# Religious Confidentiality and AA **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 2, 2001, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-confidentiality-and-aa/74668 "2001-08-02T17:14:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![ChoosyChipsAndCeilingWhacks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c77e96/32.png) [@ChoosyChipsAndCeilingWhacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChoosyChipsAndCeilingWhacks)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2001, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-confidentiality-and-aa/74668/61 "2001-08-16T14:20:58Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by MsRobyn \* \*\* > [@](#): > > I’ve attended OA meetings and have been thoroughly disgusted by some of the things I’ve heard coming out of the mouths of some of the other people there. One of these is the notion of avoiding flour and sugar. I’ve also heard a list of fad diets that would make your hair crawl. So I learned to eat properly and quit going to OA. Problem solved. > > \*\* Okay, now I’m WAY off topic. But it sounds like we had the same experience. My favorite part is how they talk about avoiding crash diets and then hand you a gray sheet (read: DIET) that’s virtually impossible to stick to in the real world. Duh. I did the same thing you did. And also found tha putting additional emphasis on exercise, something OA completely negates, works really well for me. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-confidentiality-and-aa/74668/62 "2001-08-17T09:45:58Z")
I always loved a quote from OA. “In AA you lock the tiger in the cage. In OA, you have to take him out and walk him 3 times a day”. ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-confidentiality-and-aa/74668/63 "2001-08-17T14:28:26Z")
Count me firmly on the side of believing that it is unconstitutional to sentence someone to attend a 12-step program, but that it is totally constitutional to sentence them to attend a treatment program. There was an [interesting article](http://www.reason.com/0105/fe.st.drunk.html) on this topic recently in Reason magazine (admittedly not an unbiased source). The fact that AA is compatible with many spiritual beliefs is not really the point. The point is that it is **in** compatible with certain religious beliefs, including those of many atheists, but also including those that believe that responsibility cannot be “turned over to God” but must reside in the individual. The state can _allow_ you to select a treatment program that is religious in nature, but to _compel_ you to attend a treatment plan whose _goals_ involve changing the nature of your religious beliefs flies in the face of religious and personal freedom. Oh, and as to the OP, I can see the judge’s reasoning in wanting to promote an expectation of confidentiality in treatment programs (the reason for the priest : penitent and doctor : patient privileges), but I think it goes too far. {fixed code --Gaudere} [Edited by Gaudere on 08-18-2001 at 11:50 PM] ---
**Author:** ![Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-confidentiality-and-aa/74668/64 "2001-08-17T14:28:38Z")
Not to belittle anyone’s recovery, but is anyone else becoming reminded of Stuart Smalley? I bought his book, I’m Good Enough, I’m Smart Enough, And Doggone It, People Like Me! It’s pretty funny and I thought that dispite the humor, did in fact open a window into the recovery process and some struggles people have with their recovery. ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-confidentiality-and-aa/74668/65 "2001-08-17T14:29:42Z")
😛 - Could a friendly mod fix those smilies? ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Goo\_Fee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Doctor\_Goo\_Fee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Goo_Fee)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2001, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-confidentiality-and-aa/74668/66 "2001-08-19T03:59:33Z")
Some of you apologizing for AA have reminded us that one’s HP can be anything one wishes it to be. But, I know one particular thing, that with one AA group at least (and I suspect most of the AA branches would share this view), was NOT accepted as a higher power… and that is ONESELF. A person I know told his sponsor that his HP was himself–that he intended to use his own power to quit drinking (like many, many folks outside of the 12 step madness have done). The sponsor and group were not amused. Heapings of that folksy yet mean-spirited and illogical pablum that AAers like to spew (re: “You can’t be too stupid for AA, but you can be too smart!” Indeed!!!) was dumped on him and then smugly reminded that with that attitude he’d be dead soon. Nice, helpful folks, they were. Anyway, the idea that the Higher Power that enables one to quit using may not come from within but instead must come from without implies to me that AA is, in fact, a religious organization. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-confidentiality-and-aa/74668/67 "2001-08-22T08:03:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Doctor Goo Fee \* > \*\*A person I know told his sponsor that his HP was himself–that he intended to use his own power to quit drinking (like many, many folks outside of the 12 step madness have done). \*\* If this person was that powerful, he(or she) wouldn’t have ended up at an AA meeting. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-confidentiality-and-aa/74668.md?page=3)