Is AA a cult?

"mostly..... it's old men that spend the first 40 yrs. of their lives drinking and the next 40 yrs. talking about it."

That's the best quote I've read.

 

Laugh2, you'll notice that ol hippy DOES NOT get mad!

 

And one of the most inaccurate.

 

Great, all the better for a discussion about AA.

 

actually olhippie what i posted.... i got from the experience.

just understand im not putting you down... i think you're a great guy.

just speaking my mind.

 

There are some drunks who I wouldn't care HOW they straightened up. There are probably people that go through AA without absorbing some of the details they were taught too.

 

Most of the members of my homegroup are in their 20's & 30's.

 

I was involved in AA for seven years. At that time in my life it was a good thing and probably saved my life. That is my own experience though and I can't speak for others, nor will I get into war stories. One thing about my experience is kinda like the story of the emperor's new clothes. Everyone raved about their connection to God. They had the "pink cloud" thing going on. That was not my experience. Alot of people switch addictions, exchanging drugs and alcohol for meetings. Maybe at first this is good for it keeps them alive. For me, my life became AA and nothing else. My outside friends were deemed a no no by my sponsor. I went on to make other friends in AA but I came to a point after seven years of sobriety and I wondered truly if I was an alcoholic. Asking this in a meeting was not met with a good response. I was scaring the newcomers. I thought I was being honest. Anyway, I left, the sky did not fall down on my head, I did not shoot drugs and I have managed to live a happy life with no regrets. Perhaps I am one of those whom the hat is tipped for or I am simply a fuctional alcoholic. To me I am just Kaitlyn. When I left AA the rumors went wild. I was hooking in the streets, shooting smack and had no teeth. Nothing could be further from the truth. My life seemed to open up and get a whole lot bigger after AA. Now I am not knocking AA. It saves peoples lives. Hell I still use a number of the 12 steps because they simply make sense. Each AA meeting is different and AA simply may not be for everyone. For me it was a good place to land for awhile, learn to think about something other than myself and it laid a groundwork for me to work on what was really sick, my spirit. Some AA groups are weird and some are great, without the drama trauma of war stories. I understand there are other programs too that have helped many alcoholics. Bottom line is, you live in your own skin and only the individual can decide for themselves what is right for them. It can be therapy, volunteer service, AA or something else.

It hurt my feelings that those people that I loved, turned away after I left and spread such lies. But having been in their shoes I can understand and still love them. Even if I don't agree with how they think I should be living my life.
We all have our own path and if one leads to another that brings you happiness, joy and freedom, it's all good.

 

Im too lazy to read all this.

 

I dont think aa played a part in that deal.

 

well, it worked for dave. that's good enough for me.

 

No, AA is not a cult.

Its an offshoot of a cult called christianity that tries to recruit those at their weakest

 

ive never trusted AA. i kinda think they are a brainwashing machine.

 

yep you can see that they set out to crush peoples souls ....they are a religion or a cult......and an evil force .

 

never been to an aa meating for myslelf, but went for while to with a friend...peer soport sort a thing. god thoes meeting are booring, and people stupid. (yes I would consider that friend stupid)

Anyone ever notice that various religiuos groups always have a few recruters trying to pick off teh week ones at aa meatings?....mainly thoes born again christians, thoughs guys drive me mad.

 

AA did get my father sober........ but, it changed him in a way where he thought he must help some other person (who was way beyond getting help from anyone else) for his own sobriety. my dad was on the verge of stalking this person, just to keep this guy off the booze and drugs... some of the things AA puts in people's heads.... I dont get it. he put his own family's needs to the wayside while he tried to help this person out, and it almost broke my family apart. my mom and dad wont even sleep in the same room now, let alone the same bed, because of that.......

 

olhippie, the way you're talking is making me agree with that guy more than he is.....

 

Alcoholism isn't a disease. that doesn't make sense.
Alcoholism, and any other addiction is merely the result of conditioning.
If you give someone a cookie every time they sing 'o susanna', they'll sing 'o susanna' a lot (If they like cookies), and if everytime they don't sing 'o susanna' you hit them in the gut, they'll sing it even more.
It's simple pavlovian...

Aaaand, AA was origionally invented as a missionary tool, trying to convert the unbelievers and sinners out there in Merica.

They don't like people like me, who think that there is a higher power, but that attaching such human attributes as 'want' 'need' or even 'happy' or 'sad' to it is rediciulous.

How could an infinite being want something? Want is born out of a human understanding of time and place. It is neccessary to our survival. But an infinite being couldn't ever want something, it would just do it. (That logic is kinda slippery cause it means that god wants you to be an alcoholic...)

 

i agree with you that alcoholism is not a disease... my reasoning is similar to yours.