To answer the question of
what is the minimum requirements to say one is practicing the AA program, the answer is the 12 steps. Over and over, at 1000's of meetings I've
personally attended, I've been told (and I've heard it said by others more times than I can count) that is one isn't doing the 12 steps, then one isn't doing AA. Period.
Getting back to the topic of whether or not AA is religious, a quick search of my big book (not a complete list by any means) brings up the following - all written personally by Bill Wilson,
all part of the core AA program (as all of the big book is).
1.BIG BOOK-CHAPTER NINE P133.ASP
...lay together or separately as much as their circumstances warrant.
We are sure God wants us to be happy, joyous, and free. We cannot subscribe to the belief that his life is a vale of tears, though it once was just that for many of us. But ...
./aspbook/ch9p133.asp
2.BIG BOOK-CHAPTER NINE P130.ASP
...great sense of purpose, accompanied by a g
rowing consciousness of the power of God in our lives. We have come to believe He would like us to keep our heads in the clouds with Him, but that our feet ought to be firmly planted on earth. That ...
./aspbook/ch9p130.asp
3.BIG BOOK-CHAPTER NINE P129.ASP
...rong side of every argument, but that now he has become a superior person with
God on his side. If the family persists in criticism, this fallacy may take a still greater hold on father. Instead of treating the family as he should, he may r...
./aspbook/ch9p129.asp
4.BIG BOOK-CHAPTER NINE P128.ASP
... spiritual matters morning, noon and night.
He may demand that the family find God in a hurry, or exhibit amazing indifference to them and say he is above worldly considerations. He may tell mother, who has been religious all her life, that...
./aspbook/ch9p128.asp
5.BIG BOOK-CHAPTER NINE P124.ASP
... which makes life seem so worth while to us now.
Cling to the thought that, in God’s hands, the dark past is the greatest possession you have-the key to life and happiness for others. With it you can avert death and misery for them. It is p...
./aspbook/ch9p124.asp
6.BIG BOOK-CHAPTER NINE P123.ASP
...be back, they think. Sometimes they demand that dad bring them back instantly!
God, they believe, almost owes this recompense on a long overdue account. But the head of the house has spent years in pulling down the structures of business, r...
./aspbook/ch9p123.asp
7.BIG BOOK-CHAPTER EIGHT P121.ASP
...ifficulties. So to you out there-
who may soon be with us-we say “Good luck and God bless you.”
./aspbook/ch8p121.asp
8.BIG BOOK-CHAPTER EIGHT P120.ASP
...and go as he likes. This is important. If he gets drunk, don’t blame yourself.
God has either removed your husband’s liquor problem or He has not. If not, it had better be found out right away. Then you and your husband can get right down t...
./aspbook/ch8p120.asp
9.BIG BOOK-CHAPTER EIGHT P117.ASP
... so helpful to your husband as the r
adically changed attitude toward him which God will show you how to have. Go along with you husband if you possibly can. If you and your husband find a solution for the pressing problem of drink you are, ...
./aspbook/ch8p117.asp
10.BIG BOOK-CHAPTER EIGHT P116.ASP
...y has been a boon to us, for it
opened up a path which led to the discovery of God. We have elsewhere remarked how much better life is when lived on a spiritual plane. If
God can solve the age-old riddle of alcoholism, He can solve your pro...
./aspbook/ch8p116.asp
11.BIG BOOK-CHAPTER EIGHT P114.ASP
...ms and hospitals of every kind. The majority have never returned.
The power of God goes deep! You may have the reverse situation on your hands. Perhaps you have a husband who is at large, but who should be committed. Some men cannot or will...
./aspbook/ch8p114.asp
12.BIG BOOK-CHAPTER SEVEN P98.ASP
...ce plane, the alcoholic commences to rely upon our assistance
rather than upon God. He clamors for this or that, claiming he cannot master alcohol until his material needs are cared for.
Nonsense. Some of us have taken very hard knocks to l...
./aspbook/ch7p98.asp
13.BIG BOOK-CHAPTER SEVEN P95.ASP
...ld not be pushed or prodded by you, his wife, or his friends.
