The Twelve Step Cult
by Mitch Bailey
We live in a society seemingly overwhelmed with addictions to various chemicals. An habitual user of drugs/alcohol is usually encouraged to seek "treatment" within the format of a program offering 12 Steps to sober living. Most heralded is Alcoholics Anonymous (AA).
Actually, the AA program is the pioneer of the "Treatment Age," started back in the 1930's by a few Midwestern businessmen having habitual unprofitable experiences with the booze bottle. Hence, AA has been lauded all over the world for aiding millions of problem drinkers in getting away from the bottle and into a new glorious life of sobriety. They do this by using a vast support system of meetings with other AA members to maintain their abstinence from alcohol, promoting a simple philosophy of taking life "day by day," and voicing curious slogans such as "let go, let God."
In "Mainstream Cults," Cardigan wrote of how respected, established religions such as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints have, in reality, all the properties of what meets a contemporary definition of a cult, with odious doctrines and practices. Just because a religious organization is open and living in mainstream America, and not hiding in a jungle drinking cyanide Kool-Aid, doesn't mean that it is not a cult. Just because a church group has millions of members, instead of a few dozen religious freaks armed to the teeth, does not mean it is a kind and humanitarian order.
Alcoholics Anonymous may as well qualify as a mainstream cult. Factually, the AA organization, and other 12 Step offspring like Narcotics Anonymous (NA), are in fact evangelical religious sects, enjoying the same tax dodge as churches. A typical AA meeting is conducted in a formal liturgical method: The attendees at said meetings must open by stating their names, and confess that they are alcoholics. The members chant the 12 Steps aloud as sanctioned by The Big Book -- the official "Bible" of AA. 'Twixt prayers and chants, each member is required to speak, usually a confession of any backsliding into "devil rum." Meek, depressed, and downtrodden individuals are often belittled and bullied by more aggressive members, especially if the individual is a female. Remember, Alcoholics Anonymous was founded by Midwestern businessmen from a different era, when women were looked upon as only fit to be housewives and doormats for the whims of the husband. (Rather like the views of many fundamentalists, today.) Women in AA, especially those perceived as having low self-esteem, are excellent fodder for predatory males in group sessions. Mental abuse is the norm for the downtrodden female, and actual cases of physical and sexual abuse have occurred. AA is trapped in a sexist and classist time-warp, and "uppity" women need not apply.
A problem drinker is encouraged from his/her first meeting to keep an open mind. Actually, what AA considers an open mind is anything but. An individual cannot deviate from AA dogma. A person conveying any differing opinion to those in The Big Book is castigated as being "in denial" by other members. Even relative social drinkers must confess aloud that they are alcoholics. The naïve and unaware initiates in AA are subjected to what I would call "Boot Camp Indoctrination." In the armed services, recruits arriving for basic training in their respective branches of the military are subjected to mental and physical torment to break down individuality to the lowest level, then re-tooled into a new military standard (see the movie Full Metal Jacket for an excellent portrayal of this). The 12 Step program requires a person to hit rock bottom before they can truly see the light about their "disease." One must forfeit any esteem of one's being -- "let go, let God." No other treatment for their drinking problem is condoned. Alcoholics Anonymous is the only path to recovery, no glimmer of heresy is allowed. Just like religious fundamentalists, only their way can lead the AA member to the Promised Land of sobriety.
Nearly every person in the 12 Step program has a "sponsor." In theory, the sponsor is there to aid an individual's path to recovery, to be a shoulder to cry on at any time of the day or night if they are tempted to go out and drink. The reality is that said sponsors are to act as the Praetorian Guard of the AA Empire. Their job is to keep the AA membership in line, bully and coerce the members. The AA participant must not associate with drinkers, and/or those who are critical of AA. Former members are often treated as apostates and shunned.
Now if the above paragraphs do not describe a religious organization with a blatant cult panache, I don't know what would. I really can't think of a better description for a mainstream cult.
