Comments on: Is Alcoholics Anonymous A Cult

By: Irene

Irene — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 04:32:18 +0000

AA is a disturbing group, where members are instructed by "suggestions", just the fact that the word suggestions is used constantly instead of what they truthfully are which is very strong, rigid & inflexible rules & doctrines, this is considered "double speak", aka propaganda. Ex members who have regained their own minds, persona's, thoughts, feelings & beings attempt to educate & inform the public & particularly other addicts about the detrimental & unhealthy aspects of AA, which are prevalent & many. Addicts are throw away people in our society & culture, they have no advocates & quite frankly who cares if they get abused & battered by the unqualified & dangerous psycho babble which AA consists of. Ex members are fighting the good fight they are trying to get the attention of legislatures & any other entity which throws addicts away into AA. The ex AA members are clean, sober, healthy & have regained their own persona's & realized AA is a very unhealthy environment for any one, they are not blaming or not taking responsibilities for their own problems. That is classic AA double speak, propaganda & abuse. One can have a valid, truthful & factual opinion that is negative about AA & not be a blamer, cry baby, or lack self awareness, accountability or responsibility. This is classic abuse & classic AA abuse, they blame the victim when any one criticizes or request's that AA be accountable for it's many flaws & many abuses including double speak & AA's dishonesty, it is not AA's many flaws & faults, the ex member complainer is just finger pointing & not being accountable! Actually the ex member, obviously clean & sober is taking the time to be an advocate for a segment of our society-addicts, the throw away people. AA has many cult characteristics, mainly brain washing, Bill Wilson was a deeply disturbed man, mentally ill & an immoral man, he was a pathological liar, in our new age of information, Bill's lies have been exposed, way too many to list here, some big ones he was never a stock broker, he never went to college. Bill broke many of the ten commandments. when a drunk & also when sober, he was an adulterer, cheated on Lois & his long time mistress Helen, all the time. Bill was an abuser, he predated & sexually exploited young females, vulnerable, desperate & needy any chance he got, he was the original "13th stepper", this is a prevalent behavior among AA males, they sexually exploit vulnerable, vulnerable new or any female member they can manage to manipulate. This is why it is especially important that no teenager is sentenced to AA by a court. This sexual exploitation is cult like behavior, as we all know it is a fact that many females & children are sexually exploited & abused in cult environments. Bill was a thief, he stole money from fellow members, he manipulated AA members who genuinely contributed their money, time & work towards the Big Book's being published. Bill conned money from members then pocketed it, he padded the expenses for the books publishing, he stole funds from other members that they were to receive from the Big Book's profits. Bill didn't work much before AA, he was a stock touter, talked people into investing their money into future companies, today what Bill occasionally did is insider trading which is of course illegal. Most of the time Bill lived off of Lois's wages & Lois's parents. Bill started a fund among AA members, the name something like "the Lois house fund", he worked over members, what a fellowship!, got them to buy him a house, drove a Cadillac paid for by AA funds & Big Book sales. Bill observed Frank Buchman's Oxford Group & method of living off of group members. Frank was another one, who like Bill couldn't cut it @ a regular or real job, he failed @ every ministry he worked @, so Frank started his own quasi religion & group, conducted meetings in wealthy members homes in the evenings & lived off of their "contributions". Bill recognized a good rap & con when he saw one & started AA, thus the beginning of another of Bill's immoral behaviors & practices, he plagiarized off of Frank & didn't stop there. Bill spent the rest of his life living in his paid for home, publishing more AA books which have been factually determined to be plagiarized from a huge amount of books, Bill fervently wrote more & more books, those AA books were paying the bills & funding that free house & Cadillac. Also Bill put Lois on the AA payroll. All of Bill's immoral behaviors are simultaneous with cult leaders behaviors & actions & he was the central authority & your classic con using religion as his rap, he preyed upon the vulnerable, of course, addicts, dregs of our society & throw away s. Like Bill & most AA members, known by us ex's as self righteous hypocrites, Bill didn't practice what he preached, he & the group are immoral & not of God & eventually the group will collapse & that will be a good thing for addicts & our society. AA is a cult, not as hard core as some cults, but it's cult started by a mentally ill narcissist, just as other cults.

