The GOD squad: Reason and logic have no place with the Alcoholics Anonymous GOD-Squad. They are incompatible with each other. I, KanderBluff@yahoo.com  spent 7 sober yrs in A.A. and came to the conclusion that the sickest people on the planet are in those meeting rooms. People on their 5th marriage giving marital advice. X cons giving legal adive, financial advice being given by some one tha1 has filed for bankruptcy twice and the 13th stepping sex club. Reason and logic ridiculed. Thinking discouraged. Sponsors giving medical advice. (Don't take doctor prescribed medications for depression!) Meetings that were mostly ritual. The only old timers that I saw were desperately unhappy people who were on the verge of exploding. Horribly bad con-artists. It is a continual mystery to me why so many A.A. people think they are MASTER manipulators, when most of the cons that were run a child could see through! It is sad. My last meeting was 8 yrs ago and I will never return. I do not miss the people or the meetings one little bit. Oh, incidentally, I have been sober these last 8 yrs as well, coming up on 15 yrs sober in a couple of weeks. A.A. is a sad place for sad people and a heap for all the religious crazies, dregs of society, and bad con-artists. I don't really get mad at myself for going a couple of times a week during those 7 yrs. It was an eye opening experience about delusion and madness. I will never return. To read more about the sick, anti Christ progam check out www.lacult.com

        When I starting going to A.A. about three years ago, I thought I was going to get help with my addiction. What I soon realized is that I was attending religious cult meetings. At first I just thought that I was confused due to my mental state of mind because of my drug and alcohol addiction.  

I was told by the group that I should attend a least 90 meetings in 90 days (indoctrination) I actually attended about 150 meetings in 90 days. I was also told in the beginning of my attendance to sit down, don’t think or speak (indoctrination) for 6 months. During that time I heard many thought stopping clichés, like “take the cotton out of your ears and put it in your mouth, your best thinking got you here, you have a disease, this is the only program that works and you will die if you don’t keep coming to A.A. meetings.” A.A. has hundreds of clichés and slogans. One to fit almost any spoken thought. A.A. dogma is always right. You are always wrong.

At one meeting I mentioned that was going to start attending church again. No one said anything about this during the meeting, which is really not unusual. When you share (speak) you might as well be talking to a blank wall, as cross talking is not allowed. After the meeting an old timer approached me and stated that going to church would not help my disease, that going to church would do nothing for me and the only help available for me was by attending more A.A. meetings. He stated that A.A. is the only program that works. He went on to say that all I needed to know was written in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous.

The Big Book was written by Bill W. Wilson 70 years ago. At that time he was being treated in a hospital for his alcohol addiction with belladonna, a very strong hallucinogenic drug.  Wilson claimed that he had a spiritual experience and that his writings in the Big Book came from God.

I started doing some research on the internet about A.A. and I mentioned that at a meeting. An old timer picked up the Big Book, slammed it down on the table and said “all you need to read is right here in the Big Book. Don’t bother to read anything else because if it doesn’t say it in the Big Book, it is not true.”

At one meeting I stated that I was taking a doctor prescribed sleeping pill (lunesta) and other prescribed medications for my blood pressure and a mild anti depressant.  What a mistake that was. I was told by another old timer that by taking my medications I was cheating the program of A.A. with all its benefits to me and that I would surely relapse and die if I continued taking my medications.

I was told that I should divorce my wife, sell all my material possessions and devote my life to being a servant of A.A. and to recruit other alcoholics into the A.A. program. And that I should start going with the group to the jails and institutions to help spread the gospel of A.A. to others that are still suffering with the disease of alcoholism.

I was told that I have a disease and that I would never recover. And that I would have to attend A.A. meetings for the rest of my life. That alcoholics are special people and alcoholics have been given the gift from God to spread the word of A.A. And that I should not be with normies (sober people) and only associate with other diseased alcoholics. That normies don’t understand alcoholics.

That I should turn my will over to a higher power of my understanding which could be anything I wanted my God to be. It could be a radiator, a doorknob, a bridge or anything I wanted my God to be. I have always been a believer in the Father, Son and Holly Spirit so I thought this was very anti Christ. I also thought this was strange as most A.A. meetings are held in meeting rooms of a local church.

I stopped going to A.A. meetings about a year ago. I did not relapse or die.  A.A. would say that I am a just a “dry drunk” because I am not working the 12 steps of A.A. They will say that I was not really an alcoholic and I shouldn’t have been in A.A. in the first place. They will say I was never in A.A., that I was only around A.A. They will say I didn’t work the program hard enough. That I did not get down on my knees with my sponsor, hold her hands and pray to God to lift the burden of drink. They will never admit that the program does not work.

