Question by Love: The higher power of Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous?
Isn’t it foolish for people addicted to substances that make you feel all good inside to surrender themselves to a higher power? First of all the term is all wrong (HIGHer power). Secondly, putting your faith in a supernatural power that is a cheap knock off of the holy spirit is like trading one addiction for another.
What do you think?
Best answer:
Answer by GrammarPolice
Is the Holy Spirit you speak of Jesus or a “spirit” as in drink? There is no such thing as getting rid of a habit, just replacing it with a good one. You need to find something bigger than yourself and narcotics or alcohol to lean on. As far as the HIGHer power…it is supposed to be higher than the high you get from drugs.
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God bless
Most recovering people I have met are deists or agnostics.
Some believe in God, some do not believe in any god or gods.
Funny how people that are sober whether they believe in a God or not – do not lose jobs, go to jail, lose relationships, get DUIs, kill someone while driving, or die.
I would say; “And some people need to use or drink more before they become teachable”, but I will take the Higher ground. lol
Anything could be your higher power, it doesn’t have to be super natural. Nature could be your higher power, or a group of people could be your higher power. I’m not quite sure you understand how it works. It is a higher power of the individual’s understanding, and doctrine and dogma is to be discarded.
That’s exactly what it is. I used to work with dually diagnosed people and saw it over and over again–people traded their chemical addictions for religious addictions. They may have been physically better off but they weren’t mentally better off that I could see.
Your question is invalid. The term “higher power” is not in the Twelve Steps of those two fellowships you mention. The term used by the co-authors of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous is a “Power greater than ourselves” — NOT “Higher Power”.
Step Three: We, “Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity”. THAT’S what happened to them.
You might be thinking of a hot-dog commercial.
Secondly – There is no use of the word “surrender” either – not in the book “Alcoholics Anonymous”. No such thing!
“Higher power” and “surrender” are examples of terms with no efficacy, originating OUTSIDE of the Fellowship, mostly treatment centers – and have leeched into the lingo of some of the members – usually folks with no interest in learning the workings of their own fellowship to which they claim membership. It is unfortunate that you have picked up on them.
You have been duped or misled by ignorant folks to think that these terms are part of AA. They are not.
Next time, do your homework to familiarize yourself with the subject you are trying to discredit and then ask again. It didn’t work this time.
Danny S – RLRA
Real Live Recovered Alcoholic
http://recoveredalcoholic.blogspot.com/
I see nothing wrong with using faith to give you strength to break an addiction, but in AA, I was told that I couldn’t quit drinking unless I started believing in their god.
The god of AA is a knock-off of the Christian God except there is no Free Will and the god of AA cannot cure alcoholism, only grant a daily reprieve. Pretty wimpy god, if you ask me, the God I was brought up with healed the lame and raised the dead; a little thing like alcoholism wouldn’t have stopped Him.
AA is a splinter group of a strange religious sect:
http://www.orange-papers.org/orange-religiousroots.html