By: Michael

Michael — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 00:33:09 +0000

I agree 100%. My ex- began to go to AA, found a secret boyfriend, and now couldn't care less about family or outside friends. She's not drinking, but is just plain weird and uncaring (unless you are a member of the cult). If it's not a cult, why are they so isolative. I hate them for ruining my family. And I was a good husband and father…

By: Rob

Rob — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 07:33:11 +0000

I think the dichotomy of cult / not-cult is too confining for such encompassing material as AA.

I just wish that people explore their options, because AA in my experience is a painful place to be.

I ended up turning my time spent drinking towards volunteer work and hobbies. I hope that is considered an exceptional alternative.

As a waiter, I serve several different AA Chapters at my work [strange coincidence.] Often times they all have some interconnecting knowledge of each other.

To examine a trend, though, I dare not stereotype. Language used by many affiliated with these chapters has a lot of prejudice and pathologizing of the many other customers in the restaurant drinking. I think everyone is entitled to an opinion but, I fear pathologizing as it is dehumanizing.

Is there an AA conception that practices empowerment rather than dis empowerment? I feel that compassion is a double edged sword [seriously] but, nothing about referring to people as drunks for having a drink is compassionate to me.

Looking for feedback rather than judgment.

Please!

By: Kurt Evans

Kurt Evans — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:27:54 +0000

If AA was a cult, I'd be a lifetime member. There are so many different Alcoholics Anonymous meetings around the world that to classify it as a cult just because of the actions of one little tiny group is ridiculous. It may be that those people were running it like a cult but, it doesn't represent AA as a whole. All I know is that Alcoholics Anonymous helps me stay sober, and that's it. I know that there are many different meetings in all areas around the world. If you don't like the attitudes of the people in one meeting, then go to a different meeting. Every meeting has a different feel to it and different vibes. If you don't jive with one, try another; I'm sure that you'll find a place where you'll fit in. .-= Kurt Evans´s last blog ..Look what I've added =-.

By: Sarah W.

Sarah W. — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 05:20:42 +0000

RE: Michael Garrity

One of the traits of a cult is that its members don’t argue the facts, but make personal attacks. You did a great job of showing that to everyone.

After spending 10 years in AA I’d have to say it’s definitely a cult. If there’s no organization (as they say), why are meetings the same the world over? Sure, if I’m in the Middle East I substitute Allah for God, but otherwise it’s the same thing. I don’t feel like telling my whole story here, but if you’re interested, go to http://www.orange-papers.org and look at the 100 traits of a cult. Make your own decision.

One last point. Alcoholism is not a ‘disease’; it’s a maladaptive habit. You CAN get better if you put some effort into it, and AA has a 5% success rate (for keeping people sober 1 year, it’s even less for longer). Oh, and if you don’t succeed in AA, it’s not because you ‘failed’. AA failed you, not the other way around.

Sarah W.

By: Amanda

Amanda — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 23:54:45 +0000

There are so many things from the reverence and quoting from the big book to the repetition and the heavy suggested things to do, which if you don't follow you are disenfranshised from the group…so many cult like characteristics that it is scarey. I left because I felt oppressed to behave in a certain way due to the disapproval of other members and here I am talking about being a very emotional person and not calm 24 hours a day. No one is forced overtlty to do anything but the love bombing draws you in when you are vulnerable and the disempowerment takes your strength away then you are encouraged to pick your favourite stranger and spill the beans of your life leaving you wide open. Basically AA doctrine teaches you that you are so defective you can't do a dam thing right without some made up mystical God you make up yourself slorting it all out for you.
It totally is a cult and I feel ten times happier now I have left. I am self empowered again and confident. I have other coping strategies than alcohol and I did that not a self styled HP!!

By: Amanda

Amanda — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 23:54:18 +0000

I was in AA for 5 and a half years and then left. Sober still.AA is definitely a cult. There may be no central hegemony as such but there were once leaders whose pictures where centre stage at my home group! The royalties from all the AA approved literature goes to the founders families. I have seen several cases of thirteenth stepping including being thirteenth stepped by a man when I was in the middle of a nervous breakdown ( due to another illness).

By: The Profit

The Profit — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 00:05:53 +0000

Papa used to drink then he found religion … now I wish he would start drinking again.

