A.A. works for some people, but not for most. For me, it has transformed my life. I have truly been reborn as it says we are in Step Three. However, most people just don't get it, and I truly believe it's because of false teachings within the rooms.
An example is the erroneous and even evil teaching that alcoholism is "patient". And the word "evil" might sound harsh or an exaggeration, but the truth is, it is opposite of biblical assertions. So what else could it then be, if it is not in the teachings of Christ? People in the meetings repeat that it is patient, and that it is waiting for them. I have even heard people say that it is doing push-ups in the corner, preparing. And I do appreciate those analogies, but the truth is, it is love which is patient.
Even today's Twenty-Four Hours referred to alcoholism as the ocean, waiting to engulf us, and A.A. as the dike keeping it at bay (one hole, meaning one drink, and it could crack the dike and break it). While I do agree that it is the first drink that gets us drunk, and that is why complete abstinence is the only alternative, this has possibly precipitated this distorted understanding of the disease - and it is not even A.A. literature! (It is Hazelton).
Therefore, alcohol cannot possibly be patient, especially when the fellowship is built upon a Christian premise. And while I wrote the other day about the Christian principles being a stumbling block in the program, I in fact meant the Protestant belief of predestination and the elect. I am very grateful to be a converted Christian in the fellowship. It has helped me with multiple fourth steps in which I would not had the courage to have partaken in without that foundation.
Therefore, alcohol cannot possibly be patient, especially when the fellowship is built upon a Christian premise. And while I wrote the other day about the Christian principles being a stumbling block in the program, I in fact meant the Protestant belief of predestination and the elect. I am very grateful to be a converted Christian in the fellowship. It has helped me with multiple fourth steps in which I would not had the courage to have partaken in without that foundation.
This is an example of the fallacious teachings of A.A., and how so many of us don't recover. And why would we when we turn the chip system for the newcomer or the person coming back into a near red-carpet event? So then, what is the opposite of patience?
I suspect it is rashness, indecision, frenzy, and impulsion, traits that stir us into dizzy messes, causing confusion and even turmoil. And since Satan is the opposite of Christ, and God is not the author of confusion, we can conclude that Satan causes incertitude, and it is the unstable and uncertain life we live in active alcoholism. Our disease can be likened to the metaphor of that which causes bewilderment, not that which we strive for in our program - to be patient, kind, and tolerant. What a twisted view we in the fellowship have of serenity, even though we pray for it every meeting. These inconsistencies based in flimsy understandings are what I believe to be the number one offender in the majority's inability to recover.
"Let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing." —James 1:4
I suspect it is rashness, indecision, frenzy, and impulsion, traits that stir us into dizzy messes, causing confusion and even turmoil. And since Satan is the opposite of Christ, and God is not the author of confusion, we can conclude that Satan causes incertitude, and it is the unstable and uncertain life we live in active alcoholism. Our disease can be likened to the metaphor of that which causes bewilderment, not that which we strive for in our program - to be patient, kind, and tolerant. What a twisted view we in the fellowship have of serenity, even though we pray for it every meeting. These inconsistencies based in flimsy understandings are what I believe to be the number one offender in the majority's inability to recover.
"Let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing." —James 1:4
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