"We claim spiritual progress rather than spiritual
perfection." (AA, pg 60)
So goes the oft-repeated mantra in AA meetings.
The Bible offers us something better through Jesus Christ:
"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I
am not come to destroy, but to fulfil." (Matthew 57: 17)
Jesus fulfilled every requirement against us in the Law of Moses when He died on the Cross:
"When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is
finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost." (John 19: 30)
Paul then explains the fullness of what Jesus did for us:
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 4According as he
hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy
and without blame before him in love: 5Having
predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself,
according to the good pleasure of his will, 6To the praise of
the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved." (Ephesians 1: 3-6)
To the Colossians, Paul writes:
"And ye are complete in him [Jesus], which is the head of all principality and power" (Colossians 2: 10)
Then Paul explains how Jesus removed from us any condemnation which we would have received because of the law:
"13And you,
being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened
together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; 14Blotting out
the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and
took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; 15And
having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly,
triumphing over them in it." (Colossians 2: 13-15)
Yet the most affirming message which everyone of us can find, the writer of Hebrews delivers to us:
"For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified." (Hebrews 10: 14)
Because every believer is now in Christ, God does not judge us or look at in ourselves, but when God the Father sees us, He sees His Son:
"Herein is our love made perfect [lit. love made perfect among us], that we may have boldness in
the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world." (1 John 4: 17)
No longer should we spend our time trying to improve our flesh, for to be justified by our own efforts will only lead us to fall from grace (Galatians 5: 4)
Instead, Paul invites us to walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5: 16), identifying with who we are in Christ, not who we are in dead Adam.
There is no spiritual process in the Kingdom of Heaven, because in Christ we receive the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5: 21), and there is no greater righteousness than that.
This life is not about behaving better, but growing in grace and knowledge of the Lord, allowing Him to live and move and have His being in us by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Forget progress. Claim the perfection that you have in your spirit because of what Jesus has done!
Friday, June 28, 2013
Why People Get Stuck in AA - And the Way Out
I have spent more time exploring why individuals remain trapped in AA, or "keep coming back", even though the program clearly does not work, clearly does not help people become or stay sober, and the high incidence of failure and suicide is just unconscionable.
The whole program is based on creating a false identity for individuals, teaching them to value themselves according to a behavior that cannot change.
The mind-formation which takes people from defining themselves as "human beings" and then teaches them to see themselves as "alcoholics" who can never be cured leads men and women to think that that is who they are, and thus there is no escape.
Yet we individuals are far more than what we think we are, and who we are must be based on more than what we think of ourselves.
In Christ, we receive a new identity, and all we have to do is believe on Him:
"Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." (John 6: 29)
As you grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord (2 Peter 3: 18), you learn to be established in this gift of righteousness which we receive because of Jesus' death on the Cross (Romans 5: 17; 2 Corinthians 5: 21)
As you see that you are made righteousness, no matter what you do or think, you will grow to realize that this righteousness has taken you from dead in trespasses (including any addiction) to alive in Christ (Ephesians 2: 1-6)
You are a new creation in Christ, ladies and gentlemen, whether you drink or not, since whatever goes into you does not make a difference, but what comes out of the heart of man (Matthew15: 11)
When you see yourself as a child of God, it makes no sense to see yourself as an alcoholic, since God completed a perfect work through His Son at the Cross.
For those who attend Celebrate Recovery, I would counsel you to look hard at the Old and New Covenants in scripture.
Here is the New Covenant outlined in Jeremiah and repeated in Hebrews Chapter Eight and Ten:
"For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
The whole program is based on creating a false identity for individuals, teaching them to value themselves according to a behavior that cannot change.
The mind-formation which takes people from defining themselves as "human beings" and then teaches them to see themselves as "alcoholics" who can never be cured leads men and women to think that that is who they are, and thus there is no escape.
Yet we individuals are far more than what we think we are, and who we are must be based on more than what we think of ourselves.
In Christ, we receive a new identity, and all we have to do is believe on Him:
"Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." (John 6: 29)
As you grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord (2 Peter 3: 18), you learn to be established in this gift of righteousness which we receive because of Jesus' death on the Cross (Romans 5: 17; 2 Corinthians 5: 21)
As you see that you are made righteousness, no matter what you do or think, you will grow to realize that this righteousness has taken you from dead in trespasses (including any addiction) to alive in Christ (Ephesians 2: 1-6)
You are a new creation in Christ, ladies and gentlemen, whether you drink or not, since whatever goes into you does not make a difference, but what comes out of the heart of man (Matthew15: 11)
When you see yourself as a child of God, it makes no sense to see yourself as an alcoholic, since God completed a perfect work through His Son at the Cross.
For those who attend Celebrate Recovery, I would counsel you to look hard at the Old and New Covenants in scripture.
Here is the New Covenant outlined in Jeremiah and repeated in Hebrews Chapter Eight and Ten:
"For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
11And they shall
not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the
Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.
12For I will be
merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I
remember no more." (Hebrews 8: 10-12)
This New Covenant, just like the First Covenant cut by God with Himself on behalf of Abraham (Genesis 15) has nothing to do with you at all. Your part is to believe that you have no part, and that Jesus completed a perfect work on your behalf at the Cross!
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
The Source of all the Troubles -- AA
This statement may seem to broad to be worth reading.
AA was the source of all the troubles.
Well, any lie, any distortion unchecked will be the source of many problems, but it is always the Truth that sets you free.
That Truth is a Person, Jesus!
Yet many Christians feel compelled to add something that what Jesus Christ did at the Cross, as if His declaration "It is finished" was not good enough.
He died for all our sins, He cut a New Covenant at the Cross, and thus we are no longer in bondage the old, dead, condemnation of the letter, but the newness of the Spirit.
Does that mena that i want ot go out and sin? No way!
Sin is death, and anything that is sin will just bring forth death in us.
Man is seeking life, and that more abundantly, but he cannot find this life in keep rules or doing whatever he wants.
