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Atheist in A.A.
Hello! I'm new to Atheist Nexus. I've been an atheist pretty much my entire life. My parents gave me a lot of freedom to do and make choices on my own. I wasn't neglected but I was pretty rebelious and sneeky.
That being said I took on drugs and booze at an early age but stopped due to a rehab visit when I was 15. At about 19 I got back into smoking grass, tripping a little acid and of course the occasional drink. I lived in Colorado back then.
I moved to Portland At 23 and had no eyes watching(family) so that's when my career in drugs like cocaine and meth started to take ahold of me. I didn't get into meth but coke wrapped it's tenticles around me and didn't let go for sometime. I managed to beat that problem on my own. Don't get me wrong I would still love a blast but I stay clear of it.
In this time of drugs I had to drink to come down and in times if I were lit I would snort coke to keep going. Now I realize that I still love the hell out of drinking and I've developed a pretty burly drinking problem.
I've decided as far as last Monday that I need to join A.A. so I did. I was reluctant for a long time because of the "God" talk and I must admit that now that I've joined A.A. it's making me a little batty. I'm wondering if anyone that reads this that is an alcohlic has worked the steps without feeling like "God" is being crammed down their throats? How do I deal with it? I don't want to be disrespectful to others that have those beliefs especially if it works for them.
Thanks in advance, Shad
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Ann on -
You live in Portland, OR, not Portland ME, right? You might want to check out SMART recovery http://www.smartrecovery.org/ I checked for local meetings in OR, but you might want to write SMART and ask. They do have a 24 hr. on-line forum and meetings. SMART is a cognitive-behavioral, non-theistic alcohol/addiction counseling program begun by a humanist. Some people use both AA and SMART for their different approaches: Whatever works for you.
Wishing you success. You've worked on one tough problem, acknowledged another, and caan still worry about being disrespectful: my hat's off to you!
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Permalink Reply by Shad Hale Justice on
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thank you. yeah i'm in oregon. i'll get there with it. i feel like i caught it before everything started going to shit. my computer also sucks so you doing a little digging for me is a real cool thing.
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Permalink Reply by Sean Murphy on -
Another organization to look for is "S.O.S. Secular Organizations for Sobriety" which is at www.cfiwest.org/sos/ . I did a quick search at http://www.sossobriety.org/meetings/states.htm#Oregon and didn't see Portland listed, but I have no clue if any of the listed cities are anywhere near Portland or not.
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thank you sean. i'm glad that you sent me this info so i may seek more advice.
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Permalink Reply by alexa penzner on -
hi shad -
welcome to our sometimes nutty, sometimes pithy discussions :] you have had a hard road. it takes a lot of guts to get through your struggles and you have done great!
in new york city, we have an atheist AA group - still following the steps, but w/o the dumb higher power crap. there must be a group there that is not so into 'god' junk. might do to look around - or declare your skeptisism and see if anyone approaches you with whom you can bond.
as you know, also, that it is part of your dna that addicts you - you are struggling more with that than your developed demons - it may help. talking to someone here will definitely be good and i'm sure there are lots of us to confide in. have you tried cognitive therapy? - has nothing whatsoever to do with stupid god stuff and does not delve into upsetting past psych things - just deals with the present.
much good luck - blaze on - alexa
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Permalink Reply by alexa penzner on
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scepticism - jeesh!
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