Alcohol

A.A. & the So-called “Original Manuscript”

Many who follow my blogs, articles, books, and talks on real Alcoholics Anonymous history have asked if I have heard of the so-called Alcoholics Anonymous being published by Hazelden. A typical publicity article can be found in the Boorstein article published by The Washington Post.

As a writer, historian, retired attorney, Bible student, CDAAC, and an active and recovered member of the Alcoholics Anonymous fellowship, I have devoted 20 years to investigating Alcoholics Anonymous origins, history, founding, original program, astonishing successes and changed. See http://www.dickb.com.

Several remarks are appropriate at this time:

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Soft Addiction and Accountability

SELF-ACCOUNTABILITY
The key to overcoming bad habits or a Soft Addiction is to take the time to learn how to become self-accountable. If a person is not held accountable for something, there is little motivation to change. We, who struggle with behavior addictions can relate to this problem. It is a main element of denial. It is getting into the habit of saying, Who, Me!

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What was Surrender in Early AA?

What Was a Surrender in Early A.A.?

In the original A.A. “Christian fellowship” program founded in Akron in June 1935, pioneer newcomers had a very clear idea of A.A.’s requirement that they surrender.

The Surrender at Akron City Hospital

First, at the close of the usually-required, initial hospitalization in Akron City Hospital, there was a ceremony that involved only A.A. cofounder Dr. Bob and the newcomer with whom he had been working. It soon involved two events:
(1) The question Dr. Bob asked the newcomer:

    “Young feller, do you believe in God? Not a God, but God!”1 [emphasis in original]

(2) Then the requirement that the newcomer get out of bed, get down on his knees, and pray — with Dr. Bob leading the prayer.2

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The Quandary of Faith

I’m not one who talks much about “faith” because the word comes from a Greek root that can be defined either as “faith” or “belief.” And I prefer the position that A.A.’s Dr. Bob took and required of all the early AAs he helped. It really came from the Book of Hebrews:

    Heb 11:6 (KJV): But without faith, it is impossible to please him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

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Dr. Bob’s Bible -The “Good Book” in A.A.

The “Good Book” Is the Bible

As I have reported before-and will show again below-Alcoholics Anonymous cofounder Dr. Bob is often seen referring to the Bible as “the Good Book” in A.A. General Service Conference-approved literature. A well-known Christian couple who condemn A.A. have questioned whether Dr. Bob was a Christian because he called the Bible “the Good Book” rather than “the very Word of God”; which, they claim, “is what a true Christian would do.” [See: Martin and Deidre Bobgan, “Dr. Bob Smith: A Christian ‘Root’ of AA?” in PsychoHeresy Awareness Letter (PAL), Jan-Feb ’03 – V11N1, http://www.psychoheresy-aware.org/bobs11_1.html; accessed 5/21/10.]

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Detach with Love from the Alcoholic

To detach with love from the alcoholic means to not allow what they do while drinking harm your emotional and or spiritual well being.
Detaching with love is something learned that over time becomes a habit-a good habit actually.

To understand how detaching with love works, we must first understand what not detaching is, and what it does to us, as well as the alcoholic you live with. When we don’t detach we get angry, resentful, and sometimes fearful over the behaviors of the alcoholic. This happens because we are “too” consumed with the behaviors of the alcoholic or better known as the symptoms of the drinking.

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Behind the Kaleidoscope

Beyond the sugarcoated nuserynameled rhymes,
Wands no longer waving, castles in decline,
Past the golden carrots lemmings love to follow ’round,
Dreams of ease and riches now in pieces on the ground,
When Lucy and her diamonds are seen nowhere in the sky,
Puff the magic dragon’s taking Chantix on the sly,
When Mister Rogers sends regrets he cannot be your friend
And Captain Kangaroo elopes with Mr. Moose’s twin,
You may awake to find you’re not in Kansas anymore,
Surrounded by the jungle’s heat you hear the Lion’s roar,
All these things, though good intended, serve as launching zones,
Take the leap of faith and find the Life behind the koans.

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A.A. 12-Step Christian Parallels: Steps 10-12

Step Ten through Step Twelve

We have many times documented the frequent statements by A.A. cofounder Bill Wilson that his friend Rev. Sam Shoemaker was the major source of the Big Book ideas and Twelve Steps.1

And you can find almost exact parallels between the language Bill Wilson used in the Big Book and the language Shoemaker wrote in his many Christian books, articles, and pamphlets. Sometimes Bill’s parallel language is found in the instructions of the Big Book for “taking” the Steps. Sometimes his language is found in the Steps themselves.

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A.A. 12-Step Christian Parallels: Steps 7-9

Steps Seven through Step Nine

We have many times documented the frequent statements by A.A. co-founder Bill Wilson that his friend Rev. Sam Shoemaker was the major source of the Big Book ideas and Twelve Steps.1 In 1955, Newsweek named Shoemaker one of the ten greatest preachers in the United States.2 Shoemaker was known as a great communicator, and was described by his associate Rev. W. Irving Harris as a “Bible Christian.”3

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A.A. 12-Step Christian Parallels: Steps 1-6

A.A. 12-Step Christian Parallels from Rev. Samuel M. Shoemaker, Jr.

Steps One through Step Six

We have many times documented the frequent statements by A.A. co-founder Bill Wilson that his friend, Rev. Sam Shoemaker, was the major source of the Big Book ideas and Twelve Steps.1 In 1955, Newsweek named him one of the ten greatest preachers in the United States.2 Shoemaker was known as a great communicator, and was described by his associate, Rev. W. Irving Harris, as a Bible Christian.3

There are many persuasive instances where one can find almost exact parallels between the language Bill Wilson used in the Big Book and the language Shoemaker used in his many Christian books, articles, and pamphlets.

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