At least, this poison does…
Strangely, I discover (or, it discovers me) information which I have the opportunity to put together comfortably for myself and perhaps for you. I know some of you may feel uncomfortable with it and I’ll always let you know so you have the opportunity to look away. This is another of those cases where religion will be discussed, spoken about, referred to.
The Bizarre? Before I begin – its been a very long time since the names “Barbara” and “Mark” have appeared to me in the same place. They did that for 22 years.
Poison? I’m doing a bit of research for the post title and I find this;
3. (idiomatic) A drink; liquor
I’ve had another comment appearing to be from Dick B. in moderation for some time again. I’m not certain it is from Dick however, unless he somehow sent it from Virginia. Dick lives in Hawaii. Perhaps someone else wanted to make reference to it for Dick’s sake, I don’t know.
The comment begins;
“All A.A.’s Ideas Were Borrowed, said Bill W.: The Basic Ideas Came From Their Study of the Good Book, said Dr. Bob
Early in its founding years, A.A.’s co-founder Bill Wilson put the torch to the idea that A.A. sprang from just one source. He said frankly that nobody invented A.A. He said all its ideas were borrowed. And Dr. Bob broadened the source picture by pointing out that all the basic ideas came from the Pioneers’ study of the Bible.”
Which is the motivation for the title of this entry. Why? Because “the poison” says;
“Alcoholism was invented by Bill Wilson, a common drunk who founded AA as a personal distraction from his own unrelenting desire to get drunk.”
Not only is that a poisonous statement, it is incredibly ignorant.
Since Bill and Dr. Bob were human, they made a mistake;
“Unfortunately, neither co-founder put in writing in one place all the well-springs that produced the streams in A.A. Consequently commentators, both favorable to and critical of A.A., have had a field day with discussions of our roots. Most of them have a number of erroneous concepts so embedded in their historical approaches that they just never tell it like it is or like it was. Those who don’t like the Bible say that we left it behind in Akron. Those who don’t like the Oxford Group say that it taught us more about what not to do than what to do. And those who don’t like either the Bible or the Oxford Group have tried to quiet the waters by diverting the stream. They say A.A. is “spiritual, but not religious” even though any well-informed historian, scholar, clergyman, and semanticist would probably ask: “And what’s the difference?” Nobody really knows, but the distinction without a difference leaves many in a peaceful atheistic no man’s land.”
This, in turn, leads to our religious references and the balance of what part of Dick’s comment I want to publish today -
“The real difference in how we characterize A.A. is that without a knowledge of A.A.’s various sources—mostly religious—people quickly make up their own sources. It’s called “self-made religion.” And A.A.’s co-founder Rev. Sam Shoemaker pointed out that this self-fabricated stuff leads to all kinds of nonsense—including “absurd names for God” and “half-baked prayers” as Sam described them.
So it is. Those who have spurned our historical facts often say that our Creator can be a tree, or they say that neither the Creator nor the tree is “Conference Approved.” Some capitalize “Higher Power” as if to make it sacred. Others write “higher power” in lower case—timidly offering it as something greater than yourself. Today, A.A. World headquarters often goes go on to say that you really don’t have to believe in anything at all. See A Newcomer Asks. . . (York, England” A.A. Sterling Area Services, n.d.); This is AA. . . an introduction to the AA recovery program (NY: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., 1984), p. 15. And most AAs are inclined to say, “Don’t analyze, utilize” or “Don’t think and don’t drink,” or “Look for the similarities and discard the differences.” Sometimes, fortunately, they may add that the Big Book is A.A.’s basic text but then let it go at that. “The Big Book says it, and that settles it” is a common A.A. expression. And that leaves us with what the Big Book says, but mostly what it doesn’t say. Most assuredly the “basic text” doesn’t say much about history, roots, or development.
AAs today have seen all “official” mention of the Bible deleted from their basic text. They’ve seen Jesus Christ mentioned only once, and then as a man whose ideas are seldom followed. They’ve seen the Creator turned into a higher power which has been turned into a radiator. At the same time, they hear about prayer and meditation and haven’t the slightest bit of information as to what those ideas meant either in earliest A.A. or even in the Big Book and Steps. Worse, all mention of cure has been obliterated and the following substituted: “We in AA believe there is no such thing as a cure for alcoholism” A Newcomer Asks, p. 2. Bill Wilson didn’t believe there was no cure (Big Book, p.191). Dr. Bob didn’t believe there was no cure for alcoholism (Big Book, p. 180). A.A. Number Three (Bill Dotson) didn’t believe there was no cure (Big Book, p. 191). What happened to God? What happened to cure?
Today, A.A. newcomers are befuddled and confronted with nonsense. Prayer to a rock? Prayer to a chair or a tree? Meditation with a radiator? Meditation as listening to Something? Praying to what! Chanting to what! Listening to what—a light bulb? For assistance, they are told in their basic text that there are “helpful books,” but there is no mention of the Good Book which was the major source for their basic ideas. In fact, most don’t dare mention any of the hundreds of religious books the pioneers read.”
It is only my personal, humble as can be, opinion (to which you are not being asked to subscribe) that Alcoholics Anonymous and the Twelve Steps are gifts from a loving God. Those who detract from this, those who belittle and demean AA, those who level outlandish, fabricated statements about AA and its founders and members, are nothing more or less than the lower powers’ associates and ought to be treated as such.
To expand – those who are the lower powers’ associates have also belittled and demeaned all Twelve Step recovery programs by association! That has to be seen as evidence that they want thousands upon thousands to die. Horrible deaths. So, I suggest we all continue to offer up the anti-venom!