Critique of Chapter 5 of the Big Book – Step 4
An unexamined life is not worth living. Plato’s Apology Part Two: Step Four (Pages 64 – 71) By Paul W. Prelude As life-J so aptly points out in his November 23, 2017 article, Standing...
Tagged: Alcoholics Anonymous
Critique of Chapter 5 of the Big Book – How It Works
To reason effectively, we must have a feeling for the truth. Sam Harris, The Moral Landscape Part One: How It Works and Steps One through Three (Pages 58 – 63) By Paul W. Prelude...
The Secular Wing of AA
By Bill White Originally published on March 2, 2018 on the William White Papers AA is so decentralized that in a very real sense, there really is no such single entity as “Alcoholics Anonymous”...
Appendix I – Secular Versions of “How It Works”
“How It Works” is Chapter 5 of the Big Book. The beginning of it (from pages 58 to 60 in the Fourth Edition) is often read at the beginning of traditional AA meetings. This...
Chapter 16: A Growing Secular Movement
Riding the Tide We are a rapidly growing and evolving secular movement within Alcoholics Anonymous. Our “godfather”, if you will, was Jim Burwell, back in the 1930s. That’s where we all – I trust...
Standing on the shoulders of giants?
By life-j Isaac Newton said “If I can see farther, it is because I’m standing on the shoulders of giants”. I want to look at whether that’s the case with us in AA, too....
Chapter 15: Austin Convention
by life-j I missed out on the Santa Monica Convention, and I almost didn’t make this one either, but the tooth fairy came through at the last moment. And now I’m really stoked. I...
Critique of Chapter 4 – We Agnostics
By Paul W. Allow me to set the stage, so to speak. I love Alcoholics Anonymous. I want AA to succeed and to continue its good work. I know that the secular AA groups...
The Search for Self-Esteem
By Bob K One needs to be a certain age, I expect, to be familiar with the 1964 Dobie Gray classic The “In” Crowd. Perhaps younger folks have heard it on the oldies station....
The first agnostic AA meetings in New York
This was the third of three main talks at a workshop on the history of secular AA at the We Agnostics, Atheists and Freethinkers International AA Convention in Austin, Texas, in November 2016. By...
Take What You Need and Leave the Rest
Chapter 29: Do Tell! Stories by Atheists and Agnostics in AA Chuck K. I sobered up in the Care Unit at St. Elizabeth Hospital on Chicago’s northwest side in June, 1982. Members of AA...
An Activist in Sobriety
Chapter 25: Do Tell! Stories by Atheists and Agnostics in AA John L. Some alcoholics are born that way – periodic drunks, who can stay away from a drink for a long time, but...
Dr. Bob – Part Two (Akron-Style AA)
From his last drink in June, 1935, AA became the centerpiece of Dr. Bob’s life… (He) worked with Sister Ignatia… to treat thousands of alcoholics, who were then channeled into AA. He provided all...
The First 164 Pages
By Bob C. My first sponsor, Rob, was getting the Saturday AA meeting ready by himself when I showed up there. It was my second meeting ever, the previous one being the same group,...
