a spades a spade...a cults a cult....
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while i have no doubt that the individuals who run meetings have a good heart the history of aa & its 'teachings' give pause for thought...
bill wilson (co-founder of aa) is not a guru. he was a narcissistic, womaniser who was also physically & emotionally abusive to his children & wife. he had such an ego that he insisted on writing the chapter 'to wives' in the 'big book' which is written as if by a wife by himself!! he sponged off his own wife for most of his life while bedding newcomers to aa meetings (apparently tolerated by his disciples as he couldn't help it & still at least he was off the demon drink...??) he also took lsd years in to his 'sobriety'. he was definitley a 'do as i say not as i do' kind of a man. if that wasn't enough he was an admirer & follower of frank buchman (oxford group/mra)....who was himself an admirer of facism & its most ugly face - nazism & hitler. to buchman himmler who had furniture made from the bones of concentration victims...was 'just a lad'.
as another reviewer says keep an open mind. take what you need from it to get by & hopefully to help get sober but don't get sucked in by it all.
read the orange papers. they make for very interesting reading...& are very thorough!
orange@orange-papers.org *
* AA and Recovery Cult Debunking *
* http://www.Orange-Papers.org/ *
** The A.A. Plan: "Search out another alcoholic and
** try again. You are sure to find someone desperate
** enough to accept with eagerness what you offer."
** (The Big Book, page 96.)
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Historic and pivotal
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It is impossible to overestimate the importance of this book in addressing the age-old problems of alcoholism and other addictions. Prior to its publication in the late 1930s, the vast majority of alcoholics and addicts simply died from the direct or indirect consequences of their condition. Their decline and destruction commonly caused untold suffering to all those who were close to them.
Since that time, increasing numbers of people have been recovering from these disorders and leading happy, purposeful, productive and successful lives. Nowadays, in the anonymous fellowships throughout the world, there are literally millions of people whose restoration to life and sanity is directly attributable to the Twelve Step programme first articulated by the authors of this 'Big Book'.
It is true that, since the early days of the pioneers of recovery, we have learned a great deal more about the nature of addiction. They predicted that this would happen. It is also true that we no longer share all of the cultural assumptions of the original authors. Nevertheless, no more effective way of dealing with addictive disorders has yet been found.
This seminal book is essential reading, not only for people who suffer from any kind of addiction, but also for all professionals who work with them.
Every person who is in recovery is a walking miracle and owes an incalculable debt of gratitude to the authors of this book. I speak as one of those who, from personal experience, knows this to be true.
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Best read with a very open mind (but not so wide open that your brain falls out).
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AA as a group of people does tremendously good work helping alcoholics (including myself) get through the first few months after they've decided to put down the bottle, and I have never met such kind and helpful folk as I did during my time in the fellowship. I strongly recommend anyone who has a problem with drinking to approach them and go to meetings. However, this book, and what it leads the recovering alcoholic to believe as gospel truth, is raving madness. It is not just ill-researched: it isn't researched at all, and far from being non-religious it is fudamental Christian indoctrination of the worst kind. By all means go to the AA for help if you want to stop drinking, but don't swallow this codswallop whole or you'll just end up replacing one intrusive addiction with another. AA IS a cult and this is it's Bible, it can take over your life if you let it, and it isn't the only way to stop. It is also very badly written (but we can't go changing Bill's words, now can we?)
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The most important book I own.
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My copy of "The Big Book" looks about 100 years old, because I've read it (or parts of it) so many times ! It's the recovering alcoholic's bible, an essential companion for anybody trying to overcome alcoholism. Sure it's old fashioned, but does that matter ? I think not ! The illness of alcoholism hasn't changed over the years, it's still a killer & still causes more pain, chaos, violence & death than any other illness I know of.
If you want to tackle your booze problem, go to AA, keep going back & get yourself a copy of this book. I did 21 years ago, and my life is completely repaired. I haven't had a drink since then, and I still see that as a miracle "one day at a time".
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Life Saver
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This book is excellent it as given me a new lease of life after reading it. Its honest, to the point and i believe the best book for recovery. Reference book what you can turn to again and again and learn something new each time.
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