The Ruler, the King of Kings, keeps us, and because He lives in us, we know that He leads us.
For so long, I was always frustrated, feeling pressed upon, hurried, as if I was missing something, or something was missing.
A sense of alienation had pervaded my life, invaded it. A sense that I was not OK, that something more needed to be finished.
This fear was based in AA, which teaches its members that alcohol is a subtle foe, and that you have to keep on your guard to make sure that it does not overtake you.
Imagine a life where you are constantly looking at yourself, your feelings, your thoughts, worrying that you may or may not say something or do something wrong, the idea that God may or may not punish you for doing something bad.
All the talk about God's love cannot undo the sense of death, shame, and guilt which resides in our flesh. We need to know that someone has paid for the wrongs which we have done, and that someone has paid for the wrongs done to us.
AA is Hagar, the Bondwoman who had a weak and sick child with Abram, later Abraham (Genesis 16). When Sarah, the lawful wife of Abraham, had Isaac, she told her husband:
"Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac." (Genesis 21: 10)
Paul explains the full significance of this passage:
"Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.
AA was the source of all the troubles.
Well, any lie, any distortion unchecked will be the source of many problems, but it is always the Truth that sets you free.
That Truth is a Person, Jesus!
Yet many Christians feel compelled to add something that what Jesus Christ did at the Cross, as if His declaration "It is finished" was not good enough.
He died for all our sins, He cut a New Covenant at the Cross, and thus we are no longer in bondage the old, dead, condemnation of the letter, but the newness of the Spirit.
Does that mena that i want ot go out and sin? No way!
Sin is death, and anything that is sin will just bring forth death in us.
Man is seeking life, and that more abundantly, but he cannot find this life in keep rules or doing whatever he wants.
The Ruler, the King of Kings, keeps us, and because He lives in us, we know that He leads us.
For so long, I was always frustrated, feeling pressed upon, hurried, as if I was missing something, or something was missing.
A sense of alienation had pervaded my life, invaded it. A sense that I was not OK, that something more needed to be finished.
This fear was based in AA, which teaches its members that alcohol is a subtle foe, and that you have to keep on your guard to make sure that it does not overtake you.
Imagine a life where you are constantly looking at yourself, your feelings, your thoughts, worrying that you may or may not say something or do something wrong, the idea that God may or may not punish you for doing something bad.
All the talk about God's love cannot undo the sense of death, shame, and guilt which resides in our flesh. We need to know that someone has paid for the wrongs which we have done, and that someone has paid for the wrongs done to us.
AA is Hagar, the Bondwoman who had a weak and sick child with Abram, later Abraham (Genesis 16). When Sarah, the lawful wife of Abraham, had Isaac, she told her husband:
"Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac." (Genesis 21: 10)
Paul explains the full significance of this passage:
"Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.
31So then,
brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free." (Galatians 4: 30-31)
Get rid of Hagar, get rid of AA, and Let the Life of Christ invade you in every way!
AA is a Cult -- The Truth of Christ Sets You Free
My mother was in bondage to this terrible cult called AA.
Why did it take me so long to accept this truth?
I did not want to believe that my mother would abuse me because she wanted to. The upsets, tremors, and fears which she endured must have been due to something else. No child can ever believe that a parent is arbitrarily abusive. Why have children in the first place?
Besides, all evil, all upsets, all perversions in our lives are based on the unsavory reality that we are born dead in our trespasses. and that we need life, and that more abundantly.
From a young age, I was taught AA, I was taught to work the Twelve Steps, I was taught to run every problem through the program. As a child, I did not drink, and I never had any interest in doing so. I decided all the more to avoid alcohol, since I believed that I was genetically predisposed to alcoholism.
That's what the program teaches people. You are born an alcoholic, and there is nothing that you can do about it but life a manageable life, and pray that the daily reprieve of the program will keep you sober.
What kind of life is that? That's a death sentence!
It certainly is.
Throughout must of the trials and tribulations which I have endured as a child and then growing up, AA and the Twelve Steps, or Al-Anon and other attending Twelve Steps elements, were featured prominently.
When my mother took my sister and me away from our father for nine months, she had her AA Book with her, and she went on and on about trying to save us from our father, who "was an alcoholic." He did not drink heavily at all, actually, and I can attest to this day that I had never seen him passed out drunk or abuse alcohol in any way.
Other people in my family would drink alcohol, as well, and they did not drink heavily, certainly not to abusive excessive.
AA is iatrogenic, i. e. the program creates the very problem which it claims to fix, just as "special education" classes label children to be special ed, when in fact proper discipline and respect would train the child in the proper ways to grow. By labeling someone, automatically that person will begin to act in line with that identity, whether it's true or false.
Such is the wicked perversion of AA. Tell people that they are deficient human beings which have a disease, one that cannot be cured, no less, and then hook them up to working Twelve Steps every day. Then inform that because they are "bodily and mentally different" from their fellows, they cannot think for themselves, that every thought and every sentiment is wrong and distorted, and thus cannot be trusted.
AA is a terrible cult, one which has received a veneer of legitimacy because the state forces people to attend the meetings as part of plea bargains or retribution for crimes committed. The fact that the government pushes people into a religious program of any kind, one which falsely advertises a high success rate, should be enough to run and not look back.
My mother "worked" the AA program for thirty-four years. Even when she left the meetings, the meetings did not leave her. I still remember time and again how she longed to go to a meeting, just for fun. When you identify with something, it's not enough to leave the people, or the places, or the properties associated with it. You have to receive the new, true identity of who you are.
For me, and I hope and pray for more people, that new identity is Christ!
"Herein is our love made perfected, that we might have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world." (1 John 4: 17)
Such is the name of the ministry that I share with others:
"As He Is, So Are We Ministries" -- asheisministries.blogspot.com
Why did it take me so long to accept this truth?
I did not want to believe that my mother would abuse me because she wanted to. The upsets, tremors, and fears which she endured must have been due to something else. No child can ever believe that a parent is arbitrarily abusive. Why have children in the first place?