The Profit's Recent post…null

By: A A

A A — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 22:26:37 +0000

it is a haven for perverts child molestors and low lifes go to ameeting and ck it out half the bastards dont work

By: A A

A A — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 22:24:41 +0000

is like oraginzed crime little groups pay there local intergroup which in turn kicks money back to new york which tells them all what to do sell etc they should be taxed

A A 's Recent post…null

By: Bill W

Bill W — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 22:24:28 +0000

Cult. Definitely. I built it that way.

Glad to hear folks are enjoying the show. Please put your dollar in the basket. If you want to take the experience home, buy the books. Relive the magic of surrender when you can’t sleep for the seventieth time because of your damned prostate. If your ungrateful kids had taken better care of you, you wouldn’t be in this fix. Come on, take a book. Pass it on.

First one’s free.

By: Once a drunk

Once a drunk — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 18:02:10 +0000

Cult or not AA worked for me. I was once in a gutter, and now I am in med school. So who gives a crap if its a cult or not, just as long as its doing an overall good for people. All those who are examining if AA is a cult, really need to do something with their lives. Are you just bored? Do you have nothing better to do? Instead of finding flaws, in something that has an overall good influence on society, why don’t you go do some charity work? Get a job? Contribute to society? Get real problems? Create a non-cult network that has the same success as AA? Read a book? Write a book? Do something productive?

By: scott

scott — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 02:31:28 +0000

THIS IS CRAZY A.A. IS AS ABOUT AS FAR FROM A CULT AS U CAN GET. ITS ABOUT THE ONLY GROUP YOU CAN JOIN AND HAVE A DIFFRENT THOUGHT ON GOD AS ANYBODY ELSE. AND ON TOP OF THAT U DONT EVEN HAVE TO BELIEVE IN GOD IF U DONT WANT TO. THE HOLE PURPOSE OF THE HIGH POWER AND THAT IS THE TERM THEY USE WERE IM FROM IS TO HELP U UNDERSTAND THAT U DONT MAKE THE WORLD GO AROUND. ITS THERE TO HELP U TAKE YOUR SELFISH THINKING AWAY. IT MAKES U LOOK AT U TAKE RESPONSABLITY FOR YOUR ACTIONS. IT WANTS U TO BE A GOOD HUMAN HELP OTHERS AND JUST DO THE RIGHT THING. WOW THAT SOUNDS BAD!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND U DONT HAVE TO PAY FOR THE COFFEE IF U DONT HAVE THE MONEY. BUT TODAY I THANK AND MY FAIMLY THANKS GOD FOR A.A.

By: Mona L.

Mona L. — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 22:11:04 +0000

It always makes me laugh when I read AA members saying that AA isn’t a cult–using cult jargon and Big Book quotes to support their argument! Absolutely hilarious! Thanks for the humor, steppers.

To me, though, the important question shouldn’t be whether AA is a cult, but whether the program works so well that it ought to be the only option offered for addiction treatment. The answer to that question is clearly NO. People trot out all sorts of statistics on this issue, and I’ve read everything out there on the subject right down to the ponderous Vaillant tome. It gets confusing, but nothing, absolutely nothing, out there suggests that any more than maybe 10% of people who join AA are helped by the program. And I don’t need to read some peer-reviewed study to confirm what I saw with my own eyes and heard with my own ears over several years of very active AA membership. My own experience tells me that people rarely achieve abstinence in AA. Most people don’t stick around for more than a few weeks or months. A few will be there after a year, fewer after two…and lots of those who do stay are relapsing constantly.

Amazingly, however, many, MANY people in AA insist that AA is the only way to “get sober”. This puzzled me for a long time, until I realized that AA has its own special definition of “sober”. “Sober” doesn’t mean “abstinent”. “Sober” means “abstinent and in AA”. Thus anyone who becomes abstinent without AA or who leaves AA and remains abstinent is “not really sober” (or, alternatively, a “dry drunk”). For example, although I have not had a drink in ten years, my former AA friends have been kind enough to inform me that I am “not sober” because I am no longer in the program. Amazing indeed.

But most amazing of all is the fact that the treatment community has bought into this obvious sham. The only possible reason for it is the fact that AA members have so permeated the treatment community that it has become an extension of AA–an extension, of course, that gets PAID to treat the constantly relapsing alcoholic. What a nice racket!

For those who love AA and believe it works for them, I say, have at it. But–I’ll use some jargon of my own now, since you folks toss it around so freely–”don’t pee in my face and tell me it’s raining.”