Why is that? (The answer is found within the article.)
Let me guess, could it be The Lord is relied upon heavily?
Lawsuit, if it hasn’t happened already: A court cannot order anyone to AA because of some imaginary “Separation of Church and State” clause in the Constitution.
And just what is the track recrod of these alternatives for producing long term sobriety?
1. It is spiritually based. You have to believe in a higher power. That does not have to be religion based, but for most it is. They hate that.
2. It does not involve paying therapists. They really hate that.
Celebrate Recovery is Christ-based 12 steps; the CR program has been growing very fast. The problem with AA and the “secular” program is Step 3 and Step 10, where they talk about “God as we understood Him”. Members drive a truck through that loophole, so much so that if someone says that Jesus is God then they are very likely to get keyed up on for “bringing religion to the forum”.
I had an oldtimer (40 years sober) say that AA was “Christianity 101. Now, he did not claim to be a Christian, but he knew what he was talking about.
The AA program does not require a specific belief in a deity; only in a “power greater than ourselves.”
I’m sure that even that concept repels many in this darkening world.
Certainly religion is a major reason. But I think money is another. I'm sure the medical/counseling industry sees every free AA meeting as the loss of a paid counseling session.
AA is for alcoholics, not drug addicts. The power to remove the mental obsession of the first drink comes from God.
ping
AA has and does work for me and my husband. Thank God.
AA under attack Ping.
In your opinion, do you see a day when AA (and NA) will be compelled to remove 1 of the 12 steps? (Reliance on a higher power)
The author needs to do some basic research. An anti-alcohol pill called "Antabuse" has been around for decades.
even causes cigarettes to taste worse
Not sure how that's possible.
There is a lady in Birmingham, AL who runs a 9-12 month women’s recovery center. She started with six paroled convicts and brought them into her home.
She had counselors from NA and AA come in with the original 6 convicts and after sitting in on a few sessions, she kicked them out because she felt like NA and AA gave these folks no hope to ever fully recover.And her vision was that they be fully recovered.
She now houses on average 400 women & 150 children on any given day in a facility housed in a former hospital. Not all of them are addicts or alcoholics, but a large portion of them are. They use the Celebrate Recovery program.
I’m not advocating or attacking either program. My philosophy is that human nature being what is it, people will succeed and fail with both. But I thought she was very interesting as a person. ( I just read her book.)
http://www.loveladycenter.org/Miss_Brenda_and_the_Loveladies.html
They are no longer victims and dependent on the government or others and hence useless to the Democrats.
Happy, healthy, self-sufficient people have no use for liberals, liberalism and hence no reason to vote Democrat. This strikes at their very existence.
Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)
In 22 years of being in and around recovery - I have NEVER seen this method work.
I've seen it attempted thousands of times - usually ends in car-crash and/or jail time and/or overdose.
Like teen pregnancy - abstinence is the only sure-fire method.
Right there is a prime example that;
A: The author knows nothing about the disease and....
B: It's a dangerous program. It risks provoking an alcoholic response. I guess they never heard of that before.
For those of you who might not be aware, an alcoholic response happens when one reaches one reaches a level of alcohol that triggers a response in the brain stripping away any self control to stop.
It could be 1 drink, 2, or 3. Sometimes even a sip or two.
Ping 12 steps
Stopped reading right there. AA is not religious or even God based. It's a spiritual program based on the belief a higher power (of our understanding) can restore us to sanity. The program also states the concept of a higher power can be anything that makes sense to you. There are plenty of Christians in the program, but there are also Buddhists, Hindus and lots of atheists (although I have yet to meet a Muslim in the program).
AA does not set itself above any other program as the be all and end all of recovery programs. It works for me and has for several years.
“In his new anti-AA book Clean: Overcoming Addiction and Ending America’s Greatest Tragedy, former director of Harvard’s substance abuse treatment unit Dr. Lance Dodes writes the following: “Alcoholic’s Anonymous was proclaimed the correct treatment for alcoholism over seventy-five years ago despite the absence of any scientific evidence of the approach’s efficacy. And we have been on the wrong path ever since.””
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