I now live a happy and sober life without Alcoholics Anonymous.

                                                  kanderbluff@yahoo.com

 

No, not a misquote. Did I say I was quoting A.A. literature?  No.  I was quoting what I heard, over and over again, at meeting after meeting, and definitely what I heard when I left the program.  "You'll drink, you know!  You'll die without us!  You are signing your own death warrant!" etc etc.  Good heavens, this is like A.A. 101. As far as my having more sobriety in A.A. than out, that presumes that A.A. had something to do with my sobriety in the first place, and I emphatically disagree with any such notion.  The only thing I really give A.A. credit for is giving me a place to go at night in the early days of my abstinence.  That was nice.  It didn't get me sober, but it was nice.  And there was some decent advice to be found, although most of it isn't exactly rocket science (don't hang out in bars if you're feeling thirsty, don't take the first drink...kind of obvious, when you think about it).  But I must say that about 75% of what I learned in A.A. was complete baloney.  I've had to un-learn that 75%, most of which is so completely ridiculous that I'm amazed that I ever believed it in the first place...although I guess I can't blame myself too much, since the medical community co-signed the whole thing under the guise of "treatment".   I mean really...let's just pick up my 12 & 12 here, that's always good for a laugh...oh here's a good one on page 90:   "It is a spiritual axiom that every time we are disturbed, no matter what the cause, there is something wrong with us. If somebody hurts us and we are sore, we are in the wrong also." [emphasis in original] I cannot possibly tell you how much mischief that particular little gem wrought in my life before it occurred to me that it was simply WRONG.  Actually, it isn't funny at all when I think about it--it's tragic. But I digress.  My point is simply that, yes, A.A. threatens people with death if they leave, and no, A.A. didn't get me sober.

A filthy little cult:  One of my exes wasn't winning any awards for being a nice guy, bad boy would be an accurate description, in or out of A.A. he was a despicable character as far as women were concerned.  What has bothered me in the long run, was not what a jerk he was/is, but how absolutely everything about the cult inflamed the situation, made me feel worse about it than a relationship gone wrong in the real world, how the other women were a) jealous he liked me and b) lined up to bed him whether they liked him or not strictly to compete, and one of my so-called friends was pushing her 19 year old daughter at him.  And the guys in the program?  They just loved it when a fellow cult member treated a woman like a disposable object, because most of them are(a) gay and (b) have nothing at all to offer a woman.  Garbage.  A.A. is garbage.  It's a filthy little cult and it should be outlawed.

My experience with Alcoholics Anonymous: I have been going to A.A. since 1991 as a result of an intervention by my X-wife and some of my family. I have had little success in the last 16 years in maintaining abstinence just through A.A. alone. After many, many treatment programs (rehabs, outpatient) that the only model is 12 step recovery, I have always “relapsed” after small chunks of sobriety. I have been told over and over that this is the only way to get sober and to stay sober. I had started to believe that because of the repetitious teachings of the treatment centers, the A.A. groups and individual members of 12 step groups. All that was accomplished was feelings of guilt, fear and failure. Through all this I was binging and still regularly attending meetings. I was taking suggestions and “working” the program and still no results. Am I constitutionally incapable, am I not being honest? Well, I think not. What I have discovered is that I am not alone.  Through my tenure in A.A., I have made contact with a great number of individuals that share my experience. Statistics are talked about and what is shown is that there is less than a 5 % success rate of people that stay in A.A. for at least a year. After that it drops even lower. What the common factor is that I have noticed are most new people coming into A.A. and a lot of the people on the fringes that have been around A.A. and are not sober is the fact of the strong Christian nature and cultish flavor of the program causes non-compliance. Also what I am observing that all the people that have “got it” are those who have a background in, or a receptive nature to the religiosity of the program. The chapter to the agnostic would have been more credible if a true agnostic had written it. We are not unfortunate; we seem to be born with a sense of logic. A.A. has become old school, primitive at least.  It is not the only program of recovery, just the oldest. The progression of the disease continues and so does the progression of recovery.  What A.A. does in a long, drawn out roundabout way concurs with most of the newer alternative programs like SOS, Rational Recovery, and Secular Organization for Sobriety. Using Cognitive Behavioral type therapies without the superstition and hocus-pocus of twelve step programs, we learn that when we change the way we think and react, we change the way we feel and relate to those around us. Our behavior changes for the better and remember, don’t drink or use no matter what. Keep a real open mind and give yourself a break. Alcoholics Anonymous is a religion in denial. Don’t get caught in the guilt of your beliefs. It is ok to be a real agnostic in A.A. I take what I need and leave the rest.

