The Cult of AA
AA is a cult. It’s a cult that tears families apart. It’s a cult that demands total obedience to its slogans and rules. I’ve seen this happen with my own eyes. I’ve seen a person I love swept away by this cult and ignore her family and responsibilities.
There are alternatives to AA, but you rarely hear about them.
July 13th, 2006 at 1:32 am
AA is a cult? ‘YOU BET YOUR ARSE IT IS’! You know it? Yeah well mate so do I! I did a couple of years in ‘THE CULT’ after a rehabilition centre initiated be into ‘THE CULT’ of NA, AA & CA ect… I’ve have absolutely no idea why these people covinced me I ‘NEEDED GOD’, but of course in my credulous state I accepted it passively. MY HOW I HATE THAT!!.
“Hey Spence man don’t think for your self man ‘let go let god’ be a fucking lying dohnut like us lot its great because we pretend we are honest when really we are full of fucking shit”…. Whoops must pray to have that defect removed , not likely mate, I’m so angry its as if I did not have enough trouble with the precarious world of alcohol and drugs.
Incidently———I drink now and quite safely I might add not that those AA goons could ever concieve such a fact.
August 3rd, 2006 at 6:13 am
mmm i currently attend about one meeting a week as with most people i had drug drink problems and went to a rehab centre which was, naturally 12 step-based. I find myself feeling like i lost my mojo i used consider myself a feisty rock chick with a bit of an attitude but cool and sensitive and intelligent and perceptive. Still according to my sponser et al I dont really know myself at all or what to think and slowly and surely now think about myself in really negative ways like im diseased and damaged and a fuck up. I used to celebrate my fuck-uppery. It was a joy not to care about how wrong I was and how right everyone else was! I dont want to take drugs anyway as im 42 but I dont want to be a sad fucking loser self-flagellating either!
August 7th, 2006 at 11:34 pm
Ross,
I would love to hear your thoughts on the two subjects below:
1) From the Moderation Management web site:
“Nine out of ten problem drinkers today actively and purposefully avoid traditional treatment approaches. This is because they know that most traditional programs will label them as “alcoholic”, probably force attendance at 12 step and abstinence based meetings, and prescribe lifetime abstinence as the only acceptable change in drinking.”
What’s wrong with abstinence for life?
2) How would you define “cult”?
August 10th, 2006 at 6:02 am
AA can be a cult. I was in a group that was def an AA cult. I survived 3 years but it did a great deal of mental damage to me. I had no idea what I was getting into. As it stands now I am still not drinking after 5 years but I can be very unstable and have little regard as to what happen to me in the future.
August 10th, 2006 at 2:56 pm
Anya, considering the high rate of relapse, expecting total abstinence for life is not feasible. For many people, learning to control their drinking instead of it controlling them is the best route. For others, abstinence is the best route.
As for my definition of a cult. That’s not important. I suggest you google on the subject and see how perfectly AA fits into the accepted definition of cult.
July 12th, 2008 at 6:44 pm
My experience with AA has been a nightmare ! I believe it is a dumping ground for the mental health services !!
July 12th, 2008 at 6:53 pm
My first encounter with AA was through my sister in law. We used to drink together. My sister in law was introduced to AA via her sister who was finally diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic
July 12th, 2008 at 7:10 pm
She brought me to AA 8 weeks after my 15 year old son Martin was buried. I was at the lowest point in my life at this time. mentally & spiritually like a BROKEN DOLL ! I would have done anything , went anywhere , to relieve my pain !!! AA recruits ” VICTIMS ” ( vunerable people ! ) The 12 steps are great for some people & they work for some people………speaking for myself & my own circumstances, when I went to AA meetings they brought me down when I needed to be brought up. I’ve been in & out of the rooms for 22 years , listening to a lot of mentally ill people who are a long time sober but not of sound mind.
