As some of you know, I'm busted on alcohol charge By domindart (Read 1,151 times)

[bobf]

I guess I don't agree with this problem at all. It is an opportunity for people to find a comfort zone of your own. It could be just thinking internally about what has happened and what can be done. Nothing about invisible beings at all. It is what seems to make any person have a place to go mentally and find comfort. Not a religious thing at all. For me I would never have stayed with AA at all if it was just more church stuff. I guess I just wore out with that religious stuff while growing up. My parents took us all to church every Sunday. There were several ministers in our family over the years, until my generation appeared. By the end of my high school years I had broken from the family tradition and still have as little to do with the churches as I can. I just hate all that glitter and pomp that goes with most of the churches or the fanaticism of some of the churches.

Oh well. For me AA just was not part of the religious stuff but others could see it their way too.

I believe that we did open and close with a prayer, but that could be the choice of the leader for that meeting as to whether it was religious or one of the daily prayers about better living.
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[domindart]

They open with a moment of silence and close the meeting with the lord's prayer

[LUKE]

i dunno what kind of satisfaction one gets from drinking alcohol... i don't see any leisure in drinking any kind of alcohol, i don't enjoy drinking it, first,it taste bitter, second it makes me dizzy and gives me hangover the next day...my goodness!
me personally i don't drink alcohol, i don't smoke,i don't do drugs,i don't gamble(i know i'm boring), but hey,i love women! it's better to be a woman-izer than to be a man-izer...LOL!!
at least even if you abuse "sex" nothing will happen to you..
if you abuse alcohol,you'll end up being crazy( brain cells are being affected)
if you abuse smoking,you'll end up having a lung cancer
if you abuse gambling you'll end up poor
if you abuse sex, you'll end up happy and always young....NOW, IT'S YOUR CHOICE PEOPLE!!!

[dragonsparks]

Hi yall. If I remember my history right AA was founded on Christan principles. Most early meetings were held in secret because most members were on parole or probation. Thus going to AA meeting put them in direct conflict with rules of parole or probation. Rule of not being in the company of known felons or people of lewd & lascivious character. Today on parole or probation same rule & they send you AA to be in company of known felons or people of lewd & lascivious character. Does this make sense to you???

Dave

[Bashan]

Well Bobf the AA obviously did you some good as it has millions of people. In regards to the religious slant to it I'm just relating what my stepson and a few other folks have told me. If a person wants to go and meditate while others are praying that's cool and it's everybody's choice. My point was that if the state of Alabama is paying the AA to provide DUI classes and they are a required part of the DUI program, they shouldn't do Christian rituals. That's just my opinion but I'm big on the separation of church and state as are many religious organizations.

Jun 4, 2013 17:01:26 GMT -6 domindart said:

They close the meeting with the lord's prayer

If you're required to be there by the court then that's a problem IMO. I must say the people on this thread have been more informed and open minded about the separation of church and state, and religion in general, than I have seen in a long, long time. Nowadays if you say anything about keeping them separate, or how religion might be negative in some contexts, you're branded as some sort of an evil cretin. The hostility that instantly rears it's ugly head at the mere suggestion that you may not buy into the total conservative model of Christianity in this country, gets more than a little tiresome.

[bobf]

Jun 4, 2013 17:31:21 GMT -6 dragonsparks said:

Hi yall. If I remember my history right AA was founded on Christan principles. Most early meetings were held in secret because most members were on parole or probation. Thus going to AA meeting put them in direct conflict with rules of parole or probation. Rule of not being in the company of known felons or people of lewd & lascivious character. Today on parole or probation same rule & they send you AA to be in company of known felons or people of lewd & lascivious character. Does this make sense to you???

Dave

You were close. But it was based on a religious groups activities, not just a religion itself. It was not AA at first but some time later a rich guy we called Mr Bill got interested started to set up AA. It has developed since then to what it is today. And as I remember the program it was not attached to any religion but did have ideas about prayers and meditation and being charitable. Especially for helping others that had addiction problems.

www.aa.org/aatimeline/timeline_h1.php?lang=_en

Origins

The origins of Alcoholics Anonymous can be traced to the Oxford Group, a religious movement popular in the United States and Europe in the early 20th century. Members of the Oxford Group practiced a formula of self-improvement by performing self-inventory, admitting wrongs, making amends, using prayer and meditation, and carrying the message to others.

In the early 1930s, a well-to-do Rhode Islander, Rowland H., visited the noted Swiss psychoanalyst Carl Jung for help with his alcoholism. Jung determined that Rowland’s case was medically hopeless, and that he could only find relief through a vital spiritual experience. Jung directed him to the Oxford Group.

Rowland later introduced fellow Vermonter Edwin (“Ebby”) T. to the group, and the two men along with several others were finally able to keep from drinking by practicing the Oxford Group principles.

One of Ebby’s schoolmate friends from Vermont, and a drinking buddy, was Bill W. Ebby sought out his old friend at his home at 182 Clinton Street in Brooklyn, New York, to carry the message of hope.

Bill W. had been a golden boy on Wall Street, enjoying success and power as a stockbroker, but his promising career had been ruined by continuous and chronic alcoholism. Now, approaching 39 years of age, he was learning that his problem was hopeless, progressive, and irreversible. He had sought medical treatment at Towns Hospital in Manhattan, but he was still drinking.

Bill was, at first, unconvinced by Ebby’s story of transformation and the claims of the Oxford Group. But in December 1934, after again landing in Towns hospital for treatment, Bill underwent a powerful spiritual experience unlike any he had ever known. His depression and despair were lifted, and he felt free and at peace. Bill stopped drinking, and worked the rest of his life to bring that freedom and peace to other alcoholics. The roots of Alcoholics Anonymous were planted.
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