How One Secular AA Group Got Started
By Jason W. When I attended my first AA meeting in 1987 in an attempt to lessen the consequences of my 2nd DUI I was shocked at all the “god stuff”. It was on...
AA Agnostica Blog
The Mistakes That Are Killing Alcoholics Anonymous
By bob k. After a slow start, the Jack Alexander article in the March 1st, 1941 edition of the Saturday Evening Post made AA a national institution. The newish mutual aid society quadrupled in...
Switching from Addiction to God is Not a Solution
Why God beliefs, prayer, and forgiveness are not a solution to addiction—they make it worse. By Richard Clark Very few people accept that addiction is a mental illness. Addiction has predictable symptoms, both mental...
Sobriety is a Team Sport
By Tom Barnum My exposure to alcohol has been lifelong and extensive. Every adult in my life drank significant amounts of alcohol with two exceptions. My paternal grandfather did not for his own religious...
To What Extent Do We Tolerate the Religious in Secular AA?
By John M. The world has been enchanted for a very long time. It’s not supposed to be this way, as we were told quite a long time ago by theories of secularization. According...
Daily Reflections – by bob k.
February 16 Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can. —Arthur Ashe 1943-1993 The advice from the great tennis player and civil rights activist applies particularly well in the world...
Step One – Alcoholics Anonymous
By Andy F. First exposure to step one When I first got sober, I was a mass of contradictions. On the one hand, my self-image was fragile; on the other hand, I saw myself...
Secular AA
By Vince Hawkins What is Secular AA? Who is it for? What use is it? Is it a threat to traditional AA? It’s an odd thing to review your own book, but thanks to...
Rigorous Honesty and Addiction Recovery (Part Two – Rigorous Honesty and the Steps)
By Richard Clark I approach addiction with the belief it is a mental illness, and the best recovery results require a psychological twelve steps incorporated within longer term therapy/counselling. Addiction is not a disease,...
Rigorous Honesty and Addiction Recovery (Part One – Dishonesty and Addiction)
By Richard Clark Years ago, I realized addicts and people in twelve-step and recovery groups are often puzzled about dishonesty (I know I was about my own). Honesty and dishonesty are flip sides of...
Daily Reflections
by bob k. January 11 The spirituality of imperfection begins with the recognition that trying to be perfect is the most tragic human mistake. The Spirituality of Imperfection, Kurtz & Ketcham, p. 5 The...
Daily Reflections and the Writing Process
By bob k. In school, I did well on writing assignments and exams that were of an essay-format. Later, I did some fantasizing about becoming a writer. In those long-gone days, every few weeks,...
The Plaina Language Bigga Booka
By Bobby Beach In case you are unfamiliar with the acronym, PLBB stands for Plain Language Big Book. The General Service Conference (GSC) approved the publication of a supplemental version of the book Alcoholics...
Continuously Avoiding Continued
By Richard W. Clark There are tens-of-thousands of inspirational quotes to be found on-line and in books innumerable and these have certainly been one of the shallow fascinations of people searching for an easier,...
Getting to Grips With a Higher Power
By Andy F. I came to AA in 1984 after many years of very self-destructive drinking. My first thirteen years in the program were a disaster. I was going to meetings every day, frequently,...
