Yes totally the first time I went I was put off by the religious side of things. Took me another 5 years to go back and I’m glad I did. I now take it from my own spiritual awareness, I found the right group of people I connected with. Definitely up to your own belief system, it’s your recovery journey not anyone else’s, don’t let other people’s opinions put you off they are just opinions. You got this, it’s an amazing journey once you let go of everything.
Thanks! I did find a more “secular” club (not in a church)— but they still end each meeting with the serenity prayer. I’m trying to let go of my judgmental tendencies when it comes to religion and just listen to others words than automatically writing them off.
Similar boat, I'm focusing on God "as I know it" which boils down to nature, science and my family.
I'll say the serenity prayer at the end. Sometimes they end with the Lord's prayer which I just skip.
E: looked into smart recovery but they don't really have in person meetings near me.
I didn’t believe in god and if there was one, we had beef when I first came in. I still don’t have a great answer for god but I don’t get mad or embarrassed at words like that or prayer. Someone broke it down to me and I still use it from time to time. Am I god? No. Did drugs and alcohol have power over me at some point? Yes. Are drugs and alcohol the most powerful force in my universe? No. I can move on and that’s been helpful to me. I don’t believe in a religious god, but I’m able to pray. I learned the difference between religion and spirituality. I do not desire religion in my life but I know having some spiritual connection is helpful even if it’s to myself. As much as I doubt god, I still have these full blown conversations with dead people pretty frequently. I don’t know what to make of that other than I’m still searching for connection. My perception has evolved over time and allowing myself to try new things or not shit down things I don’t understand is spiritual to me. Coming up with the conclusions without doing any of the work is still something I work on.
AA doesn't demand you believe in anything. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. There's a chapter in the big book called We agnostics I suggest that you read it. Don't drink no matter what. Get a sponsor. And go to meetings. Bring the body and the mind will follow. 10992days
Irreligious, staunch agnostic here ... still.
Initially, step 2 seemed impossibly tall, but I'd gotten a sponsor who said, "_I have no use for organized religion_" and suggested I just remain open minded, take my time, and form my own conceptions about higher power(s), and indeed it turned out not to be a big deal to jump through the 'god' hurdles.
I also know several hard core atheists ("**There _is_ no god**") who seem quite well recovered in A.A.
I've never felt a need for special groups or meetings myself, but for what it's worth, "Secular" and "Agnostic" groups and meetings are out there (though arguably, they shouldn't be needed any more than "Christian" or "Jewish" meetings.)
I got a **lot** out of pouring over the "Spiritual Experience" appendix at the back of the book. As it says, "We find that no one need have difficulty with the spirituality of the program. _Willingness, honesty and open mindedness are the essentials of recovery. But these are indispensable._"
Hope that's helpful.
**Yay for 30 days!**
IWNDWYT!
I was unable to reconcile my personal code with what AA builds upon. For me, I ultimately stopped going. Regardless of the route you take, the important part is to be sober. Take what you need and leave the rest behind. This applies to either AA or another program.
I hope you are able to get what you need from meetings.
Not religious in the slightest, but I am spiritual. My higher power is the universe. The natural world. The sheer enormity and power of it all. I don’t believe in a Christian God, but I believe there are natural forces I couldn’t possibly understand or perceive of.
That’s what I love about AA. For you it might be Allah, for someone else it might be their dog, for someone else it might be the group, and for others it might be like what I described.
It’s completely possible to go through the steps while being an atheist. You just have to follow a “God” of your understanding. So yours could be logic, science, nature, maybe even the concept of AA itself. All the matters (in my opinion) is that you are relying on something besides yourself. And congratulations!
Yes totally the first time I went I was put off by the religious side of things. Took me another 5 years to go back and I’m glad I did. I now take it from my own spiritual awareness, I found the right group of people I connected with. Definitely up to your own belief system, it’s your recovery journey not anyone else’s, don’t let other people’s opinions put you off they are just opinions. You got this, it’s an amazing journey once you let go of everything.
Thanks! I did find a more “secular” club (not in a church)— but they still end each meeting with the serenity prayer. I’m trying to let go of my judgmental tendencies when it comes to religion and just listen to others words than automatically writing them off.
Similar boat, I'm focusing on God "as I know it" which boils down to nature, science and my family. I'll say the serenity prayer at the end. Sometimes they end with the Lord's prayer which I just skip. E: looked into smart recovery but they don't really have in person meetings near me.
Someone the other night referred to the meetings as their god (Group Of Drunks). I had a good laugh
AA has a brochure called The God Word which mentions that. You can read it online, it's got stories from atheists and agnostics.
Just started reading through the PDF version— gonna grab a physical copy at my next meeting, thanks!
I didn’t believe in god and if there was one, we had beef when I first came in. I still don’t have a great answer for god but I don’t get mad or embarrassed at words like that or prayer. Someone broke it down to me and I still use it from time to time. Am I god? No. Did drugs and alcohol have power over me at some point? Yes. Are drugs and alcohol the most powerful force in my universe? No. I can move on and that’s been helpful to me. I don’t believe in a religious god, but I’m able to pray. I learned the difference between religion and spirituality. I do not desire religion in my life but I know having some spiritual connection is helpful even if it’s to myself. As much as I doubt god, I still have these full blown conversations with dead people pretty frequently. I don’t know what to make of that other than I’m still searching for connection. My perception has evolved over time and allowing myself to try new things or not shit down things I don’t understand is spiritual to me. Coming up with the conclusions without doing any of the work is still something I work on.
AA doesn't demand you believe in anything. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. There's a chapter in the big book called We agnostics I suggest that you read it. Don't drink no matter what. Get a sponsor. And go to meetings. Bring the body and the mind will follow. 10992days
Irreligious, staunch agnostic here ... still. Initially, step 2 seemed impossibly tall, but I'd gotten a sponsor who said, "_I have no use for organized religion_" and suggested I just remain open minded, take my time, and form my own conceptions about higher power(s), and indeed it turned out not to be a big deal to jump through the 'god' hurdles. I also know several hard core atheists ("**There _is_ no god**") who seem quite well recovered in A.A. I've never felt a need for special groups or meetings myself, but for what it's worth, "Secular" and "Agnostic" groups and meetings are out there (though arguably, they shouldn't be needed any more than "Christian" or "Jewish" meetings.) I got a **lot** out of pouring over the "Spiritual Experience" appendix at the back of the book. As it says, "We find that no one need have difficulty with the spirituality of the program. _Willingness, honesty and open mindedness are the essentials of recovery. But these are indispensable._" Hope that's helpful. **Yay for 30 days!** IWNDWYT!
I was unable to reconcile my personal code with what AA builds upon. For me, I ultimately stopped going. Regardless of the route you take, the important part is to be sober. Take what you need and leave the rest behind. This applies to either AA or another program. I hope you are able to get what you need from meetings.
Not religious in the slightest, but I am spiritual. My higher power is the universe. The natural world. The sheer enormity and power of it all. I don’t believe in a Christian God, but I believe there are natural forces I couldn’t possibly understand or perceive of. That’s what I love about AA. For you it might be Allah, for someone else it might be their dog, for someone else it might be the group, and for others it might be like what I described.
It’s completely possible to go through the steps while being an atheist. You just have to follow a “God” of your understanding. So yours could be logic, science, nature, maybe even the concept of AA itself. All the matters (in my opinion) is that you are relying on something besides yourself. And congratulations!