Besides, all evil, all upsets, all perversions in our lives are based on the unsavory reality that we are born dead in our trespasses. and that we need life, and that more abundantly.
From a young age, I was taught AA, I was taught to work the Twelve Steps, I was taught to run every problem through the program. As a child, I did not drink, and I never had any interest in doing so. I decided all the more to avoid alcohol, since I believed that I was genetically predisposed to alcoholism.
That's what the program teaches people. You are born an alcoholic, and there is nothing that you can do about it but life a manageable life, and pray that the daily reprieve of the program will keep you sober.
What kind of life is that? That's a death sentence!
It certainly is.
Throughout must of the trials and tribulations which I have endured as a child and then growing up, AA and the Twelve Steps, or Al-Anon and other attending Twelve Steps elements, were featured prominently.
When my mother took my sister and me away from our father for nine months, she had her AA Book with her, and she went on and on about trying to save us from our father, who "was an alcoholic." He did not drink heavily at all, actually, and I can attest to this day that I had never seen him passed out drunk or abuse alcohol in any way.
Other people in my family would drink alcohol, as well, and they did not drink heavily, certainly not to abusive excessive.
AA is iatrogenic, i. e. the program creates the very problem which it claims to fix, just as "special education" classes label children to be special ed, when in fact proper discipline and respect would train the child in the proper ways to grow. By labeling someone, automatically that person will begin to act in line with that identity, whether it's true or false.
Such is the wicked perversion of AA. Tell people that they are deficient human beings which have a disease, one that cannot be cured, no less, and then hook them up to working Twelve Steps every day. Then inform that because they are "bodily and mentally different" from their fellows, they cannot think for themselves, that every thought and every sentiment is wrong and distorted, and thus cannot be trusted.
AA is a terrible cult, one which has received a veneer of legitimacy because the state forces people to attend the meetings as part of plea bargains or retribution for crimes committed. The fact that the government pushes people into a religious program of any kind, one which falsely advertises a high success rate, should be enough to run and not look back.
My mother "worked" the AA program for thirty-four years. Even when she left the meetings, the meetings did not leave her. I still remember time and again how she longed to go to a meeting, just for fun. When you identify with something, it's not enough to leave the people, or the places, or the properties associated with it. You have to receive the new, true identity of who you are.
For me, and I hope and pray for more people, that new identity is Christ!
"Herein is our love made perfected, that we might have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world." (1 John 4: 17)
Such is the name of the ministry that I share with others:
"As He Is, So Are We Ministries" -- asheisministries.blogspot.com
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
The Great Source of Anxiety -- I Could Never Trust Myself
In effect, no one should ever place absolute trust in anything that is man.
Remember Jeremiah 17: 5?
"Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD." (Jeremiah 17: 5)
This warning includes not just other people, but also ourselves.The first mention of man refers to "Gibber" or a strong person. The second word "man" is Adam, which means humankind, and also the flesh.
We are called to walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5: 16), not in the flesh. This calling includes giving up any pretension efforts of caring for ourselves, or fixing ourselves. We cannot overcome our flesh with our flesh. We cannot break free of our self-effort insanity with "more action, and still more action."
The great anxiety that permeated my life, then, was the fear of doing wrong, the fear of failure, the fear of falling short of the glorious ideal laid out in the AA Book, in the Bible.
As far as the Bible is concerned, I learned that Jeus wants to live in me. It's no longer about trying to live up to a standard of being like Jesus through my own efforts.
We need a new life, and a new understanding which witnesses to us that we are forever secure, forever righteous, that we need not live our lives looking over our shoulders or get worked up about deceitful thinking or "wrong and foolish motives."
Why? Because God places His laws in our hearts and minds, so that the more we know and believe how forgiven we are, the more that His guidance can work in our lives!
"10For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
Remember Jeremiah 17: 5?
"Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD." (Jeremiah 17: 5)
This warning includes not just other people, but also ourselves.The first mention of man refers to "Gibber" or a strong person. The second word "man" is Adam, which means humankind, and also the flesh.
We are called to walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5: 16), not in the flesh. This calling includes giving up any pretension efforts of caring for ourselves, or fixing ourselves. We cannot overcome our flesh with our flesh. We cannot break free of our self-effort insanity with "more action, and still more action."
The great anxiety that permeated my life, then, was the fear of doing wrong, the fear of failure, the fear of falling short of the glorious ideal laid out in the AA Book, in the Bible.
As far as the Bible is concerned, I learned that Jeus wants to live in me. It's no longer about trying to live up to a standard of being like Jesus through my own efforts.
We need a new life, and a new understanding which witnesses to us that we are forever secure, forever righteous, that we need not live our lives looking over our shoulders or get worked up about deceitful thinking or "wrong and foolish motives."
Why? Because God places His laws in our hearts and minds, so that the more we know and believe how forgiven we are, the more that His guidance can work in our lives!
"10For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
11And they shall
not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the
Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.
12For I will be
merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I
remember no more."
Jesus cut the New Covenant with His own blood when He died on the Cross. More than dying for our sins, His death allows the LORD to be a God for us and to move in our lives, to direct us, to guide us, and let the peace of His Son rule in our hearts (Colossians 3: 15)
The great source of anxiety in my life was that I never trusted myself. In Christ, I no longer even have to look at myself. I just look at Jesus, and as I see Him, I find who the true life that we all look for:
"But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of
the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by
the Spirit of the Lord." (
2 Corinthians 3: 18)
2 Corinthians 3: 18)
and
"1Behold, what manner
of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of
God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. 2Beloved, now are we
the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that,
when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 3And every man that
hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure." (1 John 3: 1-3)
and
"Herein is love made perfect with us, that we may have boldness
in the day of judgment; because as he is, even so are we in this world." (1 John 4: 17, ASV)
AA -- Program of Self, not to Get Rid of Self
Selfishness - self-centeredness! That, we think, is the root of our troubles. Driven by a hundred forms of fear, self-delusion, self-seeking, and self-pity, we step on the toes of our fellows and they retaliate. Sometimes they hurt us, seemingly without provocation, but we invariably find that at some time in the past we have made decisions based on self which later placed us in a position to be hurt.
