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[bitterross]

160. I beg to differ and so do the courts.

Last edited Sun Dec 22, 2019, 10:45 PM - Edit history (1)

The Big Book and all the literature put out by AA has a distinctly Christian tone to it. Courts in many jurisdictions will not and cannot force people to go to AA anymore because of this.

One example is a NY case, Griffin v. Coughlin. The ruling said:

A fair reading of the fundamental A.A. doctrinal writings discloses that their dominant theme is unequivocally religious.

Indeed, the A.A. basic literature most reasonably would be characterized as reflecting the traditional elements common to most theistic religions. Thus, God is named or referred to in five of the 12 steps. “Working” the 12 steps includes confessing to God the “nature of our wrongs” (Step 5), appealing to God “to remove our shortcomings” (Step 7) and seeking “through prayer and meditation” to make “contact” with God and achieve “knowledge of His Will” (Step 11).

While A.A. literature declares an openness and tolerance for each participant’s personal vision of God “as we understood Him” (Steps 3 and 11), the writings demonstrably express an aspiration that each member of the movement will ultimately commit to a belief in the existence of a Supreme Being of independent higher reality than humankind.

All of the meetings ended with the Lord’s Prayer, which is a specifically Christian prayer. In addition, those attending the meetings were strongly encouraged to pray.

There are other cases. In each, the courts find that AA is religious and promotes a religion.

The courts feel that AA is absolutely set up as religious and violates people's First Amendment rights if they are forced to attend. So yes, "Is IS set up that way."

I don't think that you understand you're making the same sort of arguments as people who said Intelligent Design is not Creationism. My evidence it not anecdotal by any means. It is widely known and discussed. It seems you are the one with an uncommon andecdotal experience.