 |
|
|
|
 Six of AA's 12 steps explicitly refer to God, a Higher Power, or He.
August 28th, 2011
01:00 AM ET
My Faithlessness: The atheist way through AA
By Marya Hornbacher, Special to CNN (CNN) - Kicked back with his boots on the table at the head of the smoke-dense room, the meeting's leader banged his fist and bellowed, “By the grace of this program and the blood of Jesus Christ, I’m sober today!” I blinked. This was not an auspicious beginning for the project of getting my vaguely atheistic, very alcoholic self off the sauce. I wondered if perhaps I’d wandered into the wrong room. I thought maybe I’d wound up in Alcoholics Anonymous for crown-of-thorn Christians, and in the next room might find AA for lapsed Catholics, and downstairs a group for AA Hare Krishnas and one for AA Ukrainian Jews. But a decade later, I’ve become aware that 12-step programs are home to people from every religion, denomination, sect, cult, political tilt, gender identity, sexual preference, economic strata, racial and ethnic background, believers in gun rights and abortion rights and the right to home schooling, drinkers of coffee and tea, whiskey and mouthwash, people who sleep on their sides or their stomachs or sidewalks. Anyone who cares to sober up, in other words, can give it a shot the 12-step way. The official preamble Alcoholics Anonymous states: "The only requirement for AA membership is a desire to stop drinking.” And millions of people want that and find a way to do it in this program. I’m one of them. I was, not to put too fine a point on it, a raging drunk. Now I’m not. It wasn’t magic; it was brutally hard work to get from point A to B. I do believe I’d be dead without the help of the people and the structure of the steps in AA. But I don’t believe in God. And this can be something of a sticking point when you’re sitting in a meeting room, desperate for almost any route out of hell, and someone cites “the blood of Jesus” as the only way to go. Or when you realize that six of AA's 12 steps explicitly refer to God, a Higher Power or He. But this shouldn't be a dealbreaker. I’m going to make a lot of old-style AA’s cranky with this, but it’s perfectly possible to sober up sans belief in God. At first that wasn’t clear to me. It’s unclear to most people because AA has a reputation as a cult, a religion unto itself, a bunch of blathering self-helpers, a herd of lemmings or morons, and it isn’t those things, either. It’s a pretty straightforward series of steps, based on spiritual principles, that helps people clean up their lives in a whole lot of ways. But if you are of an atheistic or strongly agnostic mindset, chances are you’ll walk into a meeting, see the steps hanging on the wall and want to scream, laugh or walk back out. I tried another tack: I made a valiant attempt to believe. I figured a) these people were funny, kind, and not plastered; b) they believed that some kind of higher power had helped them get sober; c) they knew something I did not. So I did research. I read every word of AA literature I could find. I read up on the history of half a dozen important religions and a wide variety of frou-frou nonsense. I earnestly discussed my lack of belief with priests, rabbis, fanatics and my father. People told me their stories — of God, the divine, the power of love, an intelligent creator. Something that made all this. Some origin, some end. I told them I believed in math. Chaos, I said. Infinity. That sort of thing. They looked at me in despair. And not infrequently, they said, “So you think you’re the biggest, most important thing in the universe?” On the contrary. I think I am among the smallest. Cosmically speaking, I barely exist. Like anything else, I came into being by the chance, consist mostly of water, am composed of cells that can be reduced and reduced, down to the quarks and leptons and so forth, that make up matter and force. If you broke down all matter, the atom or my body, you’d arrive at the same thing: what scientists call one strange quark, with its half-integer spin. And I find that not only fascinating but wondrous, awe-inspiring and humbling. I believe that the most important spiritual principle of AA is humility. The recognition that we are flawed, that we can and must change and that our purpose not only in sobriety but in life is to be of service to others. I believe that I exist at random, but I do not exist alone; and that as long as my quarks cohere, my entire function on this hurtling planet is to give what I can to the other extant things. That keeps me sober. Amen. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Marya Hornbacher. soundoff (3,931 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66Post a comment
Next entry »My Take: God no longer in the whirlwind
« Previous entryGlenn Beck: Hurricane Irene is a 'blessing'
|
  About this blog
The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke and Eric Marrapodi with daily contributions from CNN's worldwide newsgathering team and frequent posts from religion scholar and author Stephen Prothero.  |
|
|
|
© 2012 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
| Advertise with us | About us | Help | Advertising Practices
Editor's note: Marya Hornbacher's latest book, "Waiting: A Nonbeliever’s Higher Power," explores what spirituality can mean to the recovering person who does not believe in God.