So our troubles, we think, are basically of our own making. They arise out of ourselves, and the alcoholic is an extreme example of self-will run riot, though he usually doesn't think so. Above everything, we alcoholics must be rid of this selfishness. We must, or it kills us! God makes that possible. And there often seems no way of entirely getting rid of self without His aid. Many of us had moral and philosophical convictions galore, but we could not live up to them even though we would have liked to. Neither could we reduce our self-centeredness much by wishing or trying on our own power. We had to have God's help.(AA, pg 62)Now we need more action, without which we find that "Faith without works is dead." Let's look at Steps Eight and Nine. We have a list of all persons we have harmed and to whom we are willing to make amends. We made it when we took inventory. We subjected ourselves to a drastic self-appraisal. Now we go out to our fellows and repair the damage done in the past. We attempt to sweep away the debris which has accumulated out of our effort to live on self-will and run the show ourselves. If we haven't the will to do this, we ask until it comes. Remember it was agreed at the beginning we would go to any lengths for victory over alcohol. (AA, pg 76)
Does anyone see a problem here?
We are self-centered, according to AA, and yet the answer is a self-appraisal for our problems?
The program teaches people to go into meetings and declare "I am an alcoholic."
Those two words "I am" are very powerful, and behold! They cause us to focus on ourselves even more.
AA is a program about self, even if there is talk of some "Higher Power". Inevitably, everything rests on us, on our ability to work the program, or else:
It is plain that a life which includes deep resentment leads only to futility and unhappiness. To the precise extent that we permit these, do we squander the hours that might have been worth while. But with the alcoholic, whose hope is the maintenance and growth of a spiritual experience, this business of resentment is infinitely grave. We found that it is fatal. For when harboring such feelings we shut ourselves off from the sunlight of the Spirit. The insanity of alcohol returns and we drink again. And with us, to drink is to die. (AA, pg 66)
"Cut off from the Sunlight of the Spirit?" Wow, that sounds serious, indeed!
It is easy to let up on the spiritual program of action and rest on our laurels. We are headed for trouble if we do, for alcohol is a subtle foe. We are not cured of alcoholism. What we really have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition. Every day is a day when we must carry the vision of God's will into all of our activities. "How can I best serve Thee - Thy will (not mine) be done." These are thoughts which must go with us constantly. We can exercise our will power along this line all we wish. It is the proper use of the will. (AA, pg 85)
There is no rest. We are constantly at war with ourselves, looking at ourselves, watching out for that subtle foe "alcohol!"
This program does not help you get rid of self, but actually magnified self!
The solution will always be -- centered on Christ! Centered on something else entirely, Someone who provides us all things!
Jesus!
"31What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? 32He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" (Romans 8: 31-32)
Dependence on God, Greater than Man
We know how he feels. We have shared his honest doubt and prejudice. Some of us have been violently anti-religious. To others, the word "God" brought up a particular idea of Him with which someone had tried to impress them during childhood. Perhaps we rejected this particular conception because it seemed inadequate. With that rejection we imagined we had abandoned the God idea entirely. We were bothered with the thought that faith and dependence upon a Power beyond ourselves was somewhat weak, even cowardly. (AA, pg 45-46)
The fact is that the program forces members to cram their idea of "God" into the Twelve Step formulat mantra, including a God who sees men and women as "alcoholics who have lost their legs."
In many books following the AA Book, the leaders of the program instructed individuals to run their lives by other people all the time, including their sponsors. Many times, these sponsors are sicker than the people starting out in the program of Alcoholics Anonymous.
The Bible does not record that individuals need to seek help from another person in order to break free of diseases, dysfunctions, or other perversions.
The LORD is bigger than Twelve Steps, and He invites every one of us to believe on Him whom He sent to die for us -- Jesus!
"Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." (John 6: 29)
Could it be any simpler?
Another passage speaks to the dangers of trusting in men, in other people:
"Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD." (Jeremiah 17: 5)
Yet for those of us who trust in Jesus Christ, we can rest in the peaceful power of the New Covenant:
"31Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: 32Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: 33But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." (Jeremiahj 31: 31-34)
Now, most people will answer: "I am not of the House of Judah or Israel."
God provides a Way, through His Son:
"12Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. 13For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. 14For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 15For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 16The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together." (Romans 8: 12-17)
We are joined to Israel through the death and resurrection of Jesus.
"And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." (Galatians 3: 29)
Who needs dependence on man or man's programs, when you can depend on God, who gave His Son for us?
The fact is that the program forces members to cram their idea of "God" into the Twelve Step formulat mantra, including a God who sees men and women as "alcoholics who have lost their legs."
In many books following the AA Book, the leaders of the program instructed individuals to run their lives by other people all the time, including their sponsors. Many times, these sponsors are sicker than the people starting out in the program of Alcoholics Anonymous.
The Bible does not record that individuals need to seek help from another person in order to break free of diseases, dysfunctions, or other perversions.
The LORD is bigger than Twelve Steps, and He invites every one of us to believe on Him whom He sent to die for us -- Jesus!
"Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." (John 6: 29)
Could it be any simpler?
Another passage speaks to the dangers of trusting in men, in other people:
"Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD." (Jeremiah 17: 5)
Yet for those of us who trust in Jesus Christ, we can rest in the peaceful power of the New Covenant:
"31Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: 32Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: 33But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." (Jeremiahj 31: 31-34)
Now, most people will answer: "I am not of the House of Judah or Israel."
God provides a Way, through His Son:
"12Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. 13For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. 14For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 15For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 16The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together." (Romans 8: 12-17)
We are joined to Israel through the death and resurrection of Jesus.
"And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." (Galatians 3: 29)
Who needs dependence on man or man's programs, when you can depend on God, who gave His Son for us?
