Huff Post Live Program Today “AA and
God”—The Dick B. Input
Dick B.
©2014 Anonymous. All rights reserved
Today, AA
author and historian Dick B. was one of four guests on a very interesting
program arranged by Huffington Post.
The guests
were: (1) Dick B., Executive Director, International Christian Recovery
Coalition. (2) Jim Christopher, Founder of Secular Organizations For Sobriety.
(3) Becca Nichols, with her personal story of going from a secular belief to a
“more religion based” healing/recovery. (4) Darren Littlejohn of the 12 Step
Buddhist.
There is a
link which enables you to listen to the show. And here's the link to the
segment in case you want to share with friends or on social media:
You will
hear three of the speakers objecting in one way or another to any A.A. focus on
the Creator. Jim argued for belief in just about any organization one felt
might be helpful. Becca was a newcomer, but very much taken with the
“spiritual” and any “higher power” that was convenient. Darren, not
surprisingly, argued for what he deemed the Buddhist approach – which was
essentially self-empowerment.
Such
discussions are very valuable in that they enable the public to learn the
difference between “meetings” and a “program of recovery.” Most critics were
and are inclined to base their viewpoints on what they have heard, what they
think their organizations or desired “meetings” are about as gleaned from their
meetings. They appeared to ignore the Bible, the A.A. basic test (the Big
Book), and even the content of the Twelve Steps.
To keep this
brief, Dick B. pointed out that the earliest A.A. had no Twelve Steps, no
Twelve Traditions, no Big Books, no war stories, and no meetings as we know
them today. According to cofounder Dr. Bob, the early pioneers believed the
answer to their problems was in the Bible (which they often called the Good
Book).
Dick pointed
out that he did not come to A.A. to join a church, to espouse a religion, or to
describe God. He came because he was a very sick man—beset with seizures,
shaking, confusion. And trouble! – Unbelievable amounts of trouble. But he made
clear that he came in as a Christian, dove into the program of A.A., sponsored
more than 100 men in recovery, and has remained continuously sober for more
than 27 years.
He pointed
out that the early AAs sought a cure. They sought it by seeking God. As
illustrations, he pointed to Dr. Bob’s statement, “Your Heavenly Father will
never let you down!” Also to the abc’s of AA, concluding that God could and
would if He were sought. He pointed to Bill W.’s statement: “The Lord has been
so wonderful to me curing me of this terrible disease that I just want to keep
talking about it and telling people.
The net
difference between Dick’s remarks and those of the other panelists was that the latter focused on “any god” higher
powers, spirituality, diversity of viewpoints, and the need for having many
organizations from which to choose.
Dick
concluded by pointing out that early AAs sought God’s help because they could
not help themselves, and that others had not succeeded in helping them. He
pointed to the so-called “insanity” of alcoholism which seems to preclude an
understanding that alcohol is the problem, that disaster is the usual
consequence of drunkenness carried to the extreme, and place the alcoholic in
the bizarre belief that one more won’t bite him. Even though it most assuredly
will.
Gloria Deo
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