A.A. cultivates shame: A.A. cultivates shame as an integral part of its' "treatment protocol".  It would be difficult for A.A. to swear using shame as a tool to help others. Many of the people coming to A.A. are made to order for this treatment.  Many have behaved badly and done harm to others and themselves.  The bad behavior reflected poorly on their self respect and self confidence.  Many are already ashamed. All this speaks to ego deflation.  If one is a narcissist, as Bill Wilson was, one may "need" ego deflation.  But, it may not work that way.  It is not impossible that the narcissist in A.A. has found a home; it may be the narcissist who does the deflating of egos.  I can easily recognize the emotional gratification that a malignant narcissist may obtain in A.A. by deflating egos. All, of course, in the name of love and service to a suffering alcoholic.

Thirteenth Step: I have only heard the term "thirteenth step" used once in an A.A. meeting - and, to be fair, it was by someone describing how, in another A.A. group, he had been told by responsible "old timers" that this practice was not tolerated in that group. Also to be fair, I think that this would be the attitude of very, very many decent, responsible individuals in A.A. at all "levels of Sobriety". That, of course, is the problem - "very many individuals". Confronted by the issue, Group Conscience meetings may decide what they will, but there is no effective collective sanction in A.A. against this practice where it occurs, and the format of A.A. meetings, whether "open" or "closed", makes the topic virtually unmentionable in that context. When the term was used in the meeting I mentioned above, the reaction could have been described as a collective shudder. Without having seen too much of it relating to the relatively "A.A. Lite" groups that I have been associated with personally, it still seems to me that where "thirteenth stepping" occurs, it is often unstoppable. In terms of the Fellowship as a whole, it is probably ineradicable. In this context, it is worth noting that the "thirteenth step" was a feature of A.A. in its very early stages - Bill Wilson, principal founder of the Fellowship, has a good claim to having invented it. It is hardly a consolation, but a Google on the "Orange Papers" will lead to a great deal of information (albeit in a rather extreme form) on this, and on other abuses that may occur in A.A.

13th Step I have lost the Love of my life, not to alcohol, but to the social sex triangles of the operations of A.A.. I can't be alone in the losing of my entire life because of the ways senior sober alcoholics play on newcomers.  In this case I think it is particularly egregious because the offender is the current Chairman of the Club and my love has only been sober for 6 months and he has 20 years.  There has to be more people like me out there. I discovered this when he first made passes at her when she was still being honest with me.  He forced his phone number into her hand.  She has been hit on by several of the main speakers, even other women.  What is amazing to find out is everyone of any long standing is well aware of this behavior and this completely unsupervised situation is like eating your own.  They even have a name for it, 13 Stepping.  A way of pouncing on the easy prey of people looking for trusting faces. I can only tell you that as a 42 year old man with what I thought was the better half of my life yet to come, this seems to me to be a systemic problem that harms families far beyond the disease.

A.A. is the antithesis of spirituality:  I agree about A.A. being more religious oriented than spiritual having had parallel experiences attending A.A. meetings.  I'm one of those new comers he's referring to who have been intimidated by the over whelming numbers of A.A. members who not only are religiously fanatical but quite dogmatic about their beliefs.  The whole" GOD of your understanding”, the "you can choose your coat hanger as your higher power", and this is a spiritual program are smoke and mirrors to the new comer so that they can eventually reel you in before unmasking their true colors.  I've been to several A.A. meetings where a member has made a point of commenting on agnostics and how unfortunate they are.  I took real offense to this, not because I’m agnostic but because truly spiritual people would never utter such things.  I'm not opposed to the religious flavor of the program as much as I am opposed to their small mindedness and discriminatory mentality which to me is the antithesis of true spirituality.  I came to observe that A.A. members have certain plasticity to them, an overt fakeness if you will that emanates from people who don't really believe in what they think they're supposed to believe.  They're full of self-doubt and it shows clearly in the way they interact w/one another and w/relations to themselves. (Just an observation).  There comments are all recycled....a great variety of people w/identical comments.  Very rarely did I hear original thought...right from the gut.  It's as if they were robots or had all received lobotomies.  When I heard that repetitive "addiction diction" at every single meeting I couldn't help to think that this was simply brainwashing.  I didn't buy it for a minute.   And as far as the abuse....I witnessed it at every meeting.  Young boys would come in and all say “my sponsor told me i know nothing, and w/ that I’ll keep coming back".  I thought to myself how is that supposed to keep them sober?  Their self-esteem is already at an all time low, and their sponsors will continue to chip away at it some more by telling them "they know nothing". I can go on and on but I'll leave that for another time.

