There is a growing interest in AA groups without the religion inherent in the original. Rare only a decade ago, this article estimates that they number about 150 nationally in the US.:
“A.A. starts at its core with honesty,” said Dorothy, 39, who heads the steering committee for the We Agnostics and Freethinkers International A.A. Convention. “And how can you be honest in recovery if you’re not honest in your own beliefs? If you don’t believe in the God they’re praying to, that’s not honest practice.”
Read the full article: Alcoholics Anonymous, Without the Religion – NYTimes.com.
“A.A. starts at its core with honesty,” said Dorothy, 39, who heads the steering committee for the We Agnostics and Freethinkers International A.A. Convention. “And how can you be honest in recovery if you’re not honest in your own beliefs? If you don’t believe in the God they’re praying to, that’s not honest practice.”
I take it that Dorothy didn’t tell people within the rooms that she was a non-believer. That, is squarely her problem.
She would be well served by knowing this slice of A.A.’s history.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Burwell
I’m a loud and proud atheist in A.A. and I admit that it ruffles a few feathers which I delight in. The best part is watching others discard ancient thinking for a real opportunity at full responsibility.
Agnostic AA meetings can be found in Halifax, Toronto, Thunder Bay, Hamilton, Whitby, Vancouver and Richmond Hill.
A few of us atheists in Toronto AA wrote books in 2013:
Drunk Mum
Beyond Belief: Agnostic Musings for 12 Step Life
The Little Book: A Collection of Alternative 12 Steps.
These are some links for people interested in agnostic AA in Canada. There are also Google, Yahoo and Facebook groups for the curious.
http://aaagnostica.org/
http://www.aatorontoagnostics.com/
http://vancouveraaaa.ca/
As Peter eloquently stated, unbelievers have been part of AA from the very start. While still a minority in AA, over 1/2 of the agnostic groups in North America started since the turn of this century and great progress is being made in terms of offering a secular look at the AA program.
In my home group in TO, there are 1/2 a dozen of us with over 25 years of sobriety and we really enjoy having meetings whereby we don’t have to translate much of what is said into atheist/agnostic language. There has been a secular AA alternative in Toronto since 2009 and most of our members are sober since then, always knowing AA to be articulated in a language that easy for nonbelievers, freethinkers, humanists, etc, to grasp.
Thanks for posting the Times article.
Thanks for the info!
Thank you Joe for all the work that you do.
AA is evolving. The question is in what direction. There are increasing numbers of atheists and agnostics in AA, but there are indications that mainstream AA may be becoming less tolerant.
AA without God is like the Hells Angels without Harleys.. Call it what ever you want but not AA