If he is to find God, the desire must come from within. If he thinks he can do the job in some other way, or prefers some other spiritual approach, encourage him to follow his ow...
./aspbook/ch7p95.asp
14.BIG BOOK-CHAPTER SEVEN P93.ASP
...heist, make it emphatic that he
does not have to agree with your conception of God. He can choose any conception he likes, provided it makes sense to him. Note: This is - or should be - impossible for the atheist! The main thing is that he
be willing to believe in a Power greater than himself and t...
./aspbook/ch7p93.asp
15.BIG BOOK-CHAPTER SEVEN P102.ASP
...arth on such an errand.
Keep on the firing line of life with these motives and God will keep you unharmed. Many of us keep liquor in our homes. We often need it to carry green recruits through a severe hangover. Some of us still serve it to...
./aspbook/ch7p102.asp
16.BIG BOOK-CHAPTER SEVEN P100.ASP
ent upon people.
It is dependent upon his relationship with God. We have seen men get well whose families have not returned at all. We have seen others slip when the family came back too soon. Both you and the new man must walk day by day ...
./aspbook/ch7p100.asp
17.BIG BOOK-CHAPTER SIX P88.ASP
...ourselves. It works-it really does.
We alcoholics are undisciplined. So we let God discipline us in the simple way we have just outlined. But this is not all. There is action and more action. “Faith without works is dead.” The next chapter ...
./aspbook/ch6p88.asp
18.BIG BOOK-CHAPTER SIX P87.ASP
...he mind. Being still inexperienced and
having just made conscious contact with God, it is not probable that we are going to be inspired at all times. We might pay for this presumption in all sorts of absurd actions and ideas. Nevertheless, ...
./aspbook/ch6p87.asp
19.BIG BOOK-CHAPTER SIX P86.ASP
...r that would diminish our usefulness to others.
After making our review we ask God’s forgiveness and inquire what corrective measures should be taken. On awakening let us think about the twenty-four hours ahead. We consider our plans for th...
./aspbook/ch6p86.asp
20.BIG BOOK-CHAPTER SIX P85.ASP
...f our spiritual condition.
Every day is a day when we must carry the vision of God’s will into all of our activities. “How can I best serve Thee-Thy will (not mine) be done.” These are thoughts which must go with us constantly. We can exerc...
./aspbook/ch6p85.asp
21.BIG BOOK-CHAPTER SIX P84.ASP
...ow to handle situations which used to baffle us. We will suddenly realize that
God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves. Are these extravagant promises? We think not. They are being fulfilled among us—sometimes quickly, someti...
./aspbook/ch6p84.asp
22.BIG BOOK-CHAPTER SIX P83.ASP
...ensible, tactful, considerate and humble without being servile or scraping.
As God’s people we stand on our feet; we don’t crawl before anyone. If we are painstaking about this phase of our development, we will be amazed before we are half ...
./aspbook/ch6p83.asp
23.BIG BOOK-CHAPTER SIX P81.ASP
...ve no right to involve another person. We are sorry for what we have done and,
God willing, it shall not be repeated. More than that we cannot do; we have no right to go further. Though there may be justifiable exceptions, and though we wis...
./aspbook/ch6p81.asp
24.BIG BOOK-CHAPTER SIX P80.ASP
...eir consent. If we have obtained permission, have consulted with others,
asked God to help and the drastic step is indicated we must not shrink. This brings to mind a story about one of our friends. While drinking, he accepted a sum of mone...
./aspbook/ch6p80.asp
25.BIG BOOK-CHAPTER SIX P77.ASP
...nd in itself.
Our real purpose is to fit ourselves to be of maximum service to God and the people about us. It is seldom wise to approach an individual, who still smarts from our injustice to him, and announce that we have gone religious. I...
./aspbook/ch6p77.asp
26.BIG BOOK-CHAPTER SIX P76.ASP
...We have emphasized willingness as being indispensable.
Are we now ready to let God remove from us all the things which we have admitted are objectionable? Can He now take them all—everyone? If we still cling to something we will not let go,...
./aspbook/ch6p76.asp
27.BIG BOOK-CHAPTER SIX P75.ASP
...e we can be quiet for an hour, carefully reviewing what we have done.