July 12th, 2008 at 7:26 pm
In the name of MY GOD , I can only say that in my opinion AA does not suit everyone. In my experience ( 22 years ) 14 years sober without AA , I am now enjoying having a drink every weekend. I am happy , contented . relaxed . I have a great job that I love , my marriage & my life are back on track. Also I do not have to listen to AA elder statesmen , some of whom consider themselves as know all “GODS” in AA. They are also known as “The Hierarchy”
These so called “sober ” people think they have the right to tell others how to live because the have been “sober” for longer !
July 12th, 2008 at 7:39 pm
I have had unique experiences since I was born , that’s why I am who I am….Why should I allow any person to tell my how to live when they have not experienced my experiences ? I have seen rivers of blood in Northern Ireland, I have buried my son , I have dodged bullits due to a murder attempt on my home, I have experienced serious marriage difficulties , seperations from my family ect . I have had my roots ripped out from under my feet through no fault of my own…….How dare anyone in AA try to tell me how to live !! I am 56 years old. I’m happy & content………how dare any one in AA tell me how to live when they have not had the experiences I have lived through !!
July 24th, 2008 at 5:29 pm
Of course AA is a cult. I witnessed people being harmed at AA and I personally experienced it myself. If by AA’s standards an alcoholic is a person who has an uncurable disease forever then all AA members are sick. They will make you sick by their one-sided, shallow terms, and then want you to recruit (under the guise of helping others) new member to keep them forever sick in the cult too.
AA will make sure you stay sick so that you stay in AA forever. If you stay in AA for several years you will witness the turn-over rate; very few people actually ever stay for long periods of time. The 4th & 5th steps are used to get you to tell them everything about you so that they can exploit you with all the “honest” information you give about yourself while they will flat out “fake it till you make it” smile to your face while stabbing you in the back. Fake means charlatan fraud in the dictionary and that is what you will get. Quackery faith healing under the name of God even if it is a door knob God.
The few people that mean well are so few that it is a waste of time trying to find anyone who has anything worthy to offer. You go to a meeting that has rituals and hear the same things repeated over & over & over. Speaker meetings are drunkalogue and AA lingo with no substance of reality.
If you look up the definition of a cult and then attend 12-step meetings you will notice how everyone is in a zombie state. Ask a question and you will get a slogan that doesn’t even apply to the situation. The old-timers prey on the vulnerabilities of the newcomers. They will pick the more desirables to try to help while they ignore anyone that doesn’t seem worthy of helping.
They have zero reality based solutions to any of life’s problems. Why would you want to waste 2-3 hours to go to a meeting where maybe one out of 20 of them has any sincere and honest, normal recovery? If you go to AA you will be sick forever and they will tell you over & over & over that if you quit going to meetings you will drink, go insane, and die.
You will hear this over & over & over; you will witness people who can talk the program talk commit suicide. You will witness death so that you believe and become afraid that it will be you … you will go insane and die if you leave the cult of AA. That is not true!
Many people have left AA. They sought out deprogramming which is an emotional and mental process of getting rid of the AA ideologies and they begin to think and feel for themselves again. Some stay sober because they want to & other learn to moderate, because they can. AA created the (ism) of alcohol. It is not a disease it is a man-made poison that is legal. God didn’t make alcohol anymore than God didn’t tell Bill W. to make the AA program as God’s will.
Alcohol creates disease and other behavior problems. It can make a person sick, but once a person is detoxed and stabalized which may need medical help to do, but they are not sick anymore. If they have mental health issues after getting sober they need professional help not a group of sick people telling them not to take their meds.
If you go to AA you will be sick forever in a cult giving freely of your time, energy, and resources while the GSO, rehabs, and recovery book sales reaped huge profits off you; that is what cults do. There are plenty of sites on the net that have provided evidence that will show you the side of AA that AA does not reveal of itself, because it lies to the public as a program of honesty. “Rarely have we seen a person fail who throughly followed our path” is the biggest lie of AA which you will hear at every single meeting. If you stay in AA for a period of time you will personally witness most people fail. AA says the program does not fail people, people fail the program and that isn’t true. The program and fellowship are sick people forever sick and they will make sure you are one of them … if you let them.