Is AA religious UK?

Is it religious? Alcoholics Anonymous has only one requirement for membership and that is the desire to stop drinking. There is room in AA for people of all shades of belief and non-belief.

Does AA have a religious affiliation?

The organisation says the only requirement to join AA is the desire to quit drinking and that it is not associated "with any organisation, sect, politics, denomination, or institution". It says there is room in the fellowship for people of all beliefs and no belief.

Can you go to AA if you are an atheist?

Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous don't require you to believe in a certain way. “Most people in AA are very welcoming and open to agnostics and atheists.

Can you be in AA and not believe in God?

Yes, although you may have to do some internal mental gymnastics to be cool with it. Here's the first three steps of AA (Alcoholics Anonymous): We admitted we were powerless over our addiction – that our lives had become unmanageable.

Does AA use God?

So while AA members tell us that it doesn't have to be G-O-D, the book Alcoholics Anonymous, the basic text its members use, contains the G word and He and Him (with a capital H) an awful lot.

Jordan Peterson on Alcoholics Anonymous

Is there an agnostic AA?

There is room in A.A. for people of all shades of belief and non-belief. Many members believe in some sort of god, and we have members who come from and practice all sorts of religions, but many are also atheist or agnostic.

What AA says about God?

Against this background of despair, Alcoholics Anonymous comes along telling him that God is in him, that God can be in him as much as God can be anywhere, that if God is not in him God is not everywhere and so cannot be God. By the witness of another alcoholic, now sober, the life is breathed into his soul.

What is secular AA?

Secular A.A. is a movement within Alcoholics Anony- mous that seeks to widen our gateway so that all who suffer may pass through and find long-term sobriety in A.A. regardless of their belief or lack of belief in a God.

What does agnostic mean in AA?

“We Agnostics” goes on to tell us that those who embrace spirituality will eventually encounter a spiritual awakening. The spiritual experience often comes into the conversation when discussing recovery from alcoholism and addiction, as it is seen as the very moment at which a person begins to truly embrace sobriety.

Is it a sin to be an alcoholic?

Drunkenness is a Sin

Excessive consumption of alcohol is a sin against God. It is not possible to drink heavily, to be addicted to alcohol, or to drink for the purpose of being drunk and to do so in a Godly way.

How does AA define spirituality?

When a man or woman has a spiritual awakening, the most important meaning of it is that he has now become able to do, feel, and believe that which he could not do before on his unaided strength and resources alone.

Is the AA Big Book religious?

An alternative to AA called Smart Recovery, which was founded in 1994 and has about 600 meetings across the country, doesn't use spirituality or religion in its program. AA is the biggest treatment program by far, with more than 2 million members.

What are the 12 steps of AA non religious?

What are the Bedevilments in AA?

selfish, dishonest, self-seeking and frightened… remorse, depression and inferiority… misery, bad repute, and hopelessness.” [All quotes from Alcoholics Anonymous.]

How can I get sober?

What does Smart stand for in recovery?

SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

What does SOS stand for in recovery?

Secular Organizations for Sobriety (SOS), also known as Save Our Selves, is a non-profit network of autonomous addiction recovery groups. The program stresses the need to place the highest priority on sobriety and uses mutual support to assist members in achieving this goal.

Is let go and let God in AA?

It's not unusual to hear people in Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings or 12-step groups mention the importance of “letting go and letting God.” This quote serves as advice for what to do when facing struggles and obstacles while navigating recovery.

Were there alcoholics in the Bible?

The original versions of the books of the Bible use several different words for alcoholic beverages: at least 10 in Hebrew, and five in Greek. Drunkenness is discouraged and not infrequently portrayed, and some biblical persons abstained from alcohol.

How many times is God mentioned in the AA book?

Consequently, the “official” AA program continues to rely on the divine, the sacred, the religious. The word “God”, or another version of “Him”, is found 281 times in the first 164 pages of the Big Book. The divine is addressed directly as “God” in four of the 12 steps and indirectly in two, as “Power” and “Him.”

Can you be agnostic and atheist?

Technically, an atheist is someone who doesn't believe in a god, while an agnostic is someone who doesn't believe it's possible to know for sure that a god exists. It's possible to be both—an agnostic atheist doesn't believe but also doesn't think we can ever know whether a god exists.

What does surrender mean in addiction?

Surrender is defined as giving oneself over to something. When we think about this term in the context of active addiction, it's clear that addiction forces us to surrender; when addiction is severe, we surrender our thoughts, our actions, our relationships, our personal fulfillment, our dreams and our successes.

Is the 12 step program a religion?

The 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous offers a spiritual program but is not based on any specific doctrine from any religion.

How do you help someone who doesn't believe in God?

Start a Gospel Conversation

First, just pray and fast for them so that their heart may open up to the gospel. Then the next time you meet them, open up topics and subjects that lead to a conversation about the gospel. Be sure to invite them to church or activities, and most of all, be friendly.

What is AA based on?

AA sprang from the Oxford Group, a non-denominational, altruistic movement modeled after first-century Christianity. Some members founded the group to help in maintaining sobriety.