.
Hope it helps. :e058:
Shalom!

I just dont like AA/NA. In my area it has a huge christian bias which I cant relate too. Also its just really bitchy/cliquey.

That's because it's an adaptation of the 12 Steps (one of several), created to help secular minded people make use of 12 Step recovery, which for many, is the only f2f resource available.

historyteach said:

and there are some people - humanist, agnostic, secularist - within AA who uderstand that for them, Higher Power doesn't have to mean personal God. People like me.

I'm glad you put this list up. I really like it. In my mind I think I adhere to something like this. For a long time I refused to get sober because AA used the wrong words. Cutting off nose to spite face comes to mind. They taught me that one of the character defects I have is petulance. And literalism. Damned ego. Oh wait, that's a Freudian construct, that AA uses.

lol

Sorry, I'm not trying to crash the secular party. It's just that the vocabulary that AA uses is an impediment to the practises for a lot of people. The practises are wonderful, therapeutic and they work, and they don't require a God. But they do require, first and foremost, an acknowledgment from the alcoholic that we wouldn't have got into this fix if there weren't something wrong with us. And by extension, they require that we understand that if "we" are the problem, then the solution lies "elsewhere". It's not complicated. And it's entirely practical in its therapeutic value, and doesn't require conversion.

I think you said it best Teach. I don't really consider myself any of the above, maybe agnostic at best, and I still don't dig the idea of turning my life over to something I can't see or touch or have a two-way conversation with, lol. I imagine there are others who have a spiritual, maybe even relgious bent who feel the same way.

Paul, your interpretation of the AA program is appreciated, but this is a forum for secularists focused on recovery, who believe the problem or solution doesn't lie "elsewhere" but within. Most of us don't see the AA program as not requiring some form of conversion to a higher power.

OK Autumn, I'm not going to go looking for a fight. I've had plenty over these issues.

But do me the good grace of not questioning whether or not I'm a secularist.

Have a good day.

Who's looking for a fight, Paul? Good grief..... did I question (or ask) about your religious/spiritual/secularist affiliation? If it seemed implied, please accept my apologies. I found it implied in your post that you're not secular by the statement that you're not trying to crash the "secular party." I find it very admirable that you were able to make AA work for you. I tried for months. It must take a lot of mental energy to actually sit in meetings, read the literature, and transcend all the God/Higher Power talk (if you indeed attend meetings - I don't want to assume anything). So did you convert the steps to your own liking then, omitting or changing the the 3rd? You don't have a higher power? I am very interested to learn how you did it.

Likewise.

:)

Lol, took your "this is a forum for secularists" as a polite gesture towards the door. :a096:

Sorry.

If I transcended all the God and Higher Power talk, where would I be?

Here.

:amen

Cool steps - no bells involved then? Sweets?

Seriously I kind of like the interdependence of it, it'd look good next to the CRAFT success's.

In a way though I can't help but wonder if adaptions of the twelve steps aren't like snapping the heel off a stiletto and then saying it's a trainer?

:lmao

Thank you for this post, Don. I have had trouble with the AA twelve steps because it is difficult for me to believe that there is a higher power. If there is, I don't, at this point in time, have a strong enough belief in him/her/it to turn my alcohol addiction over to him/her/it. These are steps I can relate to. Someone also sent a PM to me that had the pagan twelve steps, which I LOVE. They take the basic premise of the AA twelve steps, and somewhat reword them so they apply to pagan values. They are as follows:

1. We admitted we had a problem and that we were squandering our power.
2. Came to believe we could realign the power within and the power without such that each served to enhance the other.
3. Made a decision to connect the powers within and without and see them as One.
4. Took an intelligent look at our behavior, seeing its relationship to family patterns and dysfunctional culture.
5. Shared our searching with others, seeking feedback.
6. Made myself ready and willing to let go of old patterns.
7. Learned to ask for help.
8. Made a list of harm done, and searched for ways to restore balance.
9. Carried out rectification and balancing wherever possible.
10. Made the commitment to continue the process of recovery, knowing that change takes time.
11. Pursued the strengthening of our connection with the web of life through appropriate activity and spiritual practice.
12. Having experienced a stabilized change from our awakening, we sought to help others along the path.

They also add these steps:

13. I examine my life story and my addiction (and codependency) in the context of my role in a patriarchal, capitalistic system.
14. I use the events life brings as lessons for growth and accept my mistakes as part of my humanness.
15. We grow in our awareness that we are sacred beings, interrelated with all living things and, when ready, take an active part in helping the planet become a better place for all people including ourselves.

I think that some people are getting offended because we are not all following the same steps to sobriety. I think that, like someone told me at the beginning, take what you find applicable, and leave the rest...

Beautiful Don. Just wonderful.

I've never seen this before. With the AA version, sometimes I had a hard time getting past step one -- powerless is too strong of a word for me, especially when that's what I'm looking for, power to control my own life. Then step two was hard for me too - the was it's worded here, anyone could use this -- whether you turn to God, a Higher Power, or SoberRecovery.....

Don -- Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!