Religious Implications of AA

As a person who is very familiar with the world of addiction and recovery my opinion is that 12 step programs have taken human nature’s tendency to crave support and belonging and turned it into a way for people to replace the negative addictions in their life with more positive addictions. I think that Rational Recovery’s methods are more practical in theory, however, not a lot of people, especially addicts, are strong enough to stand on their own feet right away after letting go of an addiction and having a strong support group may be part of that important first step. The problem with AA is that people don’t tend to ever “graduate” , even if they have completed their 12 steps they continue to come to meetings. Some hang around because they feel like they owe it to the newcomers who will need the advice of someone who has recovered but others come because they still need to be there, they do not know how to deal with life’s issues without the Book or the other members. Many times it appears that they have replaced one addiction with another and still haven’t learned how to find the strength inside them to be able to survive without support. AA is definitely a religion. Prayer, belief in a higher power, a Big Book that answers all of your questions, a sense of belonging and community and the “cult-style mind control.” AA is a very popular organization and it has helped a lot of people recover from drug and alcohol addiction, however I do not feel that recruiting lifetime members should be a part of AA’s message. I think for individuals who do not have the strength to do things on their own or are totally without any positive support in their lives AA (and religion!) can be very positive forces in a person’s life. The steps are meant to bring you to the same place that Rational Recovery ends up but without the dependence on a group of outside influences that are not guaranteed to always be there.