Posted on 06/26/2023 9:17:59 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
It doesn't working that. The decision the say the Lord's Prayer is made according to the group conscience as expressed at each separate meeting because "2. For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority — a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern." There is no top down management. Each group is its own experiment. A group fails when participants stop coming, which shows the lack of unity that is required for the group to succede.
There are several billion people in the world that disagree that your definition of “God” is Jesus Christ.
Debating this crap is useless. But it clearly makes you feel good, so whatever.
Alcoholics drink to fend off withdrawal. When one is at the drinking to get drunk stage, it’s more psychological than physical.
Absolutely true that Noah was no alcoholic.
Anyone that turns water to wine might have a problem.
“AA is supposed to be about a higher power. That is not specifically Christ. AA is practiced all over the world—and Christ wouldn’t work in many places.
This has been the case since Bill W started it.”
Absolutely true.
People in AA can use whatever Higher Power they want, and it still works. And even then, all it takes is “a willingness to believe.”
I’m a prime example.
Christianity did not help me get sober. And I’m not a Christian, although I used to be. But one morning, after 35+ years of hopeless drinking, I looked up and said,
“Ok, God, I give up. What do you want me to do?”
13 years sober since that moment.
People confuse their brand of religion with god. God is bigger than anyone’s religion. And you absolutely don’t need religion to find god. All you have to do is have a willingness to believe in a Power greater than yourself, and ask that Power, whatever it is,
“What do you want me to do?”
And wait for the answers. They will come. They always do. And they’re never what you want or expect.
As codified in Step 11:
“... praying ONLY for knowledge of his will for us, and the power to carry it out.”
(I capitalized “only” because so many AA folks ignore it.)
Years ago I quit going to Al-Anon for the same reason. One of the last meetings I attended skipped it and I stepped out of the circle and did not pray the serenity prayer with them. And I told them why. The “leader” gave me the usual inclusion crap.
Congratulations on your sobriety. That is a significant accomplishment.
It's also been my experience that organized religion, (in America, almost always Christianity) has been sort of frowned upon in the meeting. Of course, the Big Book advises "be quick to see where religious people are right. Make use of what they offer". In practice, though, I think religion is relatively unpopular around the tables. This might be regional, though, as I have found meetings in the south to be comfortable with religious comments.
All in all, I think the fierce independence found in the 12 Traditions, ensures that people who practice a religion alongside their 12 Steps will always have an abundance of fellow travelers.
Yea, they go by the “Y” because it fits in perfectly with LGBTXY-WHATEVER. When I was young in the 60’s you went to YMCA and swimming was in the nude. Eventually in the mid-60s the pedifiles and homo’s started purusing the premises in seach of the city’s youth.
If alcoholics didn’t drink to become drunk their drunkenness would not be the issue that makes them a problem.
Thanks. It was the most difficult thing I’ve ever done, by far.
And yet it was almost easy as soon as I actually, truly, gave up.
Their drinking is the issue rather than actual drunkenness; the need to drink destroys them financially and socially.
I’m pretty sure that what bothers us and kills us is what they do when they are drunk.
Finding out someone has been keeping normal by secretly drinking without people knowing is not what causes the problem, it is the drunk driving, beating the wife, neglecting the kids, starting the fire, not being able to function at work, passing out, etc.
We don't need no stinkin' Foundation.
The old WASP "hollow leg" trick.
Wrong. If an AA member insisted that Christianity was the focus of the meeting. it would be a one person meeting. By keeping it generic, you avoid proselytizing. It’s OK to mention that you’re a Catholic, Christian etc. but in the meetings I go to, if you were to say that being a Catholic was the only way, you’d be corrected. God or a Higher Power can be whatever the individual thinks or wants him to be. The point is something bigger then you is helping you. For atheists, you’re told it could mean Good Orderly Direction bt overtime, most people will morph into something more structured.
A friend in the program is a doctor and his belief is in Native American spirituality & he goes to sweat lodges regularly. I think its mumbo jumbo but its whats keeping him sober. He probably thinks my belief in Christ and God the Father are mumbo jumbo too.
Jesus can stay if he turns the wine back into water.
It would also help if he could turn the loaves and fishes into coffee and donuts.
ARTICLE The group in Somerset was told by leaders it had become too Christian-focused
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I’ve been in AA for 42 years. There are NO leaders of AA, each and every AA group is autonomous.
That’s true but there are trends and wanna be’s always.
Proving divine inspiration, IMO
11-7-82 for me
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