Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Alcoholics Anonymous vs. other approaches: the evidence is now in

nytimes.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

151–160 of 366 posts

Re: Alcoholics Anonymous vs. other approaches: the evidence is now in

#151

Post by athrowaway69 »

fenwick67 wrote: post #131
keiferski wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People often get hung up on the contemporary Western conception of a higher power, not realizing that the personal, anthropomorphic God is but one flavor of the concept. Scientific laws or forces are in some sense, a "higher power" - clearly we all surrender to the power of gravity every day. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panentheism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantheism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_god

I've definitely heard this several times that "a higher power in AA can be anything, it can be the fire extinguisher on the wall!". But if that were really the intent of the program then why do they have a prayer where they ask capital-G-God for help every meeting?

There is no shortage of meetings where you're expected to submit to the Christian God, where the people will be hostile to someone they find out is an atheist.

They'll still use the "your higher power can be the door knob!" bit, too.

Re: Alcoholics Anonymous vs. other approaches: the evidence is now in

#152

Post by athrowaway69 »

sgift wrote: post #103
keiferski wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People often get hung up on the contemporary Western conception of a higher power, not realizing that the personal, anthropomorphic God is but one flavor of the concept. Scientific laws or forces are in some sense, a "higher power" - clearly we all surrender to the power of gravity every day. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panentheism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantheism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_god

The various results for "atheists removed from AA" or "atheists kicked out of AA" on Google tell me AA works with the personal god version, not the others ones.

This has happened to me. I'm an atheist, and experienced verbal abuse when others found out.

Re: Alcoholics Anonymous vs. other approaches: the evidence is now in

#153

Post by kilroy123 »

sbilstein wrote: post #125

I didn’t do AA but did AlAnon for children of alcoholics recovering from trauma. Despite what people think, the 12 step program is super light on the spirituality stuff and very atheist friendly. As a recovery group AlAnon was super useful for getting some closure on the hell my parents dragged me through and just leaving that stuff behind. Edit:I guess I should have qualified that I’ve only done support groups in SF…

I, too, went to AlAnon meetings when I was a teen. I honestly don't think I would be where I'm at today without going when I was younger.

Re: Alcoholics Anonymous vs. other approaches: the evidence is now in

#154

Post by NAaddict167 »

fenwick67 wrote: post #131
keiferski wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People often get hung up on the contemporary Western conception of a higher power, not realizing that the personal, anthropomorphic God is but one flavor of the concept. Scientific laws or forces are in some sense, a "higher power" - clearly we all surrender to the power of gravity every day. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panentheism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantheism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_god

I've definitely heard this several times that "a higher power in AA can be anything, it can be the fire extinguisher on the wall!". But if that were really the intent of the program then why do they have a prayer where they ask capital-G-God for help every meeting?

It’s an easy reference for a lot of people to understand what spirituality means.

Remember, many people who come to meetings can lack any formal education, be homeless, completely cut off from the internet/society etc etc etc.

If I were to start talking about chakras, spiritual energy or Soto zen, they’d think I was fucking mental!

Re: Alcoholics Anonymous vs. other approaches: the evidence is now in

#155

Post by chad_strategic »

So I got sober in AA just as pagers were becoming a thing. I was lucky and found a young people’s group in Pasadena.

If you have problems with Meetings, that’s cool. Find another one. Nothing is going to be handed to u cause you want to get sober. It took a little while before I found the right meetings. Or you can find a sponsor, no where in the big book does it say that u have to go to meetings.

But if anybody is telling what you can and can’t do then, start talking to Someone else... that’s just nonsense.

I’m always suspect of people with a grudge against AA. I’m here to help and if it’s not for you that’s cool to. I’m not Christian but if works for some and doesn’t hurt other then who am I to judge.

Re: Alcoholics Anonymous vs. other approaches: the evidence is now in

#156

Post by chad_strategic »

athrowaway69 wrote: post #152
sgift wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The various results for "atheists removed from AA" or "atheists kicked out of AA" on Google tell me AA works with the personal god version, not the others ones.

This has happened to me. I'm an atheist, and experienced verbal abuse when others found out.

Well I’m sorry that happened. Hopefully one terrible experience won’t prevent you from getting sober.

Re: Alcoholics Anonymous vs. other approaches: the evidence is now in

#157

Post by ggrrttyy »

c3534l wrote: post #119

Interesting. I was never a fan of AA and I was very critical in the lack of science and rigor in addiction treatment, and actually for mental health in general. I always felt there were better treatments, but CBT-based group therapy / 12-step alternatives are pretty rare. All you really need to start a chapter of AA is to not have one nearby and a place to host it. It's comforting that AA at least doesn't make things…

I found SMART recovery, which is very welcome to atheists and based on CBT. That group helped me quite a bit in my recovery.

Re: Alcoholics Anonymous vs. other approaches: the evidence is now in

#159

Post by 3fe9a03ccd14ca5 »

C19is20 wrote: post #144
elixanchor wrote: post #115

recovering addict here. some words for those who may be struggling. i tried a number of things over many years (life coach, therapy, meditation retreats, ayahuasca, ibogaine, etc). i reached a bottom, and nothing i had tried really worked or stuck. kept relapsing after a few months of sobriety at most. ultimately it was going to AA that i largely credit to my successful transformation into a happy life of sobriety. i…

After 15yrs of a-abuse, 4 bottles of alcover (sodium oxibate? i believe available - prescription only - only in one country) cured me. I bought 2 cases of xtra-strong beer 'just in case', have had 2 cans on my desk for months now. 0 interest in drinking.

Why in the world would you tempt yourself like that?

Re: Alcoholics Anonymous vs. other approaches: the evidence is now in

#160

Post by recoveredtoday »

I am 7 years sober via the AA path after trying just about everything else.

I really, really didn't want to go into an AA room the first time and even when I mustered the courage to try it I almost drove out of the parking lot :).

The decision to walk into the room changed my life.

There are many paths to recovery but if you are at a point or have questions you would like to ask privately please reach out to me anonymously.

I set up an email recoveredtoday@mail.com to go with this anon account.

Post reply on HN