AA form of Mind Control?

When I went to AA meetings 15 years ago, it was all about personal responsibility. While I kept trying to tell them that I was going the wrong way down a one-way street because I was unfamiliar with the city, it really had nothing to do with the fact that I was wasted at the time. And they pointed that out to me over and over again... until I finally got it.

I have a friend in Denmark who has been attending NA/AA meetings for 8 or 10 years there. His meetings seem to be more like what you describe, jenx. The meetings start off with prayer and are focused on releasing some of your 'burden' to God... and specifically, to Jesus... who apparently is really Charles Atlas and has really big shoulders.

Like DrPostman has said, though, your higher being can be whoever you chose. I, personally, would chose myself as the 'higher power', simply because taking personal responsibility for my actions has become very important to me. But that's just me and my story.

Yo OP, youve been arrested for drugs, I would have to say that your life has become unmanigable and your best thinking got you into court and you now have a criminal record. Do you think that same best thinking is going to be able to fix your addiction?


Just a question.




PETA (People who Eat Tasty Animals)

Yo OP, youve been arrested for drugs, I would have to say that your life has become unmanigable and your best thinking got you into court and you now have a criminal record. Do you think that same best thinking is going to be able to fix your addiction?


Just a question.


Life unmanageable? Because of some weed?" Yeah, O.k., whatever. I'm not going to get into an argument about whether marijuana should be legal. And actually, when I complete all my required AA classes my record is cleared. If you want to call it an addiction because i smoke pot at home and on the weekends, that's cool. But I don't need a "higher power" to help me stop anyting, they told me to stop and I stopped. It's mind over matter. And why do they have to force God down your throat. I guess if your frligion is something other than christianity your screwed, yeah they say the higher power of your choice, but who's God do you think they are praying to. Angry? I'm not angry, I feel a little sad for all those who buy into this crap and think only some fictitious God can save them, because they themselves aren't capable. THTB got those people right where they want them

Avoid AA at all costs -- it's a cult!

I've been an alcoholic since 1976 and I've been through the hoop: hospitalisation, clinics, psychotherapy, antidepressants, acupuncture, hypnosis, natural therapies, religion ... and AA.

The only thing that ever worked was THE POWER OF ME ALONE!

AA is not only nonsense, it's dangerous. You get manipulated by folks who say you're thinking is wrong, or other people become dependeant on you and begin to affect your life.

When you're recovering THE LAST THING YOU NEED is to be surrounded by OTHER ALCOHOLICS OBSESSIVELY TALKING ABOUT ALCOHOL.

I've been dry for over 11 years -- thanks to ME.

Agreed. AA is mind control bullshit based on the Catholic Church concept of confess and repent.

I was once thrown out of an AA meeting when someone said the stupid ass saying, self will run riot.

I stood up and said-self will run riot built this great country you stupid assholes.


And yes, I was sober as a church sayin' it.

Dumbasses' that can't think for themselves go to AA.

Real mutherfuckers get a grip.

P.S. AA will turn you into a dry drunk. Members become obsessed with the idea of "stinking thinking" and love to spot it in others.

AA cannot let go of the idea that you will always be struggling not to drink. They INSIST that you cannot do it alone. They actively build you up for a relapse.

Yet I, eleven years sober thanks to my love of literature, actually hate the smell of alcohol and DREAM of drinking hot chocolate and ice-cold Perrier.

Accept yourself for who you are and take an interest in history, literature, philosophy or whatever floats your boat. You DO NOT NEED OTHER ALCOHOLICS telling how to recover!

Enjoy your life YOUR OWN WAY. Despite everything, it's still beautiful.

Gah, I miss AA, who used to post here at GLP :(

Steve

i beat it on my own, but did have to go to court appointed meetings for a couple years.

yeah, it is a bit strange that they aren't about empowering one another, but about giving one's will to something else that is "more powerful".

i went to aa for a while, there are some nice folks there. in one of my regular meetings there was a guy who was agnostic and had been part of the program for quite a while. he managed to stir some shit up among the 'traditional' aa folks.

LOL try to recover from drinking and get your cozy worldview blown to shit at the same time. Then it would be worth it. lol

Driving School is a form of mind control. It helps you stay alive.

Everything is so phacked up these days.
Oh phack it all to hell in a handwoven handbasket.

Self Responsiblility is not having too join a club too quit something... Its a friggen cult... For weaklings

Statistics show that AA has a success rate of 15% percent sobriety for two years.

