I went to my first meeting last night, and the discussion was Step 2. “The God thing” had kept me away from AA — I’m a proud atheist — but recent signs and coincidences led me to go; the fact that it was Step 2 was another sign. My higher power is the universe and the signs I need to pay attention to. I’m looking forward to starting this journey.
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There are also secular AA meetings. I go to both traditional as well as secular, but prefer the Agnostic AA meetings I attend. The Satanic Temple (don't laugh/cringe check it out) has a "Sober Faction" that also has meetings. I prefer these to the traditional meetings because the topics are always more practical to my atheist brain.
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Amazing that you went. Me personally that’s my higher power. However I don’t necessarily completely agree with the big book at everything. With that being said I found a list of amazing ways to help with recovery that has nothing to do with religion. Nevertheless though that’s great you went and got something positive out of it.
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@kate144686 did you go to a lead meeting or a discussion meeting? If it was a discussion, what was the topic?
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It was a Step meeting that had discussion about Step 2. We read the Step and each of us discussed what it meant to us. It was profound for me because I’d avoided AA in the past because I didn’t want to be “told” to believe in god. I now understand that my “god” concept is what I make it.
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That's cool. Yeah there is a lot of discussion in that, especially in step 3. My only issue with it in traditional meetings is that even though you or I have a different vision of a "higher power" ( I don't really have one) is that people in AA will tell you to believe what you want but they will always try to reel you into their god concept. There is definitely a "don't worry kid, you'll get it eventually" kinda vibe present.
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Yaay Satanic Temple Sober Faction is the best!
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Satanic Temple is a really interesting organization. I listened to a couple talks by Lucien Greaves that were very good. Very practical and I like that they are working to keep things in balance for secular people.
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Yeah; I have a pretty keen god-dar and didn’t feel a pressure vibe at this particular group. I will look into TST lit and sites. I have a good sober friend who is a member (well, she pays dues to be on their lists for religious freedom reasons) and may reach out to see about resources.
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Exactly! Your “higher power” doesn’t have to be labeled. I believe in God as my higher power but have been to meetings where the universe or nature or what have you are higher powers. If that is what gets you out of yourself to see there is something greater than yourself then by all means start there!
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Yup, gotta start somewhere. Agreed
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Just about every lead I ever heard has been by a drunk who was already a believer.
My home group is an Agnostic AA group. There are at least 6 old timers with 30+ years of continuous sobriety, both men and women. Suggesting that belief in god has the monopoly on sobriety would be laughable if it weren't so sad and actually destructive.
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Agree; the god thing kept me away from AA for too long. I will work to share my experience and “reverse evangelize” in a way to make non-religious folks feel more welcome.
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Good luck. Your higher power can be whatever it is you want it to be.
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It’s why I prefer NA meetings. Less religiousy. Problem with most folk coming into the rooms is they hold resentments toward their god and do the blame game. Also, most were raised with a religion and it’s god. Thing is, not about a god per se. About finding something, anything, other than yourself to have your back in times of need when alone and wanting to use. That simple. We all go through times of loneliness with wanting to use and have nowhere to turn. Trying to “willpower” that urge alone usually almost always fails. Ergo, a 24/7 friend at your side gets you through it.
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This is my point, pretty much daily, here in this app. To try to make it comfortable for nonreligious people too. Point out that deists absolutely do NOT have the market on sobriety.
Most people who talk about their own higher power" tend to think/talk as though they have some different HP but when you look at it, it's really just another version of the christian "god". And that's okay, it's really hard to avoid the indoctrinating we have all been programmed with since we were children.
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That sounds like crazy person talk. "something, anything other than yourself to have your back in times of need"? That's crazy. Impractical. Times of need? Which need? Different needs require different types of tools. There is so much practical help out there that one doesn't need to create ghosts to believe in. The meetings are full of flesh and blood people who aren't mysterious.
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I do use the tracker. And the amount of years sober I have is irrelevant. I'm being practical, you're relying on "feelings". "Shoving feathers up your a$$ doesn't make you a chicken". Believing you have something that has your back doesn't make it so. It's a false hope. Take the "God's got me" mentality to a cliff and see what happens. That's not practical, right? Not much difference.
Some of what I said is my opinion. I don't have all the answers. But I'm marginally intelligent. I think for myself. I can deduce with the best of them. Trying to pull rank on me based on how long I've been sober is weak, especially when you're doing it to support your feeling that omnipresent supernatural being cares what you do today. To me it's so much simpler than that. Do good stuff to people, hang out with good people, feel good, be good. Do the opposite and you're gonna feel like a shïthead. I know these two truths from experience. So does everyone, probably. There's nothing supernatural about it, it's basic math.
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No. The Satanic Temple does not worship Satan. Look into it. Satan's likeness or whatever is used as a rebellious icon.
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