Today is the 25th anniversary of my sobriety.

[Warren DeMontague]

91. It could have been phrased better, but he has a point.

Unfortunately suffering and active alcoholics are often told there is Only One Way™ to achieve Real Sobriety™-- and it involves attending 12 step meetings AND something which is pretty obviously a thinly veiled religious experience/conversion.

Which is fine, for some people

Which is wonderful and works, for some people

However, telling an Atheist that they need to figure out a way to come to terms with "God", whatever semantic leeway is given with that term (never mind the bit about the lord's prayer) or else they will invariably suffer and die--- yeah, a lot of us who have been around the block with this stuff, have more than a small problem with that.

I respect the OP's accomplishment, but the throwaway line about "get to a meeting"- personally, I think "try AA and the 12 steps, or if they don't work for you, remember there are OTHER options that work for other people, like Rational Recovery, etc".. I think that would work better, and inclusively recognize the many and growing alternatives to AA and the 12 steps as well as the fully legitimate issues that some people- like some Atheists*, for instance- have with AA.

[font size=1]*yes I know all about your atheist meeting, thanks.[/font]

Unfortunately it is taken as gospel in many 12 step circles that it is the ONLY way, or the ONLY way that works, or the ONLY way that "really" works (sober people not 'doing the steps' not being really sober, tautology-style)

So yeah, it's a problem.

And the poster is right, there is quite likely something genetic going on with many forms of alcoholism. That seems to me to be an incontrovertible fact.