Kidney stones typically leave the body by passage in the urine stream, and many stones are formed and passed without causing symptoms. If stones grow to sufficient size (usually at least 3 millimeters (0.12 in)) they can cause obstruction of the ureter. --
http://healthmedicinelab.comKeep it up
Great topic , I find it hard still at 25 years clean and sober to feel the need to justify why I don't tow the party line in regard to the G word ...My own history with religion is DEEEEP ..and horrible , I care for the newcomer when I hear members say ' Youre either with God or against him ' ...grrrr... OR ' Ive never met a happy atheist yet ' , another grrr.. It chases so many people out and yet I know some people need to know God is there . I feel that I have been empowered in 12 step fellowships and not powerless [ I do know what I am powerless over ] Its great being assertive and challenging those who give off the above advise . Its naughty of me but I do ask people after [ in a nice kinda manner ] ' What do you mean ? ' A lot of them just ' D'OH '.....
Xiamen Mutual Prosperity (MP) Lamp Co., Ltd is a leading supplier of Energy bulbs ,LED light bulb etc.
MP cultures:Adhering to western freedom and fraternity together with Chinese traditional culture to set up a bright,civilized ,happy ,passionate atmosphere for business.
MP ideas:Tolerance integrity ,thanksgiving,Responsibility
MP make full use of modern science and technology,bring improvement products quality and users' experience for one brighter world and one dream of better life.
MP clients from industry ,reputed food discounters,hardware store chains,lighting fixture manufacturers,electrical distributors ,end customers and last but not least the environment : With our products they all beam with joy Worldwide.
At MP lighting,you'll find our goal is your solution-to continually seek out emerging technologies and design innovative products the lighting needs of tomorrow.
At MP ,we're changing the way you think about the lighting.
I have attended AA meetings in more progressive cities than mine, meetings designated as "AAAA" or "Quad-A" This means Atheists, Agnostics And Anyone." I love these meetings, as they are in every way an AA meeting but simply religiously neutral, without all the God talk.Some subtle changes in wording, like instead of "God doing for me.." , it is "the program doing for me" what I could not do for myself.
I grew up Catholic and I am repulsed by anything that reminds me of religion being pushed on me. It's a real turn-off. And in my community, there are no AAAA meetings, and the local meetings are, in actuality, pretty presumptuous that everyone in the room is a Christian, and the meetings always close with a circle doing "The Lord's Prayer," or what I grew up calling "The Our Father." I hate it closing the meetings, as I feel forced to join hands as everyone says the prayer aloud together. I try hard to have the serenity to accept that it is important to other people in the room, so what the heck, do it for THEM. But I don't feel like I should have to. In the BB, step 2 talks about inclusiveness, but then step 3 seems to take all of that back.
I would like to start a "religiously neutral" meeting locally. Not sure how to go about it, but I know there would be some interest. In the meantime, I just try to remember what someone once advised me when I was in a more progressive setting. They said, "Don't let someone else's religion get in the way of your recovery." So I try to not let it eat at me or become a resentment. I try to tune it out. I just wish I wasn't forced to have to do that. I believe in the disease model of alcoholism. If I had a kidney stone, I would not be looking for a Biblical solution. So many people confuse an AA meeting with church, and I'm afraid it scares people off. And this is far too deadly a disease to be scaring people off from help.
Duff Mc – Kagan's first Gig was in 1985. Additionally, young people are exposed to more than 1,000 beer and wine commercials on television each year. – Drug paraphernalia in pockets or usually within close proximity to the person. Knowing the signs can help one decide if they are subject to the atrocities of alcohol addiction. Psychotherapy. This program will cost a total of $889. It is absolutely critical to understand that individuals with drug or alcohol addictions generally tend to have emotional instability, due to the substance altering their brain chemistry. An excessive amount of a drain on funds brought on by alcohol addiction treatment will probably be seen as a negative and never a good ample rationale to go on with the treatment.
"I told them I believed in Math."
----------------–
So you should certainly believe in this one and only GOD
who created Universe and everything in it
in the Language of "Math"
from now on,
and get real intelligent and sober, forever!
http://www.holy-19-harvest.com
UNIVERSAL MAGNIFICENT MIRACLES
Reblogged this on Agnostic Recovery.
