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Why post about an Atheist in NA?

Posted by Larry Hoover on December 1, 2005, at 11:15:17

In reply to Atheist in NA, posted by Larry Hoover on November 19, 2005, at 21:06:31

I wanted to show that there are ways to accomodate any belief structure in the 12 step program. I believe in the program, not certainly as *the* solution, but as a *good* solution, to addictive behaviour.

To practising Christians, the language in which the steps and literature are composed bears not the slightest burden with respect to spirituality. In fact, some meetings I've attended gave off the aura of being church-sanctioned meetings, not simply because they were in a church basement. The difficulty (for e.g. the atheist) arises from those elements of spirituality which are incongruent with religiosity (e.g. Christian doctrine), when the language used is ambiguous (if not biased). For the atheist, it is as if a translation, into a new language, but still English, is required.

Take the Second Tradition, as an example. "For our Group purpose there is but one ultimate authority - a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience; our leaders are but trusted servants, they do not govern."

The capitalization (and gender) of "He" and "Himself" are Christian traditions. They do not advance the meaning of the statement in the slightest. Where did Higher Power disappear to?
The expression "(capitalized God is the) one ultimate authority" could have come directly from the Bible.

And yet, in this very religious-sounding statement lies perhaps the key spiritual statement of the entire program. A possible translation might be: "Our collective goodwill governs all of our actions." Or, at least, that's a derived statement that even an atheist could accept. Moreover, it can be used as a thinking point, with respect to that Higher Power thing over in the steps.

Any Christion, with whom I've had the pleasure of discussing this point, has accepted that it is not necessary to retain explicit reference to God for the intent of the 2nd Tradition to remain accurate, for them. How does God express Himself on this world? Through the acts of people doing His will. His work. Right? And, if you're a Christian contributing to group conscience, God is there.

I've spent a good bit of time and effort trying to see if someone has distilled the essence of how it is that groups of suffering addicts can come together and create wellness. Is it not a basic tenet of the program that "our best thinking got us here", i.e. a life made unmanageable by substance? If we all agree that none of us had it, where did it come from?

From my search of a vast amount of medical and psychological research, it's looking like that single behaviour that most predicts continuing abstinence is the act of helping another addict. And we keep that helping process as pure as it can be, with our 2nd Tradition. "We keep what we have, by giving it away."

It's alchemy. Turning base metal into gold. Any atheist can see that.

Lar

 

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poster:Larry Hoover thread:580498
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/subs/20051106/msgs/584179.html