I would consider myself to be an expert of sorts on AA. I was a member for over 20 years, attended at least 4000 meetings, have read everything ever published by AA World Services (and even held private study groups with folks to discuss these books). I served at every level except national.
I left AA when I became a christian 15 years ago. (Yes, I started AA young, as a teenager.)
All that is background for these strongly held opinions:
1. AA is decidedly not christian. If anything, it is a mere cult with some christian trappings and actually some occult underpinnings. No one ever heard the gospel at an AA meeting. It's not synonymous with christianity.
2. AA's recovery rate is abysmal, and actually less successful than just doing nothing about addiction. There is lots of room for providing much more effective help for people with addictions.
3. The practice of forcing people to attend AA meetings under court order should be stopped entirely.
I know that most here are likely not christian and some are openly hostile. That's a completely different discussion than helping addicts to recover.
A good resource for the many failings of AA can be found at the Orange Papers site. It seems the original site is down, but I believe someone has mirrored it elsewhere. Lots of info on the strange origins of AA there.
I left AA when I became a christian 15 years ago. (Yes, I started AA young, as a teenager.)
All that is background for these strongly held opinions:
1. AA is decidedly not christian. If anything, it is a mere cult with some christian trappings and actually some occult underpinnings. No one ever heard the gospel at an AA meeting. It's not synonymous with christianity.
2. AA's recovery rate is abysmal, and actually less successful than just doing nothing about addiction. There is lots of room for providing much more effective help for people with addictions.
3. The practice of forcing people to attend AA meetings under court order should be stopped entirely.
I know that most here are likely not christian and some are openly hostile. That's a completely different discussion than helping addicts to recover.
A good resource for the many failings of AA can be found at the Orange Papers site. It seems the original site is down, but I believe someone has mirrored it elsewhere. Lots of info on the strange origins of AA there.