On (30 Jan 97) SLOW was mumbling to TIM DILL...
 S > if you don't like the way A.A. is run whey don't you start your own
 S > group and you can be the only one to make the rules and you can get
 S > sober on your own as for me i got sober throw A.A. 
 Hmm, if I may explain myself here....
 I am sober through the Program for 7+ years. I was making an observation
 that the meetings have become much like church services. 
 Here in New York (for the most part) there are speaker discussion
 meetings where 1/2 the meeting is devoted to the speaker (person
 giving his/her sermon), a short intro that barely tells the 
 person in the meeting (congregation) what the purpose of
 AA is, and ritualistic prayer at the end.
 Hell we even have the 24 commandments (Steps and Traditions) on the
 walls along with the pictures of the Two Saints (Bill and Bob).
 Now, if I did not know better (since most meetings here are held
 in church basements) I would believe I stumbled across a weird
 little sect of christians.
 Now, according to the aforementioned Traditions and Forward to
 the Book, we are not allied with any sect. Yet we have become
 a sect just by developing a "Priestly class" (sponsors) who
 use the immutable "Word of God" (Alcoholics Anonymous) 
 to spread the gospel of sobriety. We have also become
 dependent on a Central Authority for the publications...
 Now this is becoming to sound more and more like a cult.
 Is this cult something I want to be part of?
 More and more I ask myself this question... and
 yet have they (the mystical "THEY") found a better
 way of maintaining daily recovery?
 I don't know, World Services does not do research into the
 staying power (Sobriety) of its members, nor does it
 keep records of successful recovery. All we have is
 hearsay evidence of other members.
 Personally I know I am sober by the program at least 7 years...
 What about the other members? Was I the only person to see the
 flaws in the system?
 Tim...
... The first rule of intelligent tinkering is to save all the parts.
--- PPoint 2.00
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