I've been to countless AA meetings over the years. We all know how different they can be. Certain meetings attract certain crowds. Some are more focused on the program than others. Some seem like just social gatherings around not drinking. Other meetings have more emphasis on practicing the 12 steps, the practical program of action to recover. I was at a meeting recently and one individual likes to speak off topic and talk about the most recent "pearls of wisdom" he has picked up. Here are some things I've heard people say over the years that do not line up with the program and are actually contradictory to what the literature says.
1. What we do around here is not drink no matter what.
AA literature states that real alcoholics lack the power to abstain. In most of the first 3rd of the AA big book alcoholism is explained to be an illness. "We alcoholics are people who have lost the ability to control our drinking." Most real alcoholics can't not drink no matter what for very long. During these intervals of trying to abstain on their own will power they usually feel quite miserable suffering from untreated alcoholism and will eventually drink again. Bills story in the AA book is a classic example. He tried several times to stay sober himself but could not until he started putting the principles of the Oxford group in his life, principles which he later incorporated in to the 12 steps.
2. Just don't drink even if your ass falls off.
Same as above.
3. Don't worry about working the program right away. Just keep coming back and the program will work you.
This is just down right confusing. Exactly how will the program work you? How can the 12 steps work a person? This is confusing and no where in our literature is anything like this mentioned. It really doesn't make sense. Several statements in the Big Book encourage taking the steps as soon as one can and as thoroughly as one can. "Rarely have we seen a person fail who has throughly followed our path." "Next we launched out on a vigorous course of action"
Here is a link to a web site that has many more of these party lines listed and how they are contradictory to the AA program. Most of them I agree with.
http://nwarkaa.org/aintinthebook.htm
