Truths to Counter the AA Cult #12: AA Is Not the Only Way to Recovery

From the Orange
Papers

There is no simple one-size-fits-all cure for alcoholism.

1. There is no panacea. There is no magic bullet. Mere sobriety will not solve all of your problems and give you boundless happiness. It will solve one huge problem, but you will still have lots of other smaller problems, because real life isn't so simple or so easy.

   Ebby Thacher caught Bill Wilson at a weak, vulnerable moment in the hospital, while Bill was detoxing and totally out of his head from alcohol withdrawal and hallucinogenic drugs, and convinced Bill that Frank Buchman's Oxford Group cult had a simple program that would be the answer to all of his problems.

   My friend promised when these things were done I would enter upon a new relationship with my Creator; that I would have the elements of a way of living which answered all my problems.
   The Big Book, 3rd edition, William Wilson, Chapter 1, Bill's Story, page 13.

   Alas, it ain't necessarily so. There is no simple panacea that will solve all of your problems. Bill's insistence that twelve simple steps are the answer to all of your problems is childishly simplistic thinking, outright lunacy:

   "Quite as important was the discovery that spiritual principles would solve all my problems."
   The Big Book, 3rd edition, William G. Wilson, Chapter 3, More About Alcoholism, page 42.

   Nevertheless, in spite of all sanity and common sense, Bill Wilson insisted that his version of Frank Buchman's cult religion was The Big Answer to all of an alcoholic's problems:

   You say, "…I know I must get along without liquor, but how can I? Have you a sufficient substitute?"
         Yes, there is a substitute and it is vastly more than that. It is a fellowship in Alcoholics Anonymous. There you will find release from care, boredom and worry. Your imagination will be fired. Life will mean something at last. The most satisfactory years of your existence lie ahead. Thus we find the fellowship, and so will you.
   …
         It may seem incredible that these men are to become happy, respected, and useful once more. How can they rise out of such misery, bad repute and hopelessness? The practical answer is that since these things have happened among us, they can happen with you. Should you wish them above all else, and be willing to make use of our experience, we are sure they will come. The age of miracles is still with us. Our own recovery proves that!
   …
   See to it that your relationship with Him is right, and great events will come to pass for you and countless others. This is the Great Fact for us.
         Abandon yourself to God as you understand God. Admit your faults to Him and to your fellows. Clear away the wreckage of your past. Give freely of what you find and join us. We shall be with you in the Fellowship of the Spirit, and you will surely meet some of us as you trudge the Road of Happy Destiny.
         May God bless you and keep you — until then.
   The Big Book, 3rd edition, William Wilson, Chapter 11, A Vision For You, pages 152,153,164.

   And just what is the magic ingredient in Bill Wilson's cure for alcoholism? It is to confess your sins, all of your sins, every last little detail, to "God and another human being":

   We pocket our pride and go to it, illuminating every twist of character, every dark cranny of the past. Once we have taken this step, withholding nothing, we are delighted. We can look the world in the eye. We can be alone at perfect peace and ease. Our fears fall from us. We begin to feel the nearness of our Creator. We may have had certain spiritual beliefs, but now we begin to have a spiritual experience. The feeling that the drink problem has disappeared will often come strongly. We feel we are on the Broad Highway, walking hand in hand with the Spirit of the Universe.
   The Big Book, 3rd edition, William Wilson, Chapter 6, Into Action, page 75.

   Bill Wilson was delusional.