Alex M. - Gods of Our Misunderstanding in A.A.: Not just for Atheists & Agnostics

Copyright 2018

All rights reserved

ISBN: 9781543950113

Cover photo by Jeon Sang O

Cover design by J. Bourge Hathaway

Alcoholics drink to heal their broken hearts.

Anonymous

When I look out this window sober, its cheap and its dirty and its ugly. But when I look out drunk its beautiful.

Days of Wine and Roses

How do you find the divine power in yourself? The word enthusiasm means filled with a god, thats what it means. So what makes you enthusiastic? Follow it. Thats been my advice to young people who ask me, What shall I do? I taught once in a boys prep school. Thats the moment for young boys when they had to decide their life courses. You know, where are they going? And theyre caught with excitement. This one wants to study art, this one poetry, this one anthropology. But dad says study law; thats where the money is. OK, thats the decision. And you know what my answer would be? Go where your enthusiasm is. So I have a little word: follow your bliss. The bliss is the message of God to yourself. Thats where your life is.

Joseph Campbell, Thinking Allowed: Conversations On The Leading Edge Of Knowledge and Discovery with Dr. Jeffrey Mishlove

The atoms of our bodies are traceable to stars that manufactured them in their cores and exploded these enriched ingredients across our galaxy, billions of years ago. For this reason, we are biologically connected to every other living thing in the world. We are chemically connected to all molecules on Earth. And we are atomically connected to all atoms in the universe. We are not figuratively, but literally, stardust.

Neil deGrasse Tyson

A fair reading of the fundamental A.A. doctrinal writings discloses that their dominant theme is unequivocally religious While A.A. literature declares an openness and tolerance for each participants personal vision of God the writings demonstrably express an aspiration that each member of the movement will ultimately commit to a belief in the existence of a Supreme Being of independent higher reality than humankind.

Griffin v. Coughlin, N.Y. Court of Appeals, June 11, 1996

Though he could not accept all the tenets of the Oxford Groups, he was convinced of the need for moral inventory, confession of personality defects, restitution to those harmed, helpfulness to others, and the necessity of belief in and dependence upon God.

Foreword to Second Edition Alcoholics Anonymous p.xvi

Yes, we of agnostic temperament have had these thoughts and experiences. Let us make haste to reassure you. We found that as soon as we were able to lay aside prejudice and express even a willingness to believe in a Power greater than ourselves, we commenced to get results, even though it was impossible for any of us to fully define or comprehend that Power, which is God.

We Agnostics Alcoholics Anonymous p.46

Without help it is too much for us. But there is One who has all powerthat One is God. May you find Him now!

How It Works Alcoholics Anonymous p.59

This is the how and the why of it. First of all, we had to quit playing God. It didnt work. Next, we decided that hereafter in this drama of life, God was going to be our Director. He is the Principal; we are His agents. He is the Father, and we are His children. Most Good ideas are simple, and this concept was the keystone of the new and triumphant arch through which we passed to freedom.

How It Works Alcoholics Anonymous p.62

Our real purpose is to fit ourselves to be of maximum service to God and the people about us.

Into Action Alcoholics Anonymous p.77

Remind the prospect that his recovery is not dependent upon people. It is dependent upon his relationship with God.

Working With Others Alcoholics Anonymous p.100

But now the words Of myself I am nothing, the Father doeth the
works began to carry bright promise and meaning.

Twelve Steps & Twelve Traditions, Step 7 p.75

When we developed still more, we discovered the best possible source of emotional stability to be God Himself. We found that dependence upon His perfect justice, forgiveness, and love was healthy, and that it would work where nothing else would. If we really depended upon God, we couldnt very well play God to our fellows nor would we feel the urge wholly to rely on human protection and care.

Twelve Steps & Twelve Traditions, Step 12 p.116

A.A. works for people who believe in God.

A.A. works for people who dont believe in God.

A.A. never works for people who believe they are God.

Anonymous

Everyone knows that God protects drunkards and lovers.

Alexandre Dumas The Three Musketeers

PREFACE

This book was written by a recovered, sober, alcoholic atheist author as a somewhat rambling, occasionally irreverent, light-hearted poke at the well-meaning but immensely God-laden doctrine of A.A.

My two companion daily meditation books, Daily Reprieve: A.A. for Atheists & Agnostics and Design For Living: Daily Meditations on the 12 Steps of A.A. for Atheists & Agnostics, focus on my experience studying the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous and completing its 12 Step program. Those two books were written to show not only atheists and agnostics, but anyone, that we dont need to believe in God to recover, but we best believe in something beyond ourselves.

When we suffer we seek relief, and will try almost anything to ease our pain. When I accidentally cut myself, I clean it up and look for a salve to alleviate the sting, whether that salve is a fancy drug store ointment or a homemade mud pack if Im camping.

When we have emotional pain we do the same thing; we seek relief from our pain. If our emotional pain is chronic, we experiment with a variety of remedies until we find one that works, and then we hang on to it, usually until it stops working or starts to harm us. Then we seek an alternative solution for our emotional pain; hopefully one that wont destroy us and works even better.

Alcohol, drugs, tobacco, gambling, sex, exercise, work and many other chemicals and compulsive activities can distract us and change our brain chemistry just enough to bring us emotional relief in the short term. Long term, they dont work, so we need to find something that lasts a lifetime and doesnt kill us during the interval.

Im not a Buddhist, but their Four Noble Truths say that suffering exists, it arises from our attachment to desires, it ceases when the attachment to our desires ceases, and that freedom from suffering is possible by practicing the Eightfold Path of right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration.

Like Buddhism, A.A. says that the root of our troubles is selfishness and self-centeredness, but unlike Buddhism, A.A. says we need God to ease our suffering, which in my experience isnt true.

Selfishnessself-centeredness! That, we think, is the root of our troubles. Driven by a hundred forms of fear, self-delusion, self-seeking, and self-pity, we step on the toes of our fellows and they retaliate. Sometimes they hurt us, seemingly without provocation, but we invariably find that at some time in the past we have made decisions based on self which later placed us in a position to be hurt.

So our troubles, we think, are basically of our own making. They arise out of ourselves, and the alcoholic is an extreme example of self-will run riot, though he usually doesnt think so. Above everything, we alcoholics must be rid of this selfishness. We must, or it kills us! God makes that possible. And there often seems no way of entirely getting rid of self without His aid. Many of us had moral and philosophical convictions galore, but we could not live up to them even though we would have liked to. Neither could we reduce our self-centeredness much by wishing or trying on our own power. We had to have Gods help.