An Atheist's Interpretation of the Twelve Steps (x-posted in Addiction/Recovery)

[qb]

I put these together for an atheist friend who has to attend traditional AA meetings. Any comments, amendments, additions?

An Atheist's Interpretation of the Twelve Steps

Step 1: Admitted that I need help to stop drinking.

Step 2: Came to believe I can stop drinking with the help of others.(1)

Step 3: Made a decision to trust my own inner wisdom.(2)

Step 4: Took a good look at the unhealthy thoughts and behaviors that got me into this mess.

Step 5: Talked to someone about these thoughts and behaviors.

Step 6: Was ready to accept help to correct my unhealthy thoughts and behaviors.

Step 7: Asked someone for help.

Step 8: Made a list of the people who have been adversely affected by my drinking and became willing to make amends to them.

Step 9: Made amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.(3)

Step 10: Continued to monitor my thoughts and behaviors and found someone to talk to when harmful patterns returned.

Step 11: Sought through meditation and calm contemplation to stay in touch with my own inner wisdom.

Step 12: Tried to help others struggling with addiction and practice these principles in other areas of my life.


(1) The Power greater than myself is actually the group that supports me: family, friends, and others in recovery.

(2) I thought I would never get past my intolerance of the word "God" in the program, but "Mindful Recovery: A Spiritual Path to Healing from Addiction" by Thomas Bien and Beverly Bien gave me a solution that takes the sting out of it: While it makes reference to "God", it offers several interpretations of the concept. I was surprised to find an interpretation that I, an atheist, was comfortable with. While acknowledging believers in Western religions, the authors went on to describe the Eastern concept of God as everything and all of us as God, and took it a step further to God as the voice in my head, or my own inner wisdom, a part of my own mind. This interpretation coincides with the late Julian Jaynes' hypothesis about the evolution of god beliefs in "The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind". This inner wisdom may be masked by the chaos of my daily life, but I can access it through mediation and calm contemplation. I can also see the value in finding the solution to a problem by "sleeping on it", because falling asleep, dreaming, and waking up are all times when my inner wisdom is active.

(3) In some cases, merely stopping the harmful behavior is enough.

[Iggo]

1. Works for me.

[Synnical]

2. Awesome. Thanks so much for posting.

I know someone who needs to read this! Of course, Step One is always the hardest.

-Cindy in Fort Lauderdale

[Warpy]

3. This is an excellent rewrite of the 12 steps

I once asked a fellow atheist in recovery how he handled the preachy aspect of AA. He replied, "My G.O.D. is my Gang of Drunks." I thought that was the greatest reply in the world, that his higher power was all the people who'd been there before him and knew how to live in sobriety.

Al Anon probably saved my sanity when I was married to a drunk and I was fortunate enough to be in New England where it really was pretty secular. AA meetings allowed me to forgive him. They're basically great organizations but they do need to drop the preachy stuff in order to stop turning people off.