Not very encouraging. But I'm not surprised.

In the days I did AA, I would go into a meeting feeling pretty good and come out positively screaming for a drink. Why? Because all they do is TALK ABOUT BOOZE and remind you that you are DOOMED TO FAIL unless you follow the holy and sacred 12-step brainwashing programme.

You always have some arrogant bastard there who was been sober for 300 years, and everyone thinks of him as being SUPERMAN or some kind of fucking GURU, and it's the most power the loser has ever had in his life and he makes sure you know it.

Then you get the born-again-jesus-saved-me-from-booze lunatics who burn and flash with a new-found zeal as they reach the top of the 12-step pyramid until they fall off the wagon and become blabbering hopeless sinners again, yapping on about how Satan is trying to destroy them and they've got to start over on Step One.

And the eye candy. The hopeless tarts who come along looking for married men to hug them and make them feel sexy again ... and that leads to intergroup problems and jealousies and fucking MINDGAMES.

LOL

Fuck AA and take care of yourself.

15%? I think you mean 5%. That is the going rate for any recovery program actually. What it really comes down to is the actual person.

Frankly the best part of AA is building a network of people you can call when you feel stressed...

Penn & Teller are right that it is trading one time wasting obsession with another. And I must admit I have a massive hang up on "GOD". I really feel like Im being disingenuous about the whole god thing as they view it as important, but frankly I just don't get it.

AA was also the name of Crowley's esoteric magickal order Astrum Argentum, their symbol is the silver star

the symbol of the silver triangle in alcholoic's anonymous refers to someone who has been 'clear' (same words used by scientology's narconon)

....just some stuff i noticed

Last year I got busted for growing.

I had to do AA/MA a few times a week.

Now I can't smoke pot or drink alcohol until my 2 year probation is finished. I have to give regular urine tests.

It also cost me $15,000 in court and lawyer fees.

AMERIKA SUCKS!


Stan P.

PS As soon as my probation ends, I'm getting a card!

I should have gotten that stupid piece of paper sooner. It only costs $120.00

Whae I asked my lawyer... "What about liberty, justice and ... happiness he laughed but would not answer in words. They know we are not under Constitutional law!

A PHAT JOINT AND A SIX PACK A DAY, KEEP THE EVIL AA AWAY!!!

what card is this?

this thread SUCKS and should be banned.

AA predates scientology, but both use some of the same source material & methodology.

OP you are pulling a classic here. I bet they eat you for breakfast.

Quitting drinking or drugs is not the point of it, it is the part of it that even if you stop this you will find some other way to medicate yourself and to sabotage yourself which is what it sounds like you are bargaining for today.

My hubby quit drinking for 3 1/2 years but he was a dry drunk, that was all he had accomplished and he eventually got around to trashing himself until he submitted to the fact that he needed help to overcome the underlying issue beneath the drinking. You do not seem to be wanting to go there and you cannot BS them at AA as they have heard it all which is very uncomfortable for some.

Druggies and alcoholics are all about themselves, period, until they take the steps towards real sobriety and they begin to get acquainted with all the mischief and damage they have visite upon themselves and those who love them. My hubby and now his son have walked into this light and they are such fine strong and loving individuals who are finally comfortable with who they are.

Wonder why John D Rockefeller jnr took a great interest in AA ? And why did Bill W a founder member take LSD.....

That sounds all good and dandy. But from my point of view...Real motherfuckers have themselves a good size glass of scotch at the end of the day. Which I might add, is right about now.
Enjoy your sobriety if it caused you a problem. And by all means don't get juiced and drive a car. Just learn your priorities.

Yeah, and us real men, have about 15 of those, and chase it with 20 beers.

This is one of the core beliefs propagated by the AA cult. One of the steps requires that you make amends to all the people you have allegedly offended or hurt while you were drinking.

This would have required me to do nothing else in my life but to travel THE ENTIRE GLOBE doing favors for thousands of people. LOL.

You made a pass at your boss's wife. So what? That was years ago. Now you've got to find her and your ex-boss and take them out to dinner and remind them what a fool you were (and evidently still are).

AA makes a big deal out of something that you should simply accept and THEN FORGET.

But they DON'T WANT YOU TO FORGET that you're an alcoholic. Oh no, they will remind you about it until you go right out there again and DRINK YOURSELF INTO A STUPOR so that everyone has something to tut-tut about at the next meeting.