AA's glittering reputation of helping problem drinkers is without any foundation. The failure rate of the organization is severely high -- fewer than 5% of AA initiates remain in the program after thirty days. Any other business or trade with a futility rate such as this would be run out of town on a rail. Alcoholics Anonymous' 12 Step dogma simply does not work! A benevolent alternative to the 12 Step edifice can be found at Rational Recovery. RR treats the problem drinker as an individual with a behavior problem, not as a low, diseased freak in need of a Higher Power, as AA does. According to statistics compiled at RR, a whopping 70% of abusers of drugs and alcohol who quit permanently do so of their own free will. The human being with a chemical problem is actually not "powerless" to deal with it, as AA insists. Rational Recovery helps the chemically dependent to modify their behavior patterns that keeps a person under the yoke of drugs/alcohol to refrain from abuse without a reliance on God or a Higher Power.
One may ask, then: What keeps AA and related 12 Step programs functioning? Why, your good ol' state and local governments, that's what!
Those unfortunate people charged/convicted of driving motor vehicles under the influence of alcohol are often required by their respective court systems to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings as a condition of avoiding jail sentences. Failure to comply is often met with severe action. Prison inmates are denied parole because of refusal to attend mandated 12 Step programs. Alternative means such as Rational Recovery are not allowed. Even Medicaid benefits for substance abusers are reserved entirely for those in AA and NA. Our servicepeople in the military with drinking and drug problems are required to dance to the 12 Step Waltz or face an other-than-honorable discharge. Parents may have their children taken from them because they missed a court mandated AA or NA meeting.
The list goes on and on. A good resource for further reading about the abuses of the 12 Step Juggernaut can be found at AA Deprogramming. The grist of the research of this article can be found there. (Thanks!) One does not have to be an attorney to realize that the spurious alliance of our government with AA is a gross violation of the Constitution. Rational Recovery has a legal action network trying to see that this flagrant violation of the separation of church and state is challenged in our court systems. They need your help. Even if you are a non-drinker, you cannot be into freethought and allow this to continue with impunity. I cannot think of a current worse violation of civil rights than what is going on in our nation with the courts giving 12 Step programs a de facto grace as a state religion. Drinking and driving is illegal and with good reason should remain so. But does this give the government a green light to imprison drunk drivers with murderers, rapists, and child molesters just because they may refuse to attend a religious/cultic program? I think not!
...they came for the substance abusers, and I wasn't a drunk or druggie, so I didn't speak up. Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak up for me...
1 comment:
when i first joined NA i didnt know what i was supposed to be doing or what i was supposed to expect from it. so i guessed it was about reaching out to other people- getting support and friendship from them. this one person- who ran group therapy gave me his phone number and told me to ring him. i didnt know what i was supposed to be doing- but i tried the NA thing and thought if i rung him my life might pick up and i might get more friends and connect with people better. but this man came accross as the maddest person....he couldnt have a two way conversation or listen, he couldnt take an interest and kept talking about issues and opinions...on philosphy and about NA in partciular- he was fanatical. i got really scared that this man was conducting group therapy and that he was even getting paid for it on a salary. this man didnt seem balanced or stable himself. i realised that i was actually too mentally sick for NA to deal with and to help me with- and that you needed to be mentally strong for NA- not weak. as if you werent in a strong place NA could rock your foundations. another time- i bumped into an old using friend who had become clean with the help of NA and group therapy- she convinced me that it was a good idea for me to have her phone number and for me to phone ehr up if i ran into a wobbly moment. i checked and double checked. i said "it will feel really needy for me to phone you- areyou sure you can handle it and be there for me?" she said "yes- dont lkisten to that voice that tells you not to"
so one boring sunday- when i had been on my own all week....and the sunday was dragging...and i was losing faith in my ability to reduce from the methadone i gave her a call. it was the biggest mistake and the phone call turned bad very quickly. she was very rude....and it became clear she had forgotten what she had said....she evens aid "should you be talking to a counselor about all of this?"
so yet again....i wasnt sure of what i was supposed to be feeling or what. so that call made me feel terribly mentally sick. each week at meetings i felt a need to talk to someone- as i had become so lonely and isolated with years of addiction.....but the other women were pactisin they "serenity"- and didnt want to burdened with negative emotions- i was expected to launch into serentiy straight away- which meant keeping negative and upsetting emotions bottled up and to myself. all in all- NA compounded certain feelings- left me feeling insecure and confused and sometimes BAFFLED- sometimes i would come home and feel really confused- mentally. none of it seemed to makme sense!! the only thing that seemed to make sense to me was the cute guys and the flirting was fun.
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