Duaine M here:

I have thought long and hard about setting up a web page for groups that are not in agreement with AA. Giving them a chance to be heard.

We {SOS} are not against any group or in computation with other recovery groups.

This is what makes it hard for me to support groups that are against AA.

{I} {Me} Duaine Metevia have a right in this group {SOS} to express myself and the things that have happened to me. If I had a problem with a group {I} have a right to be heard.

AA did me harm and I got and stayed sober not because of AA but in spite of it.

For those of you who have been helped by AA I wish you well and hope you understand that some have been hurt by this group. I hope to bring a balance.

It's my hope that bringing to light their stories will help the group fix it's self.

I know in SOS if something isn't working or it's doing more harm than good it's looked at and fixed.

I hope this web page doesn’t do harm but instead helps and heals.

The following links are not a part of SOS.

I hope they will help those of you out there who have been hurt by people who are suppose to be there to help.

Please remember this page was setup by me {Duaine Metevia} and it is not supported by everyone in SOS.  

I think that's the strongest part of this group it allows and encourages free thought {wherever it leads} 

This was taken from the SOS Discussion Board  

Group:

I'm new to SOS. It was time to leave AA, so here I am. I still have some nostalgic feelings for the religion(s) of my childhood. However, I'm a very different person than I was in those days. I don't miss the God Squad.

Nor will I miss the Thought Police. I love to feel the shiver that goes up and down my spine when I have good arguments with people who also honor and respect rationality. Ahhhhhhhh, free again, with the wind blowing through my neurons and my programming turned off!

I'm here because everything matters less now than the simple right to be myself, to express my opinions authentically instead of in terms of someone else's doctrine.

Actually, I'm here because someone pointed out the immorality of sending vulnerable addicts to a "program" with alleged therapeutic value --- when only 5% (at most) of AA folk remain sober --- and 60% of all persons who get sober do so on their own! In fact, the chemically addicted are worse off in AA or in any 12-step program than with no treatment at all!

Until that time, I had not thought beyond my own selfish purposes for being in AA. I knew I was safe and insulated from losing all self-confidence and the ability to think for myself. Fine! However, what was happening to those around me who were accepting the damaging beliefs that they were *DISEASED* and *POWERLESS* ?????

Well, the bottom line was that a scant few ever maintained sobriety in a place where "swearing off" was a dirty word --- yet "relapsing" was condoned & evoked sympathy.

How can a person *LIVE* without researching these not-so-minor factors that should be weighed in decisions regarding what type of program, if any, one should choose for oneself? I dunno. I have no excuse. The political power of AA in the US is such that it boggles the mind. In the recovery program sense, it *IS* the system. I'm not the first to have been lulled into a zombie like state by the belief that I was virtually alone in questioning 12-step programs.

Some folk have suggested that perhaps AA will eventually change for the better. Why? It has no incentive to do so. Groups that wield political and financial power in our nation will continue to do what they do --- shape the individual to serve the group's interests --- to maintain the group's power --- instead of acting in the interests of the individual.

The words CULT and COLLECTIVISM and CORPORATE EXPLOITATION come to mind. Those are not kind words, I know. Well, when I have seen the dignity and self-confidence and reasoning ability of chemically addicted persons *ripped off* --- I seethe with rage. What are these people doing!!!??? Why do we allow the courts and hospitals and psychologists and halfway houses and prisons and youth groups to use our tax money to FORCE this ineffectual and weakening and irrational program on vulnerable human beings?

What is the answer? My answer is the same for those human beings as it is for myself. I would *EMPOWER THEM*.

I would allow them to be themselves; not prisoners required to submit to brainwashing and forced to repeat the cult's dogma. I would free their minds from a religion that is not of their choice (Yes, the Supreme Court has over & over again ruled that AA IS RELIGIOUS! So much for the misleading statement that AA is merely spiritual.)

I would free their minds from the hatred and contempt for reason that is so pervasive in AA.

I would, if I could, tell them OPENLY that their own minds are fine, healthy, and more than capable of forming their own plans for how to abstain from substances --- and that such a plan will work for a lifetime with only their own will power behind it.

Thank you all --- for bringing your thoughtful minds to this board so that I may trade thoughts with you.

An SOS Member.

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12-Step_Coercion_Watch · 12-Step Coercion Watch

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/12-Step_Coercion_Watch/

Description   12-Step Coercion Watch is a discussion list for those concerned about the violations of religious liberty that are occurring throughout the world where people are being coerced into the 12-Step programs of Alcoholics Anonymous and its many offshoots such as Narcotics Anonymous. In the United States alone more than a million people each year are forced into these programs by courts, licensing boards, and government employers. Two federal circuit courts (Second and Seventh Circuits) and two state supreme courts (Tennessee and New York) have ruled this practice to be in violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, yet the coercion continues throughout the country and also in other countries. The discussions will focus on planning and initiating organizational efforts to end 12-Step coercion worldwide. The primary focus will be, but not be limited to, legal challenges in the courts. This may include, but not be limited to, advising those now being coerced that this coercion is unconstitutional, encouraging them to file suit, and finding legal assistance for them. We encourage lawyers and laypersons alike to participate in this group and hope that a Supreme Court decision will eventually lead to the end of 12-step coercion in the U.S. We also would like to hear from those from other countries where coercion exists so together we can work to end 12-step coercion worldwide once and for all.

