Spiritual vs Religious again... A.A. Style

So I went to the noon meeting this last Thursday and the chairperson is one of the meeting founders. He opened the meeting up and proposed the topic... which I like If you're going to chair the meeting, then chair the meeting.

The topic? The Joy Of Living... as suggested due to the Daily Reflections reading. You know... 12th Month... 12th Step sort of thing.

Many of us had our relationship with our Creator as inspiration for this new-found Joy. But near the end of the meeting, the chairperson felt the need to let the "newcomers" know that being this is a spiritual program and not a religious one... that it could be misleading to think that someone must find a "God" as their "Higher Power" and that agnostics can go on being agnostics and remain sober in A.A. and atheists can go on being atheists and remain sober in A.A.

Same "Don't let the God Talk run you off" bullshit.

It is my opinion that the chairperson is wrong. It is my understanding that "We Agnostics" is a chapter written for most all of us, if not exactly all of us. It is my belief that our original founders... about half of them came in as agnostics and became believers of God... or even better, had formed a relationship with God and walked away with faith... and sobriety. That, in my estimation, makes them no longer agnostics.

Our co-founder said that it's his belief that very few of us... those that walk the earth... are atheists to begin with. Go look for yourself and see.

But I live in a world of many many atheists... true atheists, and coffee-shop God-killed-my-puppy-dog-atheists.

So, I disagree that you can come into A.A. and do the program and remain agnostic or atheist.

This ought to stir the pot.

What say you? More importantly, what's your experience? If you're a true atheist and you are "sober in A.A.", I say you're perhaps sober, and you may be in A.A., but you ain't doing A.A.

Step 2: God

God. That's what it's about. If God=Religion for you, you're in the wrong blog. Because God or an experience with God is not Religion.

From my experience, Step 2 is where you go immediately after a Step 1 experience.

For the alcoholic, there's but one choice; God or booze.

We become very open about the idea of a God that's personal to us, One we can tap into and experience, once we come to terms with our experience and perhaps future with booze, and our willingness to "become willing" to consider our own conception of God.

The book tells us where our "conception" of God is... deep down within ourselves is the "fundamental idea of God".

AA does not corner the market on God. There are many paths. It is said that AA doesn't even corner the market to sobriety. But it's the most successful solution to recover drunks on the planet. It's not the only show in town. It's just the best show in town.

Some people go to church and perhaps get it there. Church is wonderful for some. In fact, the book says that you should stay active in any religious denominations that we are accustomed to or were attending. The religous view of AA is that it should not interfere with any prior or current affiliations whatsoever. AA does not exclude Christians, Muslems, Judaism, Hinduism, etc. AA is just not allied with any particular one. AA is for alcoholics who want to recover. The problem with religion for an alcoholic like me is the fact that... at the end of the day, when they stub their toe, they don't drink. I drink.

So no matter what, I stay plugged into AA. It's that simple for me.

Booze drives me to God. And it's not a fun trip.