Truths to Counter the AA Cult #6: AA is Religion, not "Spiritual"

 From the Orange Papers

There is nothing moral or spiritual about trying to shove the funny Buchmanite religious beliefs of Bill Wilson on everyone else.

1. • It is not moral or spiritual to tell people that:
     • "It's isn't a religion, it's spiritual."
       It's a religion.

     • "It's isn't a religion, it's just an easy-going, spiritually-oriented quit-drinking program."
       It's a religion.

     • "You should not reveal the religious nature of the program to new prospects; 'We might arouse their prejudices'."
       That's called "deceptive recruiting". It's also called "lying". There is nothing moral or spiritual about it.

     • "Don't tell the newcomers too much stuff too fast. Don't emphasize the religious feature. Dole out the truth to prospective recruits and newcomers 'by teaspoons, rather than by buckets.'"
       That's called "deceptive recruiting". It's also called "lying". There is nothing moral or spiritual about it.

   • It is not moral or spiritual to keep making up screwy "spiritual diseases" like compulsive shopping or being a diabetic, or being an abused child of an alcoholic, or being a victim of incest, and then declaring that only a life spent doing the Twelve Steps will save the sufferer from a life of sin.

   • It is not moral or spiritual to mislead people and make them think they are getting great therapy and great treatment for what ails them, when all they are getting is quack medicine. That keeps the people from seeking some other medical treatment that could really help them.

   • Likewise, it is not moral or spiritual to tell sick people who are having troubles that their problems are of their own making, and that all that they need to do is Work The Steps and Work A Strong Program harder, rather than seek help from a doctor or psychiatrist.

   • And it is not moral or spiritual to tell sick people that the answer to all such problems is "Work The Twelve Steps, Get A Sponsor, And Read The Big Book".

   • It is not moral or spiritual to shove an ineffective "spiritual" treatment program on people who are seeking medical treatment for a deadly illness.
     In fact, it is hard to understand how people who are otherwise pretty okay, nice, honest people can actually do it. They rationalize their actions by saying that the A.A. program saves lives, but they cannot help but see the huge failure rate of A.A. if they have been around A.A. for very long. So that rationalization doesn't really wash. They are in denial about what A.A. really is, and they are in denial about the immense A.A. failure rate, and they are in denial about what they are really doing.

   • It is not moral or spiritual to use judges and parole officers — the criminal justice system — to coerce people into the Alcoholics Anonymous organization. But they do it all of the time.

   • Foisting quack medicine on critically-ill people is criminal fraud and manslaughter.

   • Buchmanism is actually a very heretical and anti-Christian religion. Dr. Frank Buchman claimed that his religion was completely compatible with Christianity, but that wasn't true at all. Frank Buchman was just trying to fool people into becoming his followers. Buchmanism is grossly heretical, and occult, and directly opposed to many of the teachings of Jesus. See The Heresy of the Twelve Steps.