What creeps you out the most about Alcoholics Anonymous?

Answer 1

That everything bad that happens to me is totally and completely my fault, that I brought it all on myself, and that everything good that happens to me has absolutely nothing to do with what I've done, but is through The Grace of God and The Program of Alcoholics Anonymous. According to AA I don't deserve for good things to happen to me in my life, but God (or Nature or Doorknob) in His Infinite Wisdom (I don't know why these things happen, but God knows, so I don't have to know) loves me anyway and gives me these things I don't deserve, such as life. But the others, those who "died so others may live," for some reason God didn't give them His Grace, so they got just what they deserved, they died a miserable, horrible death.

What creeps me out is 1) for maybe a year or two I BELIEVED that, and 2) hundreds of thousands of AA members STILL DO believe it!

Answer 2

What creeps me out the most is the way they ALL TALK AND ACT EXACTLY ALIKE!!! I attended over a hundred meetings in several different counties (and two different states), in down and out areas, in working-class areas, in upscale areas -- and everyone quotes the same slogans and puts on the same phony "serenity" face and every question and comment is answered with the same mindless thought-stopping cliches. No independent thought seems to be possible for true believers!! I have also corresponded with people from Canada, Australia, and Europe -- and they report the same behaviors and repetitious mouthing of the same slogans and cliches!! AA members are like Stepford Wives!! Or maybe like the people on that episode of the old Star Trek -- the ones who all talked & acted alike, but were really controlled by the computer "Landru"!!

Answer 3

The fact that it hurts as many people as it helps. It seems that a lot of people in AA are aware of the failure rate, but there seems to be no effort made to improve the program so it helps more people. They just churn out the same old stuff and if someone relapses, it's their fault for not going to enough meetings or working the steps properly. AA never looks at its own part in it.

Also when an AAer says "yes it is brainwashing, but my brain needed a good washing hee hee"

Perhaps, as a previous poster has suggested, I should spend more time working an alternative program rather than bashing AA, but I need to get all of the beliefs from 1 1/2 years of AA that are stuck in my head and holding me back out first.

Answer 4

I disagree with the first answerer: alcoholism IS a disease. You get it by drinking too much, but it IS a disease once you've got it.

Actually, I think they do a great job. I think they are a little too "hyper," and a little too willing to become addicted to meetings as an alternative to addiction to alcohol, but other than that, I like them plenty. I've never been an alcoholic myself, although I came pretty close there for awhile. But they have created any number of spin-off organizations, and I have benefited from a couple of those. With all of them, the tendency to become a little obsessed with the program is annoying at times, but also necessary for some people.

Answer 5

Most long term members (old timers) are weirdos. This is because they have been subjected to years of cult programming. Everything they do revolves around the "program". If AA was banned overnight I bet hundreds would be jumping from windows within a week because their imaginary disease would start talking to them and they would lose their very fragile "serenity".

Actually, what creeps me out the most is the perverts that are very abundant there. There are pedophiles, rapists, and many philanderers. That should be no surprise as the founder , when he wasn't extolling the virtues of the spiritual program he invented, couldn't keep his weenie in his pants, he invented "13th stepping".

Answer 6

It creeps me out that the "friends" you make are contigent upon your serenity. If you're having trouble they run the other direction then blame you for their abandonment. When they don't see you "practicing the program" or "forgiving" or angry about lifes circumstances they run the other way figuring you're fixing to drink. "What was your part"? I can tell you that when I needed support the most, the hand of AA WASN'T THERE FOR ME.

I also hate the slogans "Change or Die", "Let it go", "Live and let live", "Think, think, think". What the hell is that all about anyway.

I also am creeped out that they scare you to death when you leave saying that you'll die out there. As if you are unfit for society without their silly program.

Answer 7

The really old guy that always sits in the corner listening so that at some point he can speak and correct what everyone else has said. He earned the right to do this because he got sober before Christ was born and therefore, he is an expert.

Oh, and the nasty smell of cigarettes and stale coffee.

Answer 8

The amount that AA's gibberish-thought has seeped into the world at large. That people, professionals, etc. still recommend it, without really understanding it. That it is still seen as the best way to recover. What has really creeped me out most is seeing once thoughtful, questioning people turned into pseudo-serene automatons. Spooky.

Answer 9

that everything that the alcoholic did wrong whether they were drinking or not at the time is blamed on the alcohol. that the alcoholic them self is never held responsible for the lives they've ruined or the people that they've hurt. It's absolutely ridiculous to me.

Answer 10

You have to confess you are an alcoholic even if you are not drinking habitually, because you used to drink habitually. Also, seeking a higher power doesn't always work. You need to seek the highest power.