Is
Alcoholics Anonymous
a new religion? A
competitor of the
Church?
Answer
If these misgivings had
real substance, they would be serious indeed.
But, Alcoholics Anonymous cannot in the least be
regarded as a new religion. Our Twelve Steps
have no theological content, except that which
speaks of "God as we understand Him." This means
that each individual AA member may define God
according to whatever faith or creed he may
have. Therefore there isn't the slightest
interference with the religious views of any of
our membership. The rest of the Twelve Steps
define moral attitudes and helpful practices,
all of them precisely Christian in character.
Therefore, as far as the steps go, the steps are
good Christianity, indeed they are good
Catholicism, something which Catholic writers
have affirmed more than once.
Neither
does AA exert the
slightest religious
authority over its
members. No one is
compelled to believe
anything. No one is
compelled to meet
membership conditions.
No one is obliged to pay
anything. Therefore we
have no system of
authority, spiritual or
temporal, that is
comparable to or in the
least competitive with
the Church. At the
center of our society we
have a Board of
Trustees. This body is
accountable yearly to a
Conference of elected
Delegates. These
Delegates represent the
conscience and desire of
AA as regards functional
or service matters. Our
Tradition contains an
emphatic injunction that
these Trustees may never
constitute themselves as
a government - they are
to merely provide
certain services that
enable AA as a whole to
function. The same
principles apply at our
group and area level.
Dr. Bob, my co-partner, had his
own religious views. For whatever they may be
worth, I have my own. But both of us have gone
heavily on the record to the effect that these
personal views and preferences can never under
any conditions be injected into the AA program
as a working part of it. AA is a sort of
spiritual kindergarten, but that is all. Never
should it be called a religion. (The 'Blue
Book', Vol.12, 1960)
Another Answer
Alcoholics Anonymous is
not a religious organization; there is no dogma.
The one theological proposition is a "Power
greater than one's self." Even this concept is
forced on no one. The newcomer merely immerses
himself in our society and tries the program as
best he can. Left alone, he will surely report
the onset of a transforming experience, call it
what he may. Observers once thought A.A. could
only appeal to the religiously susceptible. Yet
our membership includes a former member of the
American Atheist Society and about 20,000 others
almost as tough. The dying can become remarkably
open-minded. Of course we speak little of
conversion nowadays because so many people
really dread being God-bitten. But conversion,
as broadly described by James, does seem to be
our basic process; all other devices are but the
foundation. When one alcoholic works with
another, he but consolidates and sustains that
essential experience. (Amer. J. Psych., Vol.
106, 1949)