In my time in AA, I have met some wondeful men & women who were atheists and agnostics. Their kindness and caring were evident in their everyday life. Sometimes, men & women in AA get "caught up" in other peoples ideas and beliefs rather than what the steps actually mean. Our own concept of a higher power does not have to be a "spiritual or religous one". It can be one of a "good orderly direction". Nothing religous or spiritual about that, just an idea about good living. AA should be inclusive not exclusive. The steps are suggested and a guide. They were not written to be interpretted one way but anyway the reader decides – thats important and essential for AA and the new person and even the old timer.
The winds of heaven swept through him that desperate night in the hospital, completely shattered ans alone, in utter darkness, when he cried out for god to reveal himself, "if there is a god." He was transported to another world so filled with perfect love and peace, he questioned his sanity. He mused, "So, this is the god of the preachers!"
In my time in AA, I have met some wondeful men & women who were atheists and agnostics. Their kindness and caring were evident in their everyday life. Sometimes, men & women in AA get "got up" in other peoples ideas and beliefs rather than what the steps actually mean. Our own concept of a higher power does not have to be a "spiritual one". It can be one of a "good orderly direction". Nothing religous or spiritual about that, just an idea about good living. AA should be inclusive not exclusive. The steps are suggested and a guide. They were not written to be interpretted one way but anyway the reader decides – thats important and essential.
I attend AA meetings regularly and am a non-believer. AA works for me because there are people that suffer from the same problem, alcohol addiction. I do get annoyed when people say they can't do it alone and "turn it over to god." To me it is like anything else such as losing weight, quitting smoking, etc. Self control and sharing with others have been the key to my abstinence. My higher power is will.
about it are my key to abstinence. My higher power is will.
Recently I started exploring the philosphy of Buddhism and found comfort. One thing that attracted me to Buddhism is that they do not believe in God. I have been going to AA for 3 years and been sober now for 1 yr. For the first 2 yrs I kept on hearing that I must believe in a higher power and I kept on drinking. About a year ago I stopped listening to other AA membesr to the fact that I must believe in something other than myself and started believing in myself. I believe that the power within my self and my inner strength is what keeps me sober. I found the 12 septs very challenging as a result of this so I then looked at the steps from a first person point of view and they made sence to me. Instead of it saying in step 2 that a power greater than myself can restore me to sanity. I read it as I have the power within myself to restore me to sanity. I found having this perspective made sence to me and it's believing in myself and not something other than myself keeps me from drinking.
I've been sober in AA for 31 years. I don't know if I believe in God or not and I don't care either. Anything outside of myself is a higher power. I can learn from it or I can suffer trying to control it. I believe in love [being kind, nice, pleasant, etc] and try to practice love in all my endeavors. Sometimes I succeed but mostly I don't.
Ah, I'm glad I'm not the only one. I'm glad you're all still out there. And I like the wave/undersea analogy, Dale.Jodi: Thanks! I've alawys been cautious about blogging the specifics of my work life not that my job is classified or anything, but I've heard too many warnings about publicizing even fairly innocuous details about one's coworkers and work environment. But I do have a few posts in my head about the joys of selecting, now that I think about it.
69oneear on August 9, 2011 In the World War [I] a mere handful garrened the profits of the conflict. At least 21,000 new millionaires and billionaires were made in the United States during the World War. That many admitted their huge blood gains in their income tax returns. How many other war millionaires falsified their tax returns no one knows.How many of these war millionaires shouldered a rifle?
I'm still reading, Amanda! But it's uadsretandnble that momentum will flag in the face of other projects and ideas and work and life. Now that my course blog is just a personal blog, my energy has definitely diminished: I was writing long posts with lots of links before, perhaps because I thought I had a captive audience at the time (some of the students in the seminar), but now I'm barely able to post a link to some news story every couple weeks. So it goes. But as long as your blog lives, it lives happily among my bookmarks.
Definitely believe that that you stetad. Your favorite reason seemed to be on the net the easiest thing to keep in mind of. I say to you, I definitely get irked at the same time as people consider concerns that they plainly do not realize about. You managed to hit the nail upon the top and also defined out the entire thing without having side-effects , other folks can take a signal. Will probably be back to get more. Thanks!
Atheists DO have faith.