My higher power was just the group itself.
Edit: and it got me clean and sober.
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âAnonymous Programsâ do allow atheism!
âAnonymous Progarmsâ are certain they do not have the only way to recover. AA is not the only way to recover from alcoholism, it is just the best way; AA is taylor made for alcohlism.
Jayster
If you had seen me the first week I was trying to sober up, you would have definitely ranked me below a doorknob. Hell, earthworms had it more together than I did!
Pixel.
I have found that a lot of NA members sneak into AA in stealth mode. The biggest reason for this is that 12 Step programs donât really work for those who havenât hit absolute rock bottom yet. Thatâs the state you have to come through the doors in. When you hit bottom with booze, your liver function may be crap, but your brain function will most likely recover. A lot of the people who hit bottom with narcotics have terribly damaged their brain and theyâre not coming back all the way from that. Means that NA meetings can be pretty ⌠out there. So much so that a lot of NA members prefer the discomfort of attending AA meetings where they are not exactly welcomed with opened arms.
Two reasons for AAs not likeing NAs at their meeting. The first is sensible: AA meetings are for alkies. If your problem isnât alcohol, you donât really fit that well. Second problem is a âweâre better than themâ look down your nose type of attitude, which I donât approve of, but that is quite prevalent. Anyone who is NA and winds up at AA needs to be aware of it. And the odds are they might. Quality NA meetings are few and far between.
Pixel.
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They work just fine. The majority Iâve met in AA are non-religious. Those who are fervent believers are definitely in the minority these days. The atheists and agnostics do just fine. The perception of religion in AA by outsiders is quite different than the current reality, at least in the part of Canada I live in.
Yes, there are some super religious people who attend AA who just wonât shut the hell up about it. They are generally regarded with the same amount of affection by other AAs as those of us with Sz regard those who make the news for violent acts and take the rest of us down with them, reputation-wise. Theyâre â â â â â â â embarrassing. Keep in mind that AA is not a place you go to expecting to meet mentally healthy people. Youâll meet some real humdingers there and there will be many nights you leave one meeting needing two more because of having to politely listen to some ______ without throwing anything (which leads to the Serenity Prayer being mumbled thru gritted teeth a LOT).
What you decide your higher power is doesnât matter as much as coming to lots of meetings, getting a sponsor, working the steps, and sharing, and listening. Itâs all about dumping destructive habits and building healthy ones. Thatâs what the AA program really does. It isnât some sort of preparatory program for learning to attend church.
My view of things as someone with over two decades in who sponsors the occasional new member.
Pixel.
Were just at odds on this , I donât really want to undermine your sobriety or anyone elses by debating it. If it worked for you , I believe you.
Simple reading comprehension fail on my part. Are you saying people from NA look down on people in AA, or the other way around?
Theres a lot to be said for sobriety. âŚim not into organized religion,spirituality is cool.
In my opinion its just a awareness of self .
AA folk tend to look down on NA folk. Sorry for not being clear.
Pixel.
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Ok, Iâm gonna do my best to explain this from my experiences. Iâve been to hundreds, if not thousands of AA,NA,CA and HA meetings.
Many in these programs with years of sobriety tend to acquire a kind of superiority complex. These are the individuals that let their experience and sobriety define them. It comes to a point to where they attend meetings to boost their ego. The AA Guru. They mean well but they need to be needed and will express disdain against any other recovery model and deviations from their method.
They usually tend to take on many sponsors and will be passive aggressive torward people who may have a different approach as well as newcomers. Their sponsorship is an aggressive one and spawns more militant AAers.
One can look past this and see them for what they are, which isnât necessarily a bad thing. But certain personalities are turned off by this authoritarian approach and will not return.
They are AA fundamentalists by definition. They will not and can not recognize this themselves and vehemently deny it.
pg. 164 Big Book "Our book is to be suggestive only. We realize we know only a little. God will constantly disclose more to you and us.
Comments?
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Thatâs kinda how I felt also,
I went to meetings and groups and unfortunately for lots of people sobriety does define them But at least they are doing it.
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The Higher Power thing is bull â â â â if you ask me - Schizophrenics Anonymous has the same thing
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This goes along with an elevated IQ. It is hard to grasp. I love @shutterbugâs definition of G(ood) O(rderly) D(irection) though. I would love to see a future edition update this unfortunate aspect of the AA model.
When you are done with your self assessmentâŚwho do blame?
I blame genetics because I am educated about schizophrenia.
I imagine Wave does the same because he is too.
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I wouldnât think that Atheists would allow the belief in God in any of there support groups either. I have thought that the belief in a creator is a way to access the higher thinking areas of our brains and therefore our minds. It may just have real mental and physical benefits even though it may turn out that we are actually god, only the evil has deceived us into thinking we are merely mortals and so can do nothing about it just because of this self defeating mind set we have agreed to believe in. Just a long held belief of mine.
Blame will feed any addiction and is counterproductive IMO.
But where does genetics come from?
Gotta say i found a few apps of Narcotic Anonymous, the basic text, worldwide meetings search, 12 steps&traditions and a few more. Though im not really a âfollow the guide to do this and thatâ person.
in the croatian introduction text it says that it is a " non religious approach that affirms spiritual awakening in the form of oneâs individual understanding of it". Thats good if it works not only in theory
I wont be a bigot like some of the people that get fix right before the meeting starts. Then they act like nothing happened.
So im just gonna stay at home and ( try) to focus on apps.
@anon40540444 just so you know i sign every word of yours on this thread.
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So glad to hear you are looking @ options Sara!
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