Dependence on Man -- The Source of Anxiety
This sense of dependence flows from the notion that as an alcoholic, I cannot make decisions for myself, that I must look to someone else to lead me, to guide me through things.
Here are passages which emphasize the helplessness of alcoholics, just because an individual has difficulty with drinking, or with quitting drinking.
"We alcoholics are men and women who have lost the ability to control our drinking. We know that no real alcoholic ever recovers control. All of us felt at times that we were regaining control, but such intervals - usually brief - were inevitably followed by still less control, which led in time to pitiful and incomprehensible demoralization. We are convinced to a man that alcoholics of our type are in the grip of a progressive illness. Over any considerable period we get worse, never better.
Here are passages which emphasize the helplessness of alcoholics, just because an individual has difficulty with drinking, or with quitting drinking.
"We alcoholics are men and women who have lost the ability to control our drinking. We know that no real alcoholic ever recovers control. All of us felt at times that we were regaining control, but such intervals - usually brief - were inevitably followed by still less control, which led in time to pitiful and incomprehensible demoralization. We are convinced to a man that alcoholics of our type are in the grip of a progressive illness. Over any considerable period we get worse, never better.
"We are like men who have lost their legs; they never grow new ones. Neither does there appear to be any kind of treatment which will make alcoholics of more than once. It will not take long for you to decide, if you are honest with yourself about it. It may be worth a bad case of jitters if you get a full knowledge of your condition.
"Though there is no way of proving it, we believe that early in our drinking careers most of us could have stopped drinking. But the difficulty is that few alcoholics have enough desire to stop while there is yet time. We have heard of a few instances where people, who showed definite signs of alcoholism, were able to stop for a long period because of an overpowering desire to do so.
Numerous falsehoods pervade these staments. The argument that alcoholism is a disease, for example, when many people have broken free of alcohol addiction without resorting to AA or other curatives. This "progressive illness" in fact stems from the attempts of men and women to curb something which causes them great shame. Deal with the condemnation, and then the desire to drink will fall away.
"We alcoholics are men and women who have lost the ability to control our drinking. . ."
Lost the control, lost our legs, lost, lost, lost -- man needs more than the power to overcome drinking. He needs life, and that more abundantly. The sense of shame within a person poses all the problems, and the solution to this problem is more than Twelve Steps, and yet the answer is much simpler than those Twelve Steps.
Yet a man who is lost, who cannot control his drinking, this is a man who needs someone else to explain things to him.
Some will protest that the AA book makes dependence on God the most important thing:
It is not the matter of giving that is in question, but when and how to give. That often makes the difference between failure and success. The minute we put our work on a service plane, the alcoholic commences to rely upon our assistance rather than upon God. He clamors for this or that, claiming he cannot master alcohol until his material needs are cared for. Nonsense. Some of us have taken very hard knocks to learn this truth: Job or no job - wife or no wife - we simply do not stop drinking so long as we place dependence upon other people ahead of dependence on God.
Burn the idea into the consciousness of every man that he can get well regardless of anyone. The only condition is that he trust in God and clean house. (AA, pg 98)
Trust in God, yes, but clean house? The tenth step and on give the impression that the house will never be clean, that a person working the program will never stop working it. The house never gets clean, in effect, and a man becomes broken and frustrated, never able to find a sense of satisfaction that everything has been taken care of in his life.
AA Posits a False Identity, Which Creates Dependence
Imagine living your life in such a manner, that you often wondered if you were doing the right thing, and you feared the consequences of failure.
Such was the life that I had led for a long time, overwhelmed by the concerns that if I chose the wrong thing, then God would be angry with me, or I would get into trouble, or "something bad would happen."
AA teaches people that they have to be dependent, that they cannot trust their own thinking, because they are "alcoholics".
They are taught not to trust their own thoughts, their own feelings, their own intuition on many things.
Consider the following statements from the AA book:
"Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path. Those who do not recover are people who cannot or will not completely give themselves to this simple program, usually men and women who are constitutionally incapable of being honest with themselves. There are such unfortunates. They are not at fault; they seem to have been born that way. They are naturally incapable of grasping and developing a manner of living which demands rigorous honesty. Their chances are less than average. There are those, too, who suffer from grave emotional and mental disorders, but many of them do recover if they have the capacity to be honest." (AA, pg 58)
The premise of this passage suggests that if you cannot work this program well, if you find that you do not get sober, the reason is that you are not rigorously honest with yourself, and those who fail and end up dying, well, they were unable to escape their lying selves.
The rest of the page and into page 59 gives more staggering informationL:
Remember that we deal with alcohol-cunning, baffling,powerful! Without help it is too much for us. But there is One who has all power-that One is God. May you find Him now!" (AA, pg 59)
Some other noteworthy passages:
"Most of us have been unwilling to admit we were real alcoholics. No person likes to think he is bodily and mentally different from his fellows. Therefore, it is not surprising that our drinking careers have been characterized by countless vain attempts to prove we could drink like other people. The idea that somehow, someday he will control and enjoy his drinking is the great obsession of every abnormal drinker. The persistence of this illusion is astonishing. Many pursue it into the gates of insanity or death.
Such was the life that I had led for a long time, overwhelmed by the concerns that if I chose the wrong thing, then God would be angry with me, or I would get into trouble, or "something bad would happen."
AA teaches people that they have to be dependent, that they cannot trust their own thinking, because they are "alcoholics".
They are taught not to trust their own thoughts, their own feelings, their own intuition on many things.
Consider the following statements from the AA book:
"Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path. Those who do not recover are people who cannot or will not completely give themselves to this simple program, usually men and women who are constitutionally incapable of being honest with themselves. There are such unfortunates. They are not at fault; they seem to have been born that way. They are naturally incapable of grasping and developing a manner of living which demands rigorous honesty. Their chances are less than average. There are those, too, who suffer from grave emotional and mental disorders, but many of them do recover if they have the capacity to be honest." (AA, pg 58)
The premise of this passage suggests that if you cannot work this program well, if you find that you do not get sober, the reason is that you are not rigorously honest with yourself, and those who fail and end up dying, well, they were unable to escape their lying selves.
