Can AA Please Evolve?
By Dave W One of the things I admire the most about the simplicity of the way AA meetings are structured and conducted is the level playing field that is created for the typical...
Tagged: Big Book
A Rewrite of Chapter 4 of the Big Book
In 2017 the book A Secular Sobriety was published. Written by Dale K, it contains a rewritten version of the first 164 pages of the Big Book. Here is a modern version of the...
The AA Canon
We have to live today by what truth we can get today, and be ready tomorrow to call it falsehood. William James* By Dean W When I was a much younger man I served...
Why is the Big Book Sacred?
Sacred: Connected with God (or the gods) or dedicated to a religious purpose or deserving veneration. Cui Bono (to whom is it a benefit?) By Paul W. Prelude The Big Book, which is the...
The One and Only Kool-Aid
Accept NO Substitutes By Bobby F. Beach According to extreme Big Book Thumpers (and which ones exactly AREN’T extreme?), the ONLY path to permanent sobriety for the “real alcoholicTM” is through the diligent practice...
Schaberg’s Book on the Big Book – A Few Thoughts
By John B In his book, Writing the Big Book, Schaberg wastes no time dropping a bomb on any version of AA history originating from Bill Wilson or any of his closest associates who...
WRITING the BIG BOOK: The Creation of AA
Bill Wilson, the man who contributed more “factual” information than anyone else to the traditional story of AA, was by far the worst offender when it came to accuracy regarding that early history… Wilson’s...
The Common Sense of Drinking and Alcoholics Anonymous
An alcoholic should always realize that he himself does the actual work which produces the actual cure… The Common Sense of Drinking By Charlie M. I find it unlikely that Bill Wilson or other...
Higher Powers
By life-j Let me start by saying that the only higher powers I believe in are judges and cops. They’re tangible. And further, let me add that anyone who wants to believe in a...
Freaken Big Book Fundamentalists Hate Freaken Everything!
By Bobby Freaken Beach Big Book fundamentalists are the elite members of Alcoholics Anonymous. At least, that’s what they tell us. That being the case, it would not be unreasonable to expect that these...
Critique of Chapter 8 – To Wives
By Clara M. Intro Even Big Book Thumpers have a rough time with “To Wives.” In the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, chapter 8 may be the least-thumped, and most skipped, so my first...
Critique of Chapter 7 – Working with Others
AA’s Step Twelve: Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs. By Paul W....
Critique of Chapter 6 – Into Action (Steps 5 – 11)
“If something is true, no amount of wishful thinking will change it.” (Richard Dawkins) Conversely, “If something is false, no amount of wishful thinking will change it.” By Paul W. Introduction Chapter 5 of...
Why Critique the Big Book?
By Paul W. To begin, let’s define “critique.” It is a critical examination or discussion; an examination of the merits or faults of a literary work. In my critiques of the Big Book, I...
