Why is alcoholics anonymous so religion oriented?!
Answers:
it was started when the only place to get help was a church, so, there goes the religion stuff, but, in admitting a problem and telling others through the 12 steps it has helped many people. but, as it is, they do not help single people, because they want you to go to 90 meeting in 90 first days, and they never have any child care so that you can GO to all those meetings. So for me, the lack of a place to put my kid for an hour, without some mom from school knowing about it was the bigger wall then the religion that was involved. As I drink my evening wine.
AA is a splinter group that came out of the Oxford Group, a Christian sect.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_Grou…
Like AA, the Oxford Group claimed to be "spiritual not religious".
The Religious Roots of Alcoholics Anonymous and the Twelve Steps
http://www.orange-papers.org/orange-reli…
AA and other 12step groups teach people that they are powerless over their addictions, that they have a lifelong disease that even God cannot cure, only grant them a reprieve on a day by day basis.
its not necessarily religious, it is about finding a higher power.. a lot of people in AA consider god to be their higher power but it is totally up to the person as to what they consider a higher power. could be a chair if they want it to be. its more about understanding they (we) have a problem and its beyond our control. also over 80% of people in the US say they are christian
been to tons of AA/CA/GA/NA meetings
http://blacksheepster.com
Idk, I guess when people are desperate, they turn to God who they think is stronger than them. And they think God will magically cure their addiction. They take their addiction for alcohol, and turn it into a lets say "new" hobby, like worshipping a religion.
went to an AA meeting. it was ridiculous.
That is a very good question. If it helps people to kick their addiction it works for them but it certainly doesn't work for everyone and it seems to me it is replacing one addiction with another, albeit less harmful, one.
People who believe in a creator (something greater than them selves), and a greater purpose in life than just their own desires, have a better rate of success at beating addiction.
Because it comes from America .