5. Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
This is still another legacy of the Oxford Groups. "Confession" was an integral part of the Oxford Group program, and Group Movement founder Frank Buchman was an expert at extracting confessions (often of a sexual nature) from potential converts. Confession of sin was considered so important by Buchman that he included it as one of the "5 Cs," which were a schematic outline of the Group program, and were reportedly utilized by conservative AA groups well into the 1940s: "Confidence, Conviction, Confession, Conversion, and Continuance." Thus it was natural that Bill Wilson would include confession as a key element of the AA program. It should be noted, though, that in order to make this step more palatable to nonreligious alcoholics, Wilson used the euphemism "our wrongs" when what he undoubtedly really meant was "our sins." It should also be noted that confession in AA consists of more than confessing one's "wrongs" to "another human being"; it also consists of public "sharing" and "witnessing" at meetings. Finally, it should be noted that such use of confession is a classic means of deepening individual immersion in groups, and of fostering individual identification with groups. Robert Jay Lifton goes into great detail about the techniques and purposes of such public confession in his classic study of Chinese Communist indoctrination methods, Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism.
Unsurprisingly, many commentators on the steps have attempted to torture the meaning of the fifth step into a recommendation of openness and honesty—which it isn't. The wording of this step is unambiguous; it's concerned with admission (confession) of "wrongs," period. While it's quite understandable that humane individuals would attempt to interpret the steps in a humane manner—much as liberal Christians attempt to interpret scripture in a humane manner—such interpretations jibe with neither the actual wording of the steps nor with the concepts and intent of the religious movement (Buchmanism) that produced them. Like it or not, the steps do not have the humane meanings ascribed to them by wishful thinkers.
Finally, the reference to "another human being" introduces us to the concept of "sponsors." Newcomers ("pigeons") in AA are routinely urged to find a sponsor (a more experienced member of AA with whom they develop a special relationship, to whom they make a confession of their "wrongs," and from whom they receive guidance and indoctrination) shortly after they enter "the program."Sponsors, of course, vary greatly. Some genuinely try to be helpful, while others are meddlesome busybodies who enjoy controlling other human beings.The therapeutic value of the sponsor relationship—like that of public confession—seems suspect in that it, like virtually everything else in the AA program, encourages dependence.
Step 5 Satire
You must make a searching and fearless inventory of your garage. Keep a list of all items found. You will need it later for your yard sale and tax deductions. You won't believe the priceless junk you will find in there. Memorize all the LA cult mantra, dogma and slogans that you can. Confess all your sins to your sponsor, who really is a bothersome busybody, so he can then blab them all over town. Keep coming back over and over and over and over and expecting different results, which is truly insane, because the 12 steps don’t work as evidenced by the high number of cultists that keep relapsing and dying. It’s not really their fault; they seem to have been brain washed by LA.
ANONYMOUS
