People in the program don't realize that the principles of the steps are Christian in nature. And are consequently inconclusive. There are many reasons for the division within Christianity, but the most notable strife is based in the study of soteriology. Who gets saved, and who doesn't.
I'm not going to digress into a breakdown of Protestant verses Catholic, mostly because the purpose of this article is not to offer a platform for debate. All that I will say is, according to the Reformed, which is most Protestants as we understand them to be and whose principles are the founding teachings in the program, believe in something called "predestination". Predestination essentially means that from the beginning of time, God set apart people who will be saved (the "elect"), and people who will be damned (everyone else). This means that there is NOTHING that a person can do, nor the prayers of the elect for said person, which can save them.
These people are the "unfortunates" that we read about in the preamble at the beginning of every open meeting. These unfortunates are left just as that - constitutionally incapable of being honest with themselves. Honesty - the one requirement for recovery. A REAL fourth, fifth, and seventh. However, this honesty is the grace that we talk about, and is the same grace that is rooted in Christianity. But grace can not be earned. This is why all of the step work and the practicing of principles in all of our affairs, or even, alas working with others (which is really just another step) can recover us.
Only an act of Providence!! Well, that act was decided long before the sufferer was even born whether it would be gifted or not. This is why there is no solution for the unfortunate. So I wonder, what if we stood with some bravery in a meeting, instead of being so cordial, and actually said to those members, those who get a few months here, a year there, and then fall, that they will for certain die, that they are goners and there is absolutely nothing they can do, they might as well not even go to meetings. Because this is the fact of God's grace - it can't be earned with good behaviour. If the situate were this dire, would they actually get desperate enough believe that they can get sober, and if so, would they?
This idea shakes the very foundation of the program, but with almost every key player in the founding years having relapsed, would that really be such a bad thing? If history itself has been fundamentally wrong about human nature and our ability to carry on, then maybe we could have a fellowship that actually worked for most, if not all members, where is not just a day-a-time, it is a lifelong commitment, because the only alternative is excruciating pain until death.
I would really love to see if a complete change in attitude and outlook upon life would really lead to recovery, or if the receiving of grace for only specific people is in fact gospel.
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