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EFTCoaa

Escape From The Cult of AA

Title: Escape_From_The_Cult_of_A_A (EFTCoaa)

EFTCoaa is a group committed to deprogramming from AA's cult doctrines. It is not our business nor is it our mission to determine for our members how they should handle alcohol in their personal lives. We tend to be more supportive of those who have maintained abstinence, as most who come here do not wish to drink. However they DO wish to be free of AA Stepism. What IS our mission is to help individuals, who have been harmed by AA and see it as a cult, to deprogram themselves from it's destructive thinking. The wounds that cults leave behind are deep and lasting, and it is our hope that EFTCoaa will be a place to demystify and de-sanctify 12 step rhetoric that stays in the thought processes long after a person has left the AA cult. We promote personal empowerment rather than powerlessness; freethinking rather than rigid non-thinking obedience; choice rather than fear and terrorizing; and freedom to live one's life as one sees fit. There are 2 things we do not tolerate and will ban members for: proselytizing for AA and abusive personal attacks on members. This place is to be a safe haven for many minds with many ideas. The whole point is to regain our individuality. We are not professionals. We encourage those who need medical attention to seek it, and maintain links to other groups for support of abstinence such as Rational Recovery, S.O.S., SMART etc. DARE TO ASK YOURSELF 7 QUESTIONS: 1. Do you feel that A.A. is NOT the only road to Sobriety? 2. Do you take issue with being chided for questioning the “Program”? 3. Are you troubled by AA's Religious foundation? 4. Have you been greatly harmed by AA? 5. Do you ever wonder if AA is a cult? 6. Do you question being told that you cannot be angry? 7. Have you been forced to admit powerlessness over your life in a way that empowers other members while it diminishes you? If you answered yes to two or more of these questions, EFTCoaa just might be a YAHOO group for you.

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WELCOME

X-STEPPERS

This site is for people who were desperately seeking recovery from addiction, or was coerced by the "powers that be" to join what was thought to be a group that would help them find freedom from  addiction, and instead found themselves caught up in a cult that they could not easily walk away from without repercussions. 
Many people view 12-step organizations as harmless support groups designed to help people overcome various addictions and regain their lives, however, for many of us this view was far from the reality of what 12-step groups really are! Many of us have awakened after years of brainwashing to find that we had not regained our lives, but had instead lost our individuality and the freedom to think for ourselves. Many of us have lost much more, some have lost their families and suffer emotionally from their experiences inside these "harmless support groups," others have committed suicide because they could not live up to the expectations of sponsors or other group members. This site is dedicated to those who cannot tell their stories. It is our hope that this discussion list will provide some insight into how cults operate,  how you can discern whether or not you are in a recovery cult, and how others have found their freedom from the step religion and reclaimed their lives.

alt.recovery.from-12-steps

http://groups-beta.google.com/group/alt.recovery.from-12-steps

aabugsusbecause · aa bugs us because

AA bugs us for many legitimate reasons!
(We're not to be confused with that flaming 12-stepper group called "aabugsmebecause," which is a misnomer since nothing about AA really bugs them.)
Feel free to rant about AA here - steppers, enter at your own risk!

Alcoholics Anonymous: Of Course It's a Cult!
by Jack Trimpey
http://www.rational.org/Cult.html

The Twelve Step Cult
by Mitch Bailey
We live in a society seemingly overwhelmed with addictions to various chemicals. An habitual user of drugs/alcohol is usually encouraged to seek "treatment" within the format of a program offering 12 Steps to sober living. Most heralded is Alcoholics Anonymous (AA).

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ON THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SPIRITUAL MOVEMENTS

Hi, I am Michael,
For fifty years I have been in contact with spiritual movements or read up on them. I have been interested particularly in their influence on its members, who I have followed now for a considerable number of years all over the world. I have been struck by the fact that developments within such groups always seem to follow a similar pattern. When people unite for a special purpose a field of tension seems to arise based on unleashed subconscious drives.
Please allow me to share with you some of my observations.

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Debating

with

Jehovah's

Witnesses

Approximate Reading Time:
30 Minutes

Note: This article is primarily about the Witnesses, but many points are applicable when you discuss emotionally charged matters with people other than Witnesses

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RELIGION AND REHABILITATION: THE REQUISITION OF GOD BY THE STATE

DEREK P. APANOVITCH

Forced AA in the US Military is Unconstitutional

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http://www.angelfire.com/blog/aaacomix

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Alcoholics Anonymous
History

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God's Sword of Truth - The Word

Alcoholics Anonymous

By The Holy Spirit's Disciple, Raymond Laginess

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ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS: THE UNMASKED DECEPTION OF THE
12- STEP RECOVERY PROGRAM; IT'S FOUNDERS; IT'S HISTORICAL SPIRITUAL ROOTS; AND IT'S INEFFECTIVENESS AS A TREATMENT.

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We need more links
SaveOurSelves@msn.com 

Duane Metevia
Duaine Metevia

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