The rest of the page and into page 59 gives more staggering informationL:
Remember that we deal with alcohol-cunning, baffling,powerful! Without help it is too much for us. But there is One who has all power-that One is God. May you find Him now!" (AA, pg 59)
Some other noteworthy passages:
"Most of us have been unwilling to admit we were real alcoholics. No person likes to think he is bodily and mentally different from his fellows. Therefore, it is not surprising that our drinking careers have been characterized by countless vain attempts to prove we could drink like other people. The idea that somehow, someday he will control and enjoy his drinking is the great obsession of every abnormal drinker. The persistence of this illusion is astonishing. Many pursue it into the gates of insanity or death.
We learned that we had to fully concede to our innermost selves that we were alcoholics. This is the first step in recovery. The delusion that we are like other people, or presently may be, has to be smashed." (AA, pg 30)
Wow! Where do the writers of the AA Book get these arguments? "Conceded to our innner-most selves. . ." Imagine every day, waking up with the false premise of self, defined by a perversion. God has created us to be much more than a failing.
Then the argument that "the delusion that we are like other people" -- that very argument is itself delusional and has to be smashed. Once a person is pegged to a certain set of principles or ideas, everything else that the person thinks or feels will end up being fed through that distorted sense of self.
Monday, June 24, 2013
He Holds Us in Place, Not Ourselves
It is easy to let up on the spiritual program of action and rest on our laurels. We are headed for trouble if we do, for alcohol is a subtle foe. We are not cured of alcoholism. What we really have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition. Every day is a day when we must carry the vision of God's will into all of our activities. "How can I best serve Thee - Thy will (not mine) be done." These are thoughts which must go with us constantly. We can exercise our will power along this line all we wish. It is the proper use of the will. (AA, pg 85)
"Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, 25To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen." (Jude 24, 25)
AA is not a program based on God, but a program based on self. God, as we understood Him, is merely a prop for putting men and women into a set of steps which never end, a program which never takes a man anywhere but back to his failed self. Even in Celebrate Recovery programs, which hopefully are losing members faster than they get them, leaders will admit that they see before themselves nothing but a life of "forever recovering."
No, there is not higher power of my choosing, but rather a set of rules through which the Higher Power is filtered. In effect, men and women will end up worshipping themselves and their own efforts, even though they talk about God and "turning their will and life over to a Power Greater than themselves."
The Bible could not be clearer about what believers in Christ receive when the believe on Him whom the Father has sent (John 6: 29):
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 4According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 5Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved." (Ephesians 1: 3-6)
We receive everything that we need in Christ. Paul did not pray for the fired-up Ephesian Christians to receive more, but to receive a revelation of all that they had, and by extension, what we have in Christ:
"17That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: 18The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, 19And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, 20Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, " (Ephesians 1: 17-20)
In Ephesians chapter three, Paul prays:
"That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; 17That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 18May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 19And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God." (Ephesians 3: 16-19)
In effect, our job is not to hold onto God, even, but rather see how much God is holding us and to see what He is giving us as well.
Well did Jude, Jesus' half-brother, write to Christians, to all who believe on the Name of Jesus:
"Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, 25To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen." (Jude 24, 25)
It's not our job to stay close to God. He already lives in us, He keeps us, and He is the one who presents us without fault before God, since we have been made the righteounsess of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5: 21)
"Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, 25To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen." (Jude 24, 25)
AA is not a program based on God, but a program based on self. God, as we understood Him, is merely a prop for putting men and women into a set of steps which never end, a program which never takes a man anywhere but back to his failed self. Even in Celebrate Recovery programs, which hopefully are losing members faster than they get them, leaders will admit that they see before themselves nothing but a life of "forever recovering."
No, there is not higher power of my choosing, but rather a set of rules through which the Higher Power is filtered. In effect, men and women will end up worshipping themselves and their own efforts, even though they talk about God and "turning their will and life over to a Power Greater than themselves."
The Bible could not be clearer about what believers in Christ receive when the believe on Him whom the Father has sent (John 6: 29):
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 4According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 5Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved." (Ephesians 1: 3-6)
We receive everything that we need in Christ. Paul did not pray for the fired-up Ephesian Christians to receive more, but to receive a revelation of all that they had, and by extension, what we have in Christ:
"17That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: 18The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, 19And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, 20Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, " (Ephesians 1: 17-20)
In Ephesians chapter three, Paul prays:
"That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; 17That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 18May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 19And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God." (Ephesians 3: 16-19)
In effect, our job is not to hold onto God, even, but rather see how much God is holding us and to see what He is giving us as well.
Well did Jude, Jesus' half-brother, write to Christians, to all who believe on the Name of Jesus:
"Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, 25To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen." (Jude 24, 25)
It's not our job to stay close to God. He already lives in us, He keeps us, and He is the one who presents us without fault before God, since we have been made the righteounsess of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5: 21)
The Source of Anxiety in My Life -- AA
I lived in fear for a long time.
I was always looking over my shoulder, afraid of doing something, or something being done to me.
I never understood, until recently, that the AA cult creates a sense of self-centered pre-occupation, one in which a man is always looking over his own shoulder, preoccupied with his next drink, or with his next slip in anything.
I often distrusted my own thinking. I was always afraid that some "ulterior" or "wrong motive" would bring me into bondage, that I would make a terrible mistake, or misplace something, or do or say something that would get me into trouble.
The AA cult teaches people that they cannot trust their own thinking, that they are alcoholics with a sick mind, a disease of the body and an obsession of the mind, if you will, which precludes all rational and acpaable thiniking and decisions.
I never drank heavily, yet my mother was so indoctrinated, that every problem and every solution would find an outlet in AA and the Twelve Steps.