A.A. - good for some (maybe) not for others (certainly): A.A. may well be beneficial for people who are capable of taking the "Step" of accepting submission to a particular type of quasi-religious program (based primarily on the old "Oxford Groups/Moral Rearmament" model), and the concepts of "GOD" and "Sin" contained therein.  A.A. - at least in the form of "A.A. Light" (i.e. less Buchmanism groups) may provide useful social support for people suffering from a complaint that is generally viewed by those not suffering from it as shameful and, indeed, as a source of fear (to this extent I agree with the head article).  A.A. (even "A.A. Light" may be unhelpful or even dangerous for people coming into it with religious or moral principles that are in conflict with those claiming a direct line to Bill Wilson's "GOD of the Preachers".  In view of the peculiar tenets of the bargain-basement Buchmanism espoused by Bill and Dr. Bob, this latter group would appear to include most conventional Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, (arguably) Hindus, and other faiths besides, as well as agnostics and atheists.  The problem with the presentation of "GOD as we understand Him" and "Higher Power" that appears to be accepted in the head article is that it must either be mistaken, uninformed, or disingenuous - I cannot say which.  My own understanding, based on close reading of the "Big Book" and other A.A. "approved" literature, as well as attendance at many meetings, is that this "Higher Power" business is clearly a trick, designed to allow the "newbie" to be led towards acceptance of a "GOD as we understand Him" who is actually capable of removing one's defects of character, among other things. This must be a particular type of supernatural being; doorknobs, Harleys, "Groups of Drunks" and other deluded expressions of a "Higher Power" are presented to A.A. newbie’s as acceptable are simply not capable of bringing off the magic tricks required.  These are merely "steps", drawing the confused, doubting newbie along the road to what is described in the Big Book as "One who has all power, that One is [Bill Wilson's] GOD.  May you find Him now?"  Does this sound like a doorknob?  Or a "Group of Drunks"?  I think not. I do not believe that it is too extreme to describe the A.A. approach (particularly in the "True Believer" form) as dangerous to many people.  There is a danger that encouraging, or forcing sick (or at least unwell) people to swim against their principles in the direction of Bill's GOD may in some cases succeed but, equally, can and clearly often does result at a later stage in a collision between deeply held beliefs (or non-beliefs) and the peculiar A.A. quasi-religious (well, really religious) view of the world.  Even with the help of "approved literature", sponsors et cetera; it may not be possible for a person to bury their true convictions in favor of the A.A. version of reality.  In this case, should the postulant's faith in the A.A. approach collapse, there must be a real danger of a further lapse into despair, depression and drinking.  I say "must" because I know.  I was very much there.  But I got over it.  Thank GOD, but not as Bill understood Him. And all that, of course, leaves aside the question of just how moral it is to subvert the religious (or indeed irreligious) convictions of sick and confused people under the cover of a purported program to address their alcoholism. I am not going to say to anybody who can accept the particular quasi-religious (well, really, just plain religious) approach of A.A., and who think they find it helpful, that they should reject A.A..  However, the question of personal A.A. acceptance should always be approached thoughtfully, with an open mind.  Nobody should allow themselves to be drawn further along the "Stepping Stones" (Steps, sponsors, practices) than is consistent with their own religious and/or ethical and/or moral convictions or, indeed, their instinct for self-preservation - little good can be expected from this. Finally, it remains a disappointment that so many mental health clinicians and auxiliary therapists and practitioners (aside from those "counselors" whose only qualification is to be an alcoholic allegedly recovering with A.A.) can continue to boost A.A. as a "one size fits all" formula to address alcoholism, given the heterogeneous range of the convictions of the target group.  And this, before we even get to the complete absence of hard statistical (as distinct from hazy observational and anecdotal) evidence that the A.A. approach actually delivers on its alleged promise to relieve alcoholism.

