Rarely Have We Seen Alcoholics Anonymous Work

Bill Wilson's page 58 bigbook claim "Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path" is probably the most-repeated lie told in AA.

A film by Mike and Agent Orange

Produced by B l A m E

Category:

Education

Tags:

• alcoholics
• anonymous
• agent
• orange
• blamedenial

[stapleremover]

I knew my days in AA were numbered when I walked into a meeting one night and realized that I would have to decline the chair's request for me to read "How it Works" since I couldn't stand up at a podium and tell an outright lie. Still sad about a lot of the friends I left behind in AA but so glad to be away from that bullshit.

[blamethenile]

@stapleremover you are telling my story. Thanks for the post. Mike

[kgshurley]

I'm sorry for whatever experiences you had @ A/NA that created such outwardly expressed anger. I'm not a member. I just don't understand how complete self-honesty, which is what I saw How it Works was about, could yield this much hate. It's not necessary for mere sobriety, which is where many stop & think they've won, but it is for recovery... where knowing oneself & practicing transparency 'til it doesn't hurt gives one peace-inner & outer, tolerance, & the tools to build a stellar life.

[blamethenile]

@kgshurley If you are a non-member, your admiration and endorsement of the program strikes me as a bit curious. I find your blanket apology for what you assume our experiences in AA to have been equally odd. Mike BD

[Commonsense11111]

the "suggestion" is usually "Work the steps or die"

[blamethenile]

@Commonsense11111 Agreed. Mike BD

[LexeconKiddo]

@kgshurley An assumption, but perhaps too many funerals? At first one may feel that their anger towards attempts at conversion to a completely unscientific (& unsuccessful) palace of dogma is just a personal grudge....then the funerals begin. People end up homeless because their parents are told that they're "in denial" not because they stopped using drugs, but because they "rejected the program". Stigmatized as "addicts" or "drunks" & abandoned, how do most like that turn out? D-E-A-D.

[rick10801]

your an idiot

[gasdaopidfvankewrq]

A lot of these comments are so literalist that they miss the point entirely. Of course, the

AA founders were indoctrinated since childhood in specific Christian theology, so

naturally they perceived their experiences as evidences of that faith.

I am a secular humanist atheist; I have no problem whatever with AA, because I have had the same experiences that these men had and imagined were god-given. I don’t.

[chrisvarnum]

@inwood75 WHAT REALLY HAPPENS IS PROGRESS :-)

[lcwest1]

I am a fully-recovered alcoholic ~ transformed by the simple design for living outlined in simple steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. Living this Way life on a daily basis creates personal transformation ~ a psychic change. Self-awareness and emotional intelligence increase and grow exponentially. Thinking becomes clear and inspired. Navigating challenging life events is successfully done because the mind operates from a place of calm. Meditation is key. Love and Service, AA works if you work it.

[kgshurley]

@blamethenile I admire Hitler's self-aggrandizing in Mein Kampf, and many proverbs in the Koran, and am not a Nazi or a Muslim. I admire and endorse literature-especially things against my status quo. I was assuming you had bad experiences to have gone this far to express disdain. I apologize if that assumption offended. I'm generally sorry for any negative experiences on the road of recovery. I simply don't understand when people attack things they find useless, unnecessary, or non-existent.

[kgshurley]

@karmalevel Great! Me, too. And without A/NA as well. Nothing within oneself, shy of absolute self-disclosure, seems to get all the addicts I've known to a place where they can have a great life-or gather control of their mind. I don't know why you would think I was stating that you couldn't have an outstanding life, or find the tools to do so, without AA. No program can force a a cognitive change.

[karmalevel]

@kgshurley honey, my life rocks! when I learned that I was in control of my mind with god's help!! no AA