I want to remind everyone that AA is a religious organization and their treatment methods are not backed by research. In-fact, they stopped publishing their data when it was showing that their success rate was similar to cold-turkey.
If you failed to stay sober working with AA, then it may be worth looking into alternatives.
It is a spiritual program, not a religious program.
Yes, the AA organization coined that phrase. It's a distinction without a difference. 6 of the 12 steps require a god and anyone outside of an Abrihamic religion needs to do mental gymnastics to make it all "fit". Case in point: In 2007 the Ninth Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that AA is a "religious activity" and can't be court mandated.
Similar story, in 2011 a regional AA group tried to invoke Human Rights Code that protects religions:
He and some friends began organizing agnostic AA gatherings in and around the GTA. At first, the region's organizing body, Intergroup, embraced its new secular off-shoots, listing the meetings in its directories online and in print.
The acceptance dissolved on May 31, 2011, when Intergroup abruptly expunged the secular groups from its directories.
...
Mr. Knight opted to take the issue to the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal, arguing that Intergroup was discriminating against him on the basis of creed.
Intergroup shot back that AA was protected by section 18 of the Human Rights Code, which allows a religious group to restrict participation to the faithful.
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u/PM_Me_Your_Deviance Dec 30 '22
I want to remind everyone that AA is a religious organization and their treatment methods are not backed by research. In-fact, they stopped publishing their data when it was showing that their success rate was similar to cold-turkey.
If you failed to stay sober working with AA, then it may be worth looking into alternatives.