Man has a deeper problem than his thinking, or his feelings. He has a sin nature overrun with death, and no amount of psychology, no amount of therapy and self-help efforst will ever assist a man in overcoming himself.
All that anxiety within me traumatized me for so long. I was afraid to do anything, since I would do something wrong and slip, or someone would take advantage of me.
My mother, as I have shared in previous posts, was infused with AA. She was working her steps, taking her inventory even toward the end of her life, before she died, much of due to the terrible program which induces a monomania of perfectionism and self-assessment to insane depths.
How long can a man look at himself and try to make himself better, when all his self-regard makes him see how hopeless his condition has become? We cannot make ourselves better, no more than a cancer patient can operate on himself and live. We need more than power, we need life, and that more abundantly.
The source of anxiety in my life was a life of trying to look out for myself and look at myself at the same time, trying to live, and making sure that I lived right. No wonder I was worn out and filled with frustration and fear. What kind of life is that, where a man is constantly looking at something that can never be fixed, yet feels compelled to fix it?
"Acceptance is the answer to my problems" wrote the Doctor on Page 444. My ass! How can you accept something, anything if it's not true?
No one can be defined by their alcoholism. To define yourself by a failing is just a failure that will never fail to fail you. Does that thought in itself make you feel anxious? Now you understand the point that I have been making.
I was always looking over my shoulder, afraid of doing something, or something being done to me.
I never understood, until recently, that the AA cult creates a sense of self-centered pre-occupation, one in which a man is always looking over his own shoulder, preoccupied with his next drink, or with his next slip in anything.
I often distrusted my own thinking. I was always afraid that some "ulterior" or "wrong motive" would bring me into bondage, that I would make a terrible mistake, or misplace something, or do or say something that would get me into trouble.
The AA cult teaches people that they cannot trust their own thinking, that they are alcoholics with a sick mind, a disease of the body and an obsession of the mind, if you will, which precludes all rational and acpaable thiniking and decisions.
I never drank heavily, yet my mother was so indoctrinated, that every problem and every solution would find an outlet in AA and the Twelve Steps.
Man has a deeper problem than his thinking, or his feelings. He has a sin nature overrun with death, and no amount of psychology, no amount of therapy and self-help efforst will ever assist a man in overcoming himself.
All that anxiety within me traumatized me for so long. I was afraid to do anything, since I would do something wrong and slip, or someone would take advantage of me.
My mother, as I have shared in previous posts, was infused with AA. She was working her steps, taking her inventory even toward the end of her life, before she died, much of due to the terrible program which induces a monomania of perfectionism and self-assessment to insane depths.
How long can a man look at himself and try to make himself better, when all his self-regard makes him see how hopeless his condition has become? We cannot make ourselves better, no more than a cancer patient can operate on himself and live. We need more than power, we need life, and that more abundantly.
The source of anxiety in my life was a life of trying to look out for myself and look at myself at the same time, trying to live, and making sure that I lived right. No wonder I was worn out and filled with frustration and fear. What kind of life is that, where a man is constantly looking at something that can never be fixed, yet feels compelled to fix it?
"Acceptance is the answer to my problems" wrote the Doctor on Page 444. My ass! How can you accept something, anything if it's not true?
No one can be defined by their alcoholism. To define yourself by a failing is just a failure that will never fail to fail you. Does that thought in itself make you feel anxious? Now you understand the point that I have been making.
I was Brought Up in a Cult
Yes indeed, I could not get to a place of recognizing how serious this is, until recently.
I was raised in a cult, I was raised in AA, I was raised to take my inventory, to work the Twelve Steps, I was told by mother, who was an AA aficionada with a capital A (or capital AA).
Everything was about the Twelve Steps. She even introduced me to a calender drawn with child-like stick figures, which outlined the Twelve Steps. Imagine that -- indoctrinating little children to see themselves through the distorted prism of the Twelve Steps.
Everyone was either an Alcoholic or in Denial, according to my mother. For all the pretenses of working a program, she became one of the most resentful, bitter, frustrated, and empty people I had ever known. As a child, I never thought good or bad about AA, since it was my mother who was sharing this program with me. I assumed, as do many abused children, that my mother would never force on me anything that was bad, evil, negative, or destructive. I do not believe that she had ever intended to harm me, but forcing the Twelve Steps, and using the Bible to justify such a terrible cult, all created more problems in my life.
Such is the evil that is AA.
For so long, I never quite understood why my life was not advancing, why things were not improving in my life. I had grown older, yet not grown up. The very promises about fear and anger, about overcoming character defects and all the rest, these promises never seemed to materialize in my life. For all the talk about resentment being the Number One Offender, I found myself easily resentful. For all the talk about "Outgrowing Fear", I found that fear was all-overgrown in my life.
My mother taught from youth to work the Twelve Steps, to run everything through that silly, willy-nilly set of rules.
I have forborne sharing about my mother, and how deeply she was involved in the program. Yet following all the reading and all the research, all the stories which I have shared, and which others have shared with me, and the dire consequences of this program should anyone insist on working it, I have see no further reason to hold back.
AA is a cult, one which the state has legitimized because courts order people to go to the Twelve Step meetings as part of achieving sobriety.
With a growing understanding of economics, and the dangers posed by state power, I have less reason to respect the claims of legitimacy which the government, which the state gives to anything. Just because a judge tells someone to go to AA, does not make the program legitimate. How many other social programs initiated, or instigated by state, create or foster the very ills they claim that they can eradicate or reduce?
I was brought up in a cult, and that cult was AA, yet like many people who lived in the meetings, who visited the rooms, they believe that the program is a mere alternative form of recovery.
The facts borne out by research, the statistics which expose the high recidivism of the program, the alarming rate of suicide and abuse in meetings, plus the fact that a mere five percent get and stay sober, often with the crucial assistance of medication, should be enough for anyone to run from an AA meeting, and not look back.
I was raised in a cult, I was raised in AA, I was raised to take my inventory, to work the Twelve Steps, I was told by mother, who was an AA aficionada with a capital A (or capital AA).
