There seem to be two questions going on in this thread;
First is alcoholism a disease?
Second, is AA an effective treatment?
I will keep my comments to the latter.
I find it interesting that nobody here has posted the steps or examined the intent behind them.
It is also important to note that there are twelve traditions which are designed to keep aa free from political entanglements.
I will post both and briefly examine the intent of them.
Please note that the comments following each step/tradition and throughout this post are purely my own opinion and not necessarily the opinion of aa as a whole.
The twelve steps of alcoholics anonymous
1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol - that our lives had become unmanageable.
-Obviously, you can’t stop unless you admit to having a problem
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
-Note that power greater than ourselves implies no specific religion or belief system, merely an acnowledgement in the possibility of a “power greater than ourselves”
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
-This simply means that we seek to follow a spiritual path rather than the path our alcoholic tendencies would direct us toward.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
-This is intended to be an honest appraisal of our actions, attitudes, and motives both in the past and currently.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
-Alcoholics tend to be isolated and untrusting, this step begins the process of learning to trust and open up.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
-When we are able to see the patterns of thought and behavior(see step 4) which motivated us to drink, we become willing to live without these patterns.
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
-This is a source of great contention with many people but most any religious or spiritual tenets speak of the necessity of both work and divine grace to improve ourselves. In meetings it is spoke of as doing the footwork and leaving the results to our higher power.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
-This begins the process of getting right with the pople we harmed during our active alcoholism.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
-amend, to change, make right. This implies a change in behavior rather than an apology.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
-Continual monitoring of our attitudes actions and motives helps us to see when we are heading back toward destructive patterns.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
-Seeking to better understand our spirituality and relationship with the god of our own understanding.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
-Having found a new way of life and a new way of looking at life, we continue to do the things which will foster those attitudes and tell others what worked for us.
Upon examination, we see that the 12 steps are neither “superstition” nor “treatment” in the traditional sense but rather a way of life which when followed honestly and open-mindedly, enables alcoholics to live a life free of alcohol.
The Twelve Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous
- the principles which keep the fellowship free from political entanglements.
1. Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon A.A. unity.
-united we stand, divided we fall.
2. 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.
-There is nobody “in charge” we acknowledge only one authority, a loving god which guides our decisions
3. The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking.
-Everyone is welcome regardless of age, race, sexual identity, creed, religion or lack of religion
4. Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or A.A. as a whole.
-Each individual group has the right to decide how it is run except when it would affect other groups or aa as a whole.
5. Each group has but one primary purpose—to carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers.
-A.A.'s purpose is to carry a message of recovery, not to sell anything, make money, sway political decisons ect…
6. An A.A. group ought never endorse, finance or lend the A.A. name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property and prestige divert us from our primary purpose.
-You will never see an A.A. endorsed organization, no A.A. treatment centers, counselors, aa endorsed religions etc…
7. Every A.A. group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.
-A.A. does not accept any donations or outside support, all financial support is by internal donations(completely optional see tradition 3)
8. Alcoholics Anonymous should remain forever nonprofessional, but our service centers may employ special workers.
-Fairly obvious, A.A. is not professional, ie -not for profit, not run by any board. A.A. employs special workers (lawyers, accountants etc…) as needed.
9. A.A., as such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.
-A.A. has no organization, but groups may send delegates to serve on boards or committees directed by the groups they serve. This helps conduct business in regards to the primary purpose(see tradition 5)
10. Alcoholics Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the A.A. name ought never be drawn into public controversy.
-Exactly as it states, A.A has no opinion on anything outside of 12 step recovery in A.A., A.A. will never take part in any political/public controversy.
11. Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio and films.
-This one has 2 parts; First, A.A. does not promote itself, makes no guarantees or promises of effectiveness. Rather, it attracts by example and simple statement of it’s principles. Second, personal anonymity is imperative as no one alcoholic speaks for A.A. as a whole.
12. Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.
-Anonymity implies more than just a nameless state but also an equal state where nobody is more or less important for any reason.
As we can see, the traditions lay out guidelines for an equal society which does not govern nor have any public opinion. It does not become involved in politics or making money and has only one purpose, to carry the message to other alcoholics that a better way of life exists.
The unfortunate reality is that a great many aa members do not pay enough attention to these traditions and attempt to speak their opinions in the guise of “AA” opinion (see tradition 10)
Hope this clears away some of the misconceptions.