Loving myself and A.A. Thank you for reminding me what's really going on when SHAME rears its ugly head. I've been sober and attending A.A. meetings for 4 years now, and of course, I often "getting mad" at A.A. and blame the entire organization for feelings that I'm fleeing. It's so much easier than realizing that the shame game is one I've been playing since childhood, not since my association with A.A. It's just that now I'm not able to hide behind the numbing affect of alcohol. It's natural and normal for a person with history of hating all powers greater than myself (which is anyone not "me" when one is living a shame-based life) to lash out at A.A. or any institution when feelings get difficult to feel.  A.A. has really helped through my journey into self-love. I feel I should remind those who attend meetings and claim to have been harmed by the advice from others; no one attending meetings represents A.A. People dispensing specific unsolicited advice are simply doing what humans do, making assumptions, and possibly invading the personal space of others inappropriately. It happens all of the time. Ironically, A.A. has helped me realize what is happening when that happens and to regard "advice" as simply that. No one is making you do anything but you.

A.A. can be dangerous: A.A. destroyed my relationship with my fiancé.  He had been in A.A. for 17 years when I met him.  I am not an alcoholic and had very little dealings with A.A.  I falsely believed it was a good group that helped people get clean and sober.  I didn't realize it was a cult that took over people's lives and souls.  As our relationship got more and more serious I realized there was absolutely nothing about this man that wasn't intricately tied to A.A.  He went to meetings almost every single day.  Nothing I said mattered.  If we had a fight, instead of discussing our issue with me he would discuss it in his A.A. meeting.  If we had to do something, anything, he'd have to discuss it with his sponsor and would actually do what his sponsor suggested rather than what we agreed on together.  (I didn't even know his sponsor, but somehow his sponsor was able to give him advice on our relationship!)   He destroyed his relationship with his children and then was told he had to "detach with love".  The man had never learned how to attach WITH love.  He was constantly the "main attraction" at A.A. meetings talking about his life.  Everyone thought he was Mr. Super A.A. Man.  He tried to get me to go to Al-Anon meetings, I tried a few but had no interest in joining the alcoholic mind-set and culture, particularly when people at al-anon started to refer to their spouse as "my alcoholic" NOT my spouse who is an alcoholic.  People in A.A. have to be alcoholics.  Their identities becomes so wrapped up in A.A. they cannot be a person inflicted with alcoholism they must be an alcoholic.  He couldn't be my fiancé who was an alcoholic; he had to be an alcoholic who was my fiancé.  Being an alcoholic is all consuming.  All his friends were people involved in A.A.  All his social events were directly tied to A.A.  They have no idea who they are or what they feel if they couldn't identify themselves as alcoholics.  He thought all our problems were from the fact that I did not want to "work the steps".  I think it is sad an abnormal that a person thinks that allowing A.A. to consume his life is a rich and fulfilling life rather than living a life with a person who loves him and wants to build a relationship, independent of A.A.  I had two choices:  I had to join al-anon, get a sponsor and become part of the A.A. culture or we had to split.  I'm sure he is at an A.A. meeting right now.  Maybe he'll meet a woman there.  Then they can be alcoholics together, tell each other how great they are to be alcoholics, go to A.A. meetings, go to A.A. parties, volunteer for positions in the A.A. meetings, go to A.A. retreats...and guess where they will vacation?  To the Wilson House in Vermont, of course!  Heck, I just wanted to go to Florida for a change.

"Spiritual not religious" nonsense – People in A.A. claim that the program is spiritual not religious and that people can use whatever GOD or even "Good Old Drunks" (as the doctor suggests) to work the program of A.A.    As an atheist who attempted to work the program several times over a 20 year period, I firmly disagree.  Unless you are an atheist, do not presume to tell me how atheists are treated. Would you tell a woman or a black person who has experienced hatred and bigotry that what they have experienced did not happen, that it was all in their head, that they must be mistaken, or to try a different meeting? A.A. broke off from the Oxford Group, a Christian sect; how could it not be religious?  GOD or Higher Power are mention throughout the Steps, the Big Book, and the meetings. They open and close with religious prayers. How can you pretend that this is not religious? Every time the question of A.A. has come before a higher court, the result has been the same: With the recent ruling in the Ninth Federal Court of appeals, there are now 16 states where A.A. has been deemed at least "religious in nature", where mandated attendance is seen as a violation of the Establish Clause.  Maybe, just maybe, I could let go of the religious nature of A.A. if they hadn't been so cruel and judgmental; or maybe I'd let it go if A.A. actually worked or its supporters didn't lie about its success rate. But I don't like how A.A. treats new members, how it treats folks on medication and/or in therapy, those of different or no religion, or how it offers faith healing as the most advanced method of arresting alcoholism. Some will dismiss this as angry, as if angry is something to be ashamed of. It is only those in the program that aren't allowed to have strong, healthy emotions, and the proper emotion after abuse is anger. If it were just me, I'd let it go. But I can't. I'm a mental health care worker, there's about a 50% overlap in treatment; I don't want to see the kind of abuse I managed being given to my clients.

