Watered Down Religion?
AA is not a substitute for religion.
Early on in AA history many pastors and priests (read as: major and obvious leaders of religion) hesitated to recommend AA because they worried it might subvert religion. AA tends to complement religion, adding to it or emphasizing certain aspects of religious teaching. It is not a substitute any more than a 13mm wrench is a substitute for a full Craftsman metric socket wrench set. AA does one thing well and it looks religious because as any shade-tree mechanic knows, most of his work is done with two wrenches but we should not mistake a shade-tree mechanic with two wrenches for a master mechanic with a full complement of wrenches.
Secondly, I believe most people do not understand what religion is. Such a discussion is beyond the scope of this list. Suffice it to say that the Bible commands one in how to dig a latrine. Most people do not associate religion with normal sanitary laws yet religion is involved as much as it is in defining what is holy on the Sabbath day. So whatever one thinks religion is, if your definition does not include what to do with your feces during a field march, then the word "religion" does not mean what you think it means.
From a practical standpoint (and AA is VERY practical) for the purposes to staying sober having a rigorous definition of the word "religion" is not very useful. It is enough to know that religion in the USA is the purview of certain well-known and obvious leaders of religion and AA will leave it to them to define their own work. AA seems to complement their work at some points but is not a substitute for it.
I am an alcoholic and an Orthodox Jew.
Alex H.
Early on in AA history many pastors and priests (read as: major and obvious leaders of religion) hesitated to recommend AA because they worried it might subvert religion. AA tends to complement religion, adding to it or emphasizing certain aspects of religious teaching. It is not a substitute any more than a 13mm wrench is a substitute for a full Craftsman metric socket wrench set. AA does one thing well and it looks religious because as any shade-tree mechanic knows, most of his work is done with two wrenches but we should not mistake a shade-tree mechanic with two wrenches for a master mechanic with a full complement of wrenches.
Secondly, I believe most people do not understand what religion is. Such a discussion is beyond the scope of this list. Suffice it to say that the Bible commands one in how to dig a latrine. Most people do not associate religion with normal sanitary laws yet religion is involved as much as it is in defining what is holy on the Sabbath day. So whatever one thinks religion is, if your definition does not include what to do with your feces during a field march, then the word "religion" does not mean what you think it means.
From a practical standpoint (and AA is VERY practical) for the purposes to staying sober having a rigorous definition of the word "religion" is not very useful. It is enough to know that religion in the USA is the purview of certain well-known and obvious leaders of religion and AA will leave it to them to define their own work. AA seems to complement their work at some points but is not a substitute for it.
I am an alcoholic and an Orthodox Jew.
Alex H.