Yes No different than the Bleeding Deacons and you and i when were not Bleeding!!! Ha!!!!!

oh they're different Joe, they are gravy sucking republic killing scum. You and I may not be perfect we are better than politicans.

State Assemblyman Joe- blow here "Just say No"!!!!:)

<AA is a place?>


Maybe for some, AA is a place to go. There are some who do not need a spiritual answer to recover from alcoholism for the simple reason that they do not have alcoholism. You can label them "A certain kind of hard drinker," someone who hasn't lost the power of choice when it comes to having a drink, what have you. Lots of these people end up in AA for various reasons. For them we are a support group, and it is nice that we can be that. But some are the type whom the 12 Steps are designed for, perhaps the real alcoholic, are beyond human aid and need more than a simple social support group. So, to the hard drinker, all I would ask is please don't sponsor a real alcoholic.

So yes, for some of us AA is place to go. For me it is a way to live.

I'm with you Jim!

In my area, AA meetings are more or less "Backslapper Clubs". For some people, that's all they need. If these meetings did not exist some other fellowship would need to fill the niche.

But there are some who crossed the line and need more than backslapping. That is where the program is apropos.

"real alcoholics" I presume? Listen, you guys need to make sure that someone tells the millions who's lives have been saved by AA, that it's really not the answer!

DT, you should know as well as anyone. AA is a vehicle to help get to the solution.

DT, you are pretty much the only person on here who brings up the term "real alcoholic".

As One in Twenty says for some people the fellowship seems to be enough but for lots, like me, it just isn't.

I might say AA saved my life but it was the people there who introduced me to the 12 steps - the spiritual awakening as the result of those steps was what really saved my life.

There are people for whom that wasn't necessary and whatever term you use to describe it those people are different from me. Don't you agree or do we all have to be the same?

To me it's part of AA, meetings, program, fellowship, and the particular HP that works for each individual.
If it was just about finding someone else's definition of God as a "white guy in a beard" all you'd have to do is join a hard core church. But AA works best for most. Hence to me it IS the soultion.

For me G-d is the solution, specifically Jesus Christ. I was raised Jewish and believed in G-d but he was not doing much for me. I came to believe that the living G-d of Christ was who he said he was and I have surrendered to him. The past three years have not been easy but they have been drug and alcohol free because of G-d. With that said, I do not think you need G-d to recover but for me it was the key. I tried for over 20 years without G-d and came up short over and over and over. AA/NA provides the stage to pay it forward. There is nothing like two addicts helping each other out. I truly believe that we only maintain our sobriety by passing it along. Being a grateful and humble servant to others is what I have been called to be. I would not have it any other way.

Shawn