This show was first published when secular AA was just growing into the digital new normal of Zoom AA. It was an experimental time and since February 2020, more new varieties of agnostic, atheist, freethinkers, irreligious AA meetings had sprung up and stuck. Many of these new meetings have never had a brick-and-mordar home. They are the trend which is decade three of millennium # 3.
Episode 53 covers the basics of AA recovery without subscribing to the idea of a prayer-answering, sobriety-granting higher power. We read Reality Check: Being Nonreligious in America. It's a survey and report about life for atheists and agnostics in the Christian nation of the USA.
The survey reports that, people needed to be closeted about their beliefs, even with loved ones.
People got asked to go along with religious rituals and asked not to rock-the-boat... awkward.
People were belittled, ignored or discriminated against.
Does this sound anything like AA stories about nonbelievers getting the fish eye or cold shoulder? Episode 53 looks at this study and some recent AA history and how members are adapting. AA members are creating groups and writing literature to foster the community of AA without god or gods.
Recovery is more accessible than ever for a growing non-religious population who prefer a practical approach to faith-based recovery. It's not better, it's not revolutionary but it's legitimate and has a long, long track record.
This isn't a new fad; In 1965 Bill W was talking about now AA ought to get more accustomed to both atheists and non-Christian believers who were accounting for much of AA's growth. In San Francisco, years before the Monterey Pop festival that exemplifies the summer of love, Dr. Earle of "Physician Heal Thyself" infamy was writing Steps and opening the door people who weren't interested in Divine intervention and also to newcomers with drug problems other than alcoholism. AA was changing. AA was growing. Today, on zoom, there over a dozen secular AA meetings throughout any given day where people can find recovery without having to accept anyone else's beliefs nor having to deny their own.
We get whimsical and musical. It's fun. For links and footnotes, visit Rebellion Dogs Publishing's Podcast page, Episode 53