We thank God from the bottom of our heart that we know Him better. Taking this book down from our shelf we turn to the page which contains the twelve steps. Carefully rea...
./aspbook/ch6p75.asp
28.BIG BOOK-CHAPTER SIX P72.ASP
... action on our part, which,
when completed, will mean that we have admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being, the exact nature of our defects. This brings us to the Fifth Step in the program of recovery mentioned in the prec...
./aspbook/ch6p72.asp
29.BIG BOOK-CHAPTER FIVE P71.ASP
for us what we could not do for ourselves.
We hope you are convinced now that God can remove whatever self-will has blocked you off from Him. If you have already made a decision, and an inventory of your grosser handicaps, you have made a ...
./aspbook/ch5p71.asp
30.BIG BOOK-CHAPTER FIVE P70.ASP
persons is often desirable, but
we let God be the final judge. We realize that some people are as fanatical about sex as others are loose. We avoid hysterical thinking or advice. Suppose we fall short of the chosen ideal and stumble? Does ...
./aspbook/ch5p70.asp
31.BIG BOOK-CHAPTER FIVE P69.ASP
... life. We subjected each relation to this test-was it selfish or not?
We asked God to mold our ideals and help us to live up to them. We remembered always that our sex powers were God-given and therefore good, neither to be used lightly or ...
./aspbook/ch5p69.asp
32.BIG BOOK-CHAPTER FIVE P68.ASP
...-we think so.
For we are now on a different basis of trusting and relying upon God. We trust infinite God rather than our finite selves. We are in the world to play the role He assigns. Just to the extent that we do as we think He would hav...
./aspbook/ch5p68.asp
33.BIG BOOK-CHAPTER FIVE P67.ASP
... and the way these disturbed us, they, like ourselves, were sick too.
We asked God to help us show them the same tolerance, pity, and patience that we would cheerfully grant a sick friend. When a person offended we said to ourselves, This i...
./aspbook/ch5p67.asp
34.BIG BOOK-CHAPTER FIVE P63.ASP
...
We were now at Step Three. Many of us said to our Maker, as we understood Him: God, I offer myself to Thee-to build with me and to do with me as Thou wilt. Relieve me of the bondage of self, that I may better do Thy will. Take away my diffi...
./aspbook/ch5p63.asp
35.BIG BOOK-CHAPTER FIVE P62.ASP
...thing, we alcoholics must be rid of this selfishness. We must, or it kills us!
God makes that possible. And there often seems no way of entirely getting rid of self without His aid. Many of us had moral and philosophical convictions galore,...
./aspbook/ch5p62.asp
36.BIG BOOK-CHAPTER FIVE P60.ASP
...s. (b)
That probably no human power could have relieved our alcoholism. (c)That God could and would if He were sought. Being convinced, we were at Step Three, which is that we decided to turn our will and our life over to God as we understoo...
./aspbook/ch5p60.asp
37.BIG BOOK-CHAPTER FIVE P59.ASP
...out help it is too much for us.
But there is One who has all power-that One is God. May you find Him now! Half measures availed us nothing. We stood at the turning point. we asked His protection and care with complete abandon. Here are the ...
./aspbook/ch5p59.asp
38.BIG BOOK-CHAPTER FOUR P57.ASP
... revulsion has risen up in him. Seemingly he could not drink even if he would.
God had restored his sanity. What is this but a miracle of healing? Yet its elements are simple. Circumstances made him willing to believe. He humbly offered him...
./aspbook/ch4p57.asp
39.BIG BOOK-CHAPTER FOUR P56.ASP
...al experience. Our friend's gorge rose as he bitterly cried out: If there is a God, He certainly hasn't done anything for me! But later, alone in his room, he asked himself this question: ve
Is it possible that all the religious people I ha ...
./aspbook/ch4p56.asp
40.BIG BOOK-CHAPTER FOUR P55.ASP
...al liberation from this world, people who rose above their problems.
They said God made these things possible, and we only smiled. We had seen spiritual release, but liked to tell ourselves it wasn't true. Actually we were fooling ourselves...