Be Very Careful: The worst experience of my entire life was attending A.A. , I thought I had found a fellowship of likeminded people who were interested in being sober and helping one another . Boy, was I wrong!!! This may sound fantastic but before GOD in heaven every word is true. First on pretense of attending meetings I was lured out of my apartment, which was entered without permission and a camera and mike were hidden in my living room and bed room. I eventually found them and they are in my possession. Second I was leery of showing my 4th step to certain people in the program and said so. Unknown members entered my home, again without permission and STOLE my 4th step journal and made it PUBLIC! My neighbors, church and parents were given copies. What I found in A.A. were the saddest, low down, underhanded, pathetic group of losers I’ve ever encountered. Criminals pure and simple. I wouldn’t go to an A.A. meeting now for a one hundred dollar bill. Here, 2 years later I'm still suffering from my brief encounter with this program. My advice? Run, run like Satan himself is after you and don't look back! Try PROFESSIONAL help, they are held to certain standards of conduct by law. DON'T TRUST A.A.!!!!!!!

Hilarious: The AMA states that they ENDORSE the proposition of alcoholism as a disease NOT that they RECOGNIZE that it is a disease.  A huge difference.  I stated that they AMA does not recognize that alcoholism is a disease.  They do not and they never have. But you can bet that they endorse the idea! They encourage others to recognize it as a disease!  But the AMA never does! Look at the wording of it.  There is your scam.  The encourage others to recognize its a disease, government policy makers, health care professionals etc, BUT NOT THEM. They only endorse the proposition. You have to fill up the treatment centers right?  Get those hospitals and facilities filled up with people with decent insurance!  You do not see hordes of drunken bums in those nice clean treatment centers do you?  What you do see are people with good insurance being scammed into believing they are powerless over the horrid so-called made up word of alcoholism.  The 12 step industry is a multibillion dollar Business. It looks completely cherry picked to me.  But then again, neither of us is going to convince the other of anything.

A.A. is, basically, a social club for non drinkers.  That is the principle positive effect of A.A.  It is not necessary to get a sponsor.  The 12 steps can be done, quite easily, without one.  The first three steps are stipulated.  Just say you accept them and move on.  The fourth step is an inventory of assets and liabilities.   Making serious inroads on liabilities cannot be done without using your assets. Of course, none of this necessary at all.  All that one actually need do is to quit getting drunk.  Easier said than done for some.  But, people do quit on their own.  No one - no person, no group -- does it for them. Best to accept that and get on with it.  Without all the drama that is the soap opera of A.A.

A.A. also has a very small actual success rate - it's dogmatic 'disease model' (based on no objective evidence whatsoever) blocks investigations into other treatments that might actually work.  The medical community has turned a blind eye to its complete lack of scientific examination and method, but still bills your health insurance for religious dogma - totally unethical under the claimed charter of modern medicine. I threw off the stigma and got on with my life, I rarely talk about A.A. at all. But when the subject is brought up, I don’t hesitate to expose it for the cult that it is.

Hidden Agenda: If A.A. is a Cult....who benefits?  Can somebody tell me what are the motives of others to control what happens in A.A.?  Is somebody getting a lot of money?  Are there secret meetings of the 'controllers' on how to control the 'soft' A.A. types....training exercises for persuasive tactics...are the 'hardcore' A.A. old timers taught when to grunt....when to say 'keep coming back' after somebody shares that they don't believe all the A.A. teachings.  Who benefits when Bill W.'s reputation as a womanizer or that he never really worked the steps himself is protected or defended?  Why would some A.A. cultists care what others believe as long as there sober while others are adamant on not only that someone is sober but that they did it THE REAL A.A. WAY!  At times I wonder if those who propose that A.A. is the only way and the way they did the steps and got a sponsor is the only way to get sober would just rather others sober by using A.A. the way they see fit would just go get drunk...get sick then be able to come back and do it right? However, I have witnessed some people who have spoke in meetings the old phrase of "do the steps or die m---f---., also relapse.  Off course they say when they get back...."I wasn't thorough"  Can anyone here tell me WHO or WHAT is the underlying motivating factor for people to pressure those that are sober to do it their way?