"When compared with the everyday occurrences of an active alcoholic without AA, even bad AA seems trivial. No one has died, no one has gone to jail, in fact no one has even been charged with a crime… they have been called, hold on to your hats, cult-like."
There seems to be an awful lot of hoopla being raised about this AA group in DC alleged to have cult-like tendencies. I first saw mention of the Newsweek story over at scout’s newcomer daze but soon afterwards saw it splattered all over the media even finding a site dedicated to stopping the group from using the AA name.
The Newsweek story was titled “A Struggle Inside AA” and tagged as “Critics Say Washington AA Chapter is Cultlike” as if there was this huge rift in AA with over two million members rushing to choose sides. Well I think the title seems more dramatic flair than substance, especially since the story revolves around a single AA chapter, Midtown AA, and the accusations of a few ex-members.
Read more below the fold…
Now don’t get me wrong, I am not condoning AA members acting like doctors and sex fiends (if it’s true), in fact I personally have found very few AA meetings to my liking. But in the worse case scenario, you have got a few AA yahoos that have taken things too far. When compared with the everyday occurrences of an active alcoholic without AA, even bad AA seems trivial. No one has died, no one has gone to jail, in fact no one has even been charged with a crime… they have been called, hold on to your hats, “cult-like”. Believe me, when I was living in a bottle, sleeping with whoever, hanging out with reprobates, being a criminal, and manipulating all who still cared about me- a day with what the worse Midtown AA could sling at me would still be have been considered a “good day”.
It is ludicrous to have a national news story alluding to a struggle inside an organization of millions, when the real story is about a single chapter and relative handful of people with unproved allegations. The only struggle I see going on here is Newsweek trying to prop up their popularity with scandalmongering tabloidism and attacking a group whose systematic anonymity assures they will not publicly defend themselves.
In my humble opinion AA has a very limited role in discovering the fruits of a long term recovery, but for those new to recovery the 7 day a week support that is almost always available is a life saver. If Newsweek is looking to do a hitjob on an institution, maybe they should do an exposé on their own journalistic standards.
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I think that AA or NA meetings are just like anything else in life. You have to keep looking to find one that you think fits you the best. For some of the people that are in this particular AA group it has obviously worked for them.
For anyone that had a suspicion that this group was not for them, they should have not gone to it. Simple as that. If someone was telling me to stop taking drugs prescribed by my health care provider I wouldn't automatically stop taking them. Would You?
I have been to plenty of groups that I was not crazy about for one reason or another and you know what I did? I found a different group.
erinsav
www.whatwinnersdo.com
a great many of recovery groups and they all have their own personality and traditions. Some have been cliqueish, some age or gendered biased, and some just downright boring but most if not all had recovery and support as their primary goal. If you need a group to stay sober- an hour with bad recovery group is so much better than a meeting with your dealer or a conference at the bar.
Good advice Erin- shop around.
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