More AA stuff.
Sep. 5th, 2004 02:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
masque12Here is the original AA 12 steps. Below is my redaction of them, from a Left Hand Path perspective. Take them as you will.
1. Admit you have a problem, but realize that you have the power to overcome it.
2. Know that you have to do the work yourself, no force outside yourself can do it for you.
3. Make a decision to take control of your life, become the master of your own destiny.
4. Make an accurate assessment of yourself, recognizing your weaknesses AND strengths, and decide what you want to change about yourself.
5. Acknowledge what mistakes you have made in the past, and move past them, realize that dwelling on the past won't get you anywhere.
6. Ready yourself to change your life for the better, to repair whatever defects of character you think you have.
7. Work towards correcting your shortcomings, have the confidence to know you can change yourself if you desire.
8. Take responsibility for your actions, and make amends for those in the past where necessary.
9. Make direct amends to people you have wronged, and hold those responsible who have wronged you.
10. Maintain an accurate assessment of your progress. When you make mistakes, make amends, and when you do something right, reward yourself.
11. Seek through meditation and reflection to gain an understanding of your will, and to KNOW that your life is under your control. You have the power to change yourself, and no one and nothing can take that away from you.
12. Decide for yourself if you want to help other people to learn how to regain control of their lives as you have.
1. Admit you have a problem, but realize that you have the power to overcome it.
2. Know that you have to do the work yourself, no force outside yourself can do it for you.
3. Make a decision to take control of your life, become the master of your own destiny.
4. Make an accurate assessment of yourself, recognizing your weaknesses AND strengths, and decide what you want to change about yourself.
5. Acknowledge what mistakes you have made in the past, and move past them, realize that dwelling on the past won't get you anywhere.
6. Ready yourself to change your life for the better, to repair whatever defects of character you think you have.
7. Work towards correcting your shortcomings, have the confidence to know you can change yourself if you desire.
8. Take responsibility for your actions, and make amends for those in the past where necessary.
9. Make direct amends to people you have wronged, and hold those responsible who have wronged you.
10. Maintain an accurate assessment of your progress. When you make mistakes, make amends, and when you do something right, reward yourself.
11. Seek through meditation and reflection to gain an understanding of your will, and to KNOW that your life is under your control. You have the power to change yourself, and no one and nothing can take that away from you.
12. Decide for yourself if you want to help other people to learn how to regain control of their lives as you have.
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no subject
Date: 2004-09-05 03:48 pm (UTC)It may be supposed to do that, but I stand by my interpretation. See the comment below for what I base it on.
The problem as I see it now is that you don't understand the AA system and how it works in practice. You said elsewhere on this thread that you haven't actually experienced it yourself, so at this point you are extrapolating only from what you've read on the internet.
It's true, that I haven't experienced it first hand. But I'm reading lots of testimonies, I've observed the behavior of members known personally to me, I've read the organization's own material, I've read criticisms of it by medical professionals, I've read reports of suspicious activity by the organization, etc. No, I don't have first hand experience, but there's a lot of evidence that I'm not alone in my assessment of it. I do acknowledge that people CAN get better in it, but I see that as more due to their own efforts and the luck in finding other people who are trying to do good within the organization. The program as laid out in the literature seems to be seriously flawed, and that is where my main problem with it lies.
The alternate 12 steps that I originally posted were kind of a thought experiment, but the whole reason that I'm concerned with this issue at all is because I care about the friends I have in the program. I WANT them to get over their problem, but I've already observed their behavior changing in ways that seem to be harmful. Whereas previously they were rather strong spirited people, all they seem to be talking about now is how weak they are, how helpless they are, how their Higher Power will fix them if they ask the right way, and it just seems rather cultlike. I've heard people who have been sober for nearly 20 years say they are afraid of what might happen if they quit going to meetings. At what point does AA become another addiction?