Can Evangelical Alcoholics Anonymous Save me?

Question

Or, can I change my behaviour by changing my thoughts and using self-discipline? (an AA evasive concept)

Answer 1

Only Christ can save you, but they can help. When trying to change a behavior, you need a strong support system. You will need other people to help you along the way. Self-discipline and changing your thoughts will be the best thing, but in the times that you feel discouraged, which you may at some point, you will need a little push to keep you going in the right direction.

Good Luck and God Bless!!

Answer 2

First of all, AA does not work for ANYONE, so it is not likely to work for you. Please see http://www.morerevealed.com/library.jsp for proper statistics. Internal studies done by AA themselves showed only a 5% success rate for their program. Actually, what they showed was that only 5% of the people were able to stay in the program. There's no guarantee that those people are not still drinking/using drugs (in fact, personal experience will teach you that many of them are).

For more reality, also see www.peele.net. There is no such thing as a "spiritual disease." Additionally, diseases are not treated by going to church.

Alcoholics anonymous will do the following things for you, all of which will either HARM your attempts to stay sober or do nothing at all:

1. Put you into contact with criminals. Offenders are frequently sentenced to AA meetings. This means that the percentage of people in the meetings who are currently on parole or probation can be very high.

2. Convince you that you're powerless to change. This is patently UNTRUE.

3. Convince you that your problem with alcohol is a life sentence. This is also completely untrue and has been proven to be so over and over.

4. Convince you that the only way you can stay alcohol/drug free is by following the 12-steps. Thousands upon thousands of people stop bad habits/addictions without the 12-steps every day. In fact, most people stop and most people do so without group crap. It's likely that MORE people are able to stop without it. Studies show no higher success rate for those who attend 12-step meetings and they also show higher incidence of death and binge drinking among those who attend AA.

5. Teach you that you have no strengths, talents, or useful personality traits that you can use to overcome a bad habit.

The fact is, yo uWILL have to change your behavior by changing your thoughts and using self-discipline. It's the only way you CAN fix any problem. It's my opinion (also see http://www.orange-papers.org) that you are more likely to have quick success doing so if you stay away from the cult meetings.

Answer 3

If you are an Evangelical, then go for it, if not, it may not work for you. You cannot deal with alcoholism on your own, you will end up trading one addiction for another. Go to the best program, AA that has a 12 step program that works. Alcholism is a physical and mental addiction that you are predisposed to and you have a chemical reaction to it physically and mentally. It is powerful and you need a program, support and a strong will. You can do it.

Answer 4

That is up to you. Whatever your mind thinks will help you best will help you best.

Your mind is a powerful thing.

Mind over matter.