On the blog "Positive Atheism," author Jack Trimpey has a great post entitled, "Alcoholics Anonymous: Of Course It's a Cult." Trimpey is the founder of the secular AA alternative, Rational Recovery. He has been openly and aggressively critical of AA for decades.
Some examples of the many phone calls from across the country that Trimpey and Rational Recovery regarding AA include:
“I knew from the start there was something creepy about those people.”
“They aren’t of this world; they’re way out there.”
 |
| Charles Manson |
“When they said my family also was diseased, I knew something was wrong.”
“When they started this thing about anything being my Higher Power, it felt wrong, like it was going against something very important inside of me.”
 |
| L. Ron Hubbard |
“After I stopped going to meetings, no one I knew from the groups would have anything to do with me, even though I wasn’t drinking.”
“My brother quit drinking by going to AA, but he’s become so weird. I hardly know him any more, and almost miss the way he was when he was drinking. At least he was sincere, and could talk about something besides himself.”
 |
| James Jones |
“Our son went to a treatment specialist for drug addiction, and now he says we are satanic child molesters.”
“I’ve been telling my husband that the meetings aren’t helping, that he now calls his binges relapses and feels less guilty afterward. He admits he is drinking more and more often, but says relapse is a normal part of recovery. When he goes to meetings after a relapse, though, he feels ashamed and depressed.”
“A year after I quit drinking, my wife went to Al-Anon with a friend. Now she won’t communicate with me unless I go to AA.”
 |
| Marshall Herff Applewhite |
“The counselors at the treatment center were poorly-educated and acted like robots reciting every word.”
“I heard one man say, ‘I pray to God every day that I never get the idea that I can run my own life.’ When I heard this, I felt sick inside because I felt unable to leave the group.
It would be one thing if AA were actually effective, but it isn't. It's recovery rate is a dismal 3-7%. The spontaneous recovery rate for alcoholics who get no treatment is 5%. Binge/relapse drinking for those in AA is nine times more likely to occur than for those who get no treatment. The first of the twelve steps tells you that you must admit that you are powerless over alcohol. The subsequent steps tell you to admit your sins (defects) and that only God can cure you. AA's method of learned helplessness is disastrous.
 |
| Bill W. |
 |
| Frank Buchman |
"The secret is God-control. The only sane people in an insane world are those controlled by God. God-controlled personalities make God-controlled nationalities. This is the aim of the Oxford Group.
The true patriot gives his life to bring his nation under God's control. Those who oppose that control are public enemies....
World peace will only come through nations which have achieved God-control. And everybody can listen to God. You can. I can. Everybody can have a part."
--Buchman, F., Remaking the World. London: Blandford Press, 1961.
Buchman also said:
"I thank heaven for a man like Adolph Hitler. Human problems aren't economic. They're moral and they can't be solved by immoral measures. They could be solved within a God-controlled democracy, or perhaps I should say a theocracy, and they could be solved through a God-controlled Fascist dictatorship."
Adolph Hitler
--Birnie, W.A.H., "Hitler or Any Fascist Leader Controlled by God Could Cure All Ills of World," Buchman Believes. New York World-Telegram, Aug 26 (1936). cited from Thornton-Duesbury, J.P., The Open Secret of MRA: An examination of Mr. Driberg's 'critical examination' of Moral Re-Armament." London: Blandford Press, 1964. Also available here.
Ask any AA member about their group's origins and the Oxford Group and watch what happens. They'll get incredibly defensive and start rationalizing. Then suggest that perhaps they, and not you, might be the ones in denial.