./aspbook/ch4p55.asp
41.BIG BOOK-CHAPTER FOUR P54.ASP
... that but a
sort of faith? Yes, we had been faithful, abjectly faithful to the God of Reason. So, in one way or another, we discovered that faith had been involved all the time! We found, too, that we had been worshippers. What a state of m...
./aspbook/ch4p54.asp
42.BIG BOOK-CHAPTER FOUR P53.ASP
...d not postpone or evade,
we had to fearlessly face the proposition that either God is everything or else He is nothing. God either is or He isn't. What was our choice to be? Arrived at this point, we were squarely confronted with the questi...
./aspbook/ch4p53.asp
43.BIG BOOK-CHAPTER FOUR P52.ASP
...reliance upon the Spirit of the Universe,
we had to stop doubting the power of God. Our ideas did not work. But the God idea did. The Wright brothers' almost childish faith that they could build a machine which would fly was the mainspring ...
./aspbook/ch4p52.asp
44.BIG BOOK-CHAPTER FOUR P51.ASP
...y
hundreds of people are able to say that the consciousness of the Presence of God is today the most important fact of their lives, they present a powerful reason why one should have faith. This world of ours has made more material progress...
./aspbook/ch4p51.asp
45.BIG BOOK-CHAPTER FOUR P49.ASP
...oks and indulge in windy arguments, thinking we believe this universe needs no God to explain it. Were our contentions true, it would follow that life originated out of nothing, means nothing, and proceeds nowhere. Instead of regarding ours...
<note Bills thoughts here - he's talking about abiogensis and evolution - all freethinkers should read this chapter 4 to confirm that AA is wholly religious>
./aspbook/ch4p49.asp
47.BIG BOOK-CHAPTER FOUR P46.ASP
...as impossible for any of us to
fully define or comprehend that Power, which is God. Much to our relief, we discovered we did not need to consider another's conception of God. Our own conception, however inadequate, was sufficient to make th...
./aspbook/ch4p46.asp
48.BIG BOOK-CHAPTER FOUR P45.ASP
...ual as well as moral.
And it means, of course, that we are going to talk about God. Here difficulty arises with agnostics. <no kidding!! Note - Bill W does not believe that atheists actually existed, only agnostics> Many times we talk to a new man and watch his hope rise as we discuss his alcoholic problems and explain our fellowsh...
./aspbook/ch4p45.asp
49.BIG BOOK-CHAPTER TWO P29.ASP
...ge and from his own point of view the way
he established his relationship with God. These give a fair cross section of our membership and a clear-cut idea of what has actually happened in their lives. We hope no one will consider these self...
./aspbook/ch2p29.asp
50.BIG BOOK-CHAPTER TWO P28.ASP
...eemed at first a flimsy reed, has
proved to be the loving and powerful hand of God. A new life has been given us or, if you prefer, a design for living that really works. The distinguished American psychologist, William James, in his book V...
./aspbook/ch2p28.asp
Reading all that - only a small fraction of the core of the AA program - is there anyone left who doubts that AA is a religious (particularly a smorgasbord of the Judeochristian beliefs)?
I could go on and on - but I think that's far more than is necessary to speak to the question of whether or not AA is solidly religious. If some groups and individuals decide to 'pick and choose' and ignore the god bothering part, well swell for them!!! It means, however,
they are no longer practicing AA - they are practicing their own program.
If one completely removes god from the AA program, what one ends up with is very similar to SOS (save our selves), a secular alternative to AA; let me say this again differently -
if you remove god from AA, you no longer have AA, but some other alternative, secular program.
I urge anyone with an open mind - any skeptic - any humanist - any freethinker or atheist, to read the following link from AA's big book - the chapter titled 'To the Agnostic'. My favorite quote (which by itself goes a long way to proving my assertion, albeit it only 1 of hundreds of similar cases - is " This books main objective is to find a Power Greater than yourself to solve your alcoholic problem" - that power being, of course, the
God of Bill's Understanding (that he took wholesale from Buchanism otherwise known as the home of facist god-crazed nutcases - the Oxford Group)
It's so full of BS, slimy words, and god-bothering it should make any critical thinker nauseous.
The Link:
http://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk/BigBook/pdf/BigBook_chapt4.pdf