AA seriously screws with the lives of vulnerable people who are in recovery and WHO SHOULD AVOID OTHER ALCOHOLICS AT ALL COSTS.

Alcoholics Anonymous is a group of recovering alcoholics looking for psychotic attachments as displacement therapy.

IT IS A MINDFUCK PROGRAMME.

I've been sober for something over twelve years now. When I quit, I went to about six meetings, then at a year into it I went to six more on the advice of a friend who said people fuck up at a year into it.

I have to echo the guy above, in all the years since I quit drinking, the times I have wanted a drink worst of all, was when I was on my way out of an AA meeting. By far, the biggest desire to drink out of any other situation.

I thought I was the only one, til I read people saying the same thing at the Rational Recovery site. It's not so surprising when you think about it I guess.

Honestly, if you're serious about never wanting to drink again for the rest of your life, why would you want to hang around with a bunch of drunks who talk about and think about drinking all the time?

There are two things of value in AA in my opinion. One, it is good for someone who wants to quit drinking, to see that it's actually possible, and that some people have done it.

Two, it is good to be exposed to the idea that prayer can help you overcome addiction. I got that from AA and it is working for me. But, sorry, prayer for me is private, I have no desire to pray in public or even to discuss it much.

The creepiest thing about AA is how everyone sits and nods in agreement all the time, and how you aren't supposed to question or think about anything. Really, really creepy.

Just my two cents: AA is an incredible place, and if you stick around long enough, you will meet some amazing people who can help change your life. I was sober for 13 years. Not a drop, hit, snort, or shot. It worked for me and most likely saved my life. Brainwashing? I don't know about you, but at the time my brain needed washing. I was a wreck. I was young and strung out and needed help badly. AA completely worked for me.

Can it be cult like? You bet. Some of those folks are straight up Nazi about their sobriety. I did leave after 15 years and occasionally enjoy "elevated" pleasures now, but nothing even close to the extent of which I went in there. Hint: Synthetics = BAD

AA works if you work it. But you better want and need to be there. Otherwise, waste of your time and their time.

I'm glad it worked for you. Or did it? I think you could have done it on your own, and much more comfortably.

You are never more "recovered" than on the day you decide you're never going to drink again.

But AA sells recovery as a process -- something that you have to WORK for.

THAT'S BULLSHIT.

It's sells the idea of STRIVING TOWARDS something instead of JUST BEING IT from day one.

AA says you are a recovering alcoholic NOT a recovered alcoholic.

I say that I am a fully recovered alcoholic (11 years happily sober) and those days are behind me, thank you very much.

The AA fascists just HATE hearing that sort of thing. You must be a dry drunk, they insist. You're still suffering from "stinking thinking", they say. You cannot be fully recovered because you are still A LOUSY ALCOHOLIC one step away from a bender and emergency treatment.

LOL

Fuck off.

Me thinketh thou doth protest to much.

My answer to the 12 step program...

1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.

Well....I never had a bottle of Glenmorangie just jump up and kick my ass for no reason at all. At 70 bucks a pop it deserves a little respect.

2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

Hmmm....OK. If sanity has slipped away, I don't think alcohol is your greatest problem.

3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.

Only took three and then God comes up....
God doesn't care about petty little problems you brought upon yourself. Bang on his door when you have a real problem. He's really busy with things way bigger than you.


4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

A moral inventory? What the fuck does that mean? Just be nice to others even you find them to be the dumbest motherfuckers on the planet. It's OK to slap 'em in the back of the head once in a while to get 'em goin' Even God does that.

5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

This sounds exactly like the part that begins with "forgive me father for I have sinned". Just say a "Hail Mary" and get it over with. Maybe 6 or 7 of them if the "other human being" tells you to.

6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

So much for that "made in the image of" thing now isn't it? God didn't do it. You did.

7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.

Once again....God didn't do it. You did.

8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.

Try and live your life without harming anyone that isn't trying to cause you harm and this will never be an issue. If you find yourself in this circumstance, make sure you shoot first.

9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

See No. 8.

10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

"Wrong" is usually a matter of opinion. If someone convinces you, backed up with irrefutable fact that you were wrong, be man enough to admit it.

11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His Will for us and the power to carry that out.

Once again....God didn't do it. You did. Don't bug God. He's probably really busy doing important things and they don't include you.

12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

You were born with all the "spiritual awakening" you need. If somebody else doesn't get it, it isn't your problem.


So there you go....your 12 steps in a nutshell. And I use "nut" loosly.