Everything was about the Twelve Steps. She even introduced me to a calender drawn with child-like stick figures, which outlined the Twelve Steps. Imagine that -- indoctrinating little children to see themselves through the distorted prism of the Twelve Steps.
Everyone was either an Alcoholic or in Denial, according to my mother. For all the pretenses of working a program, she became one of the most resentful, bitter, frustrated, and empty people I had ever known. As a child, I never thought good or bad about AA, since it was my mother who was sharing this program with me. I assumed, as do many abused children, that my mother would never force on me anything that was bad, evil, negative, or destructive. I do not believe that she had ever intended to harm me, but forcing the Twelve Steps, and using the Bible to justify such a terrible cult, all created more problems in my life.
Such is the evil that is AA.
For so long, I never quite understood why my life was not advancing, why things were not improving in my life. I had grown older, yet not grown up. The very promises about fear and anger, about overcoming character defects and all the rest, these promises never seemed to materialize in my life. For all the talk about resentment being the Number One Offender, I found myself easily resentful. For all the talk about "Outgrowing Fear", I found that fear was all-overgrown in my life.
My mother taught from youth to work the Twelve Steps, to run everything through that silly, willy-nilly set of rules.
I have forborne sharing about my mother, and how deeply she was involved in the program. Yet following all the reading and all the research, all the stories which I have shared, and which others have shared with me, and the dire consequences of this program should anyone insist on working it, I have see no further reason to hold back.
AA is a cult, one which the state has legitimized because courts order people to go to the Twelve Step meetings as part of achieving sobriety.
With a growing understanding of economics, and the dangers posed by state power, I have less reason to respect the claims of legitimacy which the government, which the state gives to anything. Just because a judge tells someone to go to AA, does not make the program legitimate. How many other social programs initiated, or instigated by state, create or foster the very ills they claim that they can eradicate or reduce?
I was brought up in a cult, and that cult was AA, yet like many people who lived in the meetings, who visited the rooms, they believe that the program is a mere alternative form of recovery.
The facts borne out by research, the statistics which expose the high recidivism of the program, the alarming rate of suicide and abuse in meetings, plus the fact that a mere five percent get and stay sober, often with the crucial assistance of medication, should be enough for anyone to run from an AA meeting, and not look back.
"Mr. Brooks" -- More Proof that AA Does Not Work
One movie that focuses on Alcoholics Anonymous and Twelve Step Recovery, Mr. Brooks, follows the double lift of a businessman who by day cherishes his family and runs a reputable business, but by night engages in serial murder.
The whole narrative rests on the revelation, which Mr. Earl Brooks (played by Kevin Costner) shares with his doppelganger evil alter-ego (played by William Hurt): He's an addict; he has to kill people.
In some scenes in the movie, Mr. Brooks attends AA meetings in churches, where he introduces himself and tells people, "Hi, My Name is Earl . . ., and I am an addict.
I had not seen this movie for years, but I remember enjoying the tortured conscience of the respectable businessman on the outside, who had to reconcile his desire to kill. Then he discovered that his daughter, implicated in a murder at her college campus, also has "what he has", a genetic disposition to kill people.
While the move most likely was not taking digs at AA or the Twelve Steps, the outcome of the film, plus the presentation of a man who attends meetings yet still never kicks the habit, set off a different set of signals for me.
Once again, proof positive that "AA" does not work.
Yes, I realize that "Mr. Brooks" is just a movie, yet how fascinating that a tortured character, who is a terrible criminal, goes to AA meetings to "deal with his issues", yet he never breaks free. He keeps on killing people, enough that even when he wanted to put an end to his broken, evil life, he manages to seduce a creepy mechanical engineer, who witnessed him kill a couple, only to play him out and kill him, and then implicate him for the serial murders which he had committed.
The most chilling yet telling quote from the movie comes from the alter ego:
Brooks mouths "The Serenity Prayer":
Mr. Earl Brooks: [voice-over] Oh God... God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change.
Then the alter ego responds:
Marshall: [voice-over] Why do you fight it so hard, Earl?
AA is all about defining people by their sickness, and then setting them up for a life of overcoming something that they are defined by. Such a circuitous life of "overcoming" a self which will never be overcome is destined for failure, or death.
Just look at Mr. Brooks!
The whole narrative rests on the revelation, which Mr. Earl Brooks (played by Kevin Costner) shares with his doppelganger evil alter-ego (played by William Hurt): He's an addict; he has to kill people.
In some scenes in the movie, Mr. Brooks attends AA meetings in churches, where he introduces himself and tells people, "Hi, My Name is Earl . . ., and I am an addict.
I had not seen this movie for years, but I remember enjoying the tortured conscience of the respectable businessman on the outside, who had to reconcile his desire to kill. Then he discovered that his daughter, implicated in a murder at her college campus, also has "what he has", a genetic disposition to kill people.
While the move most likely was not taking digs at AA or the Twelve Steps, the outcome of the film, plus the presentation of a man who attends meetings yet still never kicks the habit, set off a different set of signals for me.
Once again, proof positive that "AA" does not work.
Yes, I realize that "Mr. Brooks" is just a movie, yet how fascinating that a tortured character, who is a terrible criminal, goes to AA meetings to "deal with his issues", yet he never breaks free. He keeps on killing people, enough that even when he wanted to put an end to his broken, evil life, he manages to seduce a creepy mechanical engineer, who witnessed him kill a couple, only to play him out and kill him, and then implicate him for the serial murders which he had committed.
The most chilling yet telling quote from the movie comes from the alter ego:
Brooks mouths "The Serenity Prayer":
Mr. Earl Brooks: [voice-over] Oh God... God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change.
Then the alter ego responds:
Marshall: [voice-over] Why do you fight it so hard, Earl?
AA is all about defining people by their sickness, and then setting them up for a life of overcoming something that they are defined by. Such a circuitous life of "overcoming" a self which will never be overcome is destined for failure, or death.
Just look at Mr. Brooks!
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