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)
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)
