Jun 3, 2010 -- 6:50PM, Zalokar62 wrote:

Hi

I was just wondering if anybody out there ever came across any books on the 12 steps for atheists? I was in a bookstore recently and found a book on the 12 steps for Buddhist.

I know when I came into AA and read the third step. I was balking like a chicken.

But I certainly agreed with first step and was very relieved when I read the 2nd step.

Our primary purpose is to STAY sober and to help others recover from alcoholism.

it took me 6 months of abstaining from alcohol to see God in the steps.

I have met atheists in the program with alot of sobriety and their wisdom and knowledge has helped me immensely.   

For the newcomer who has a problem with God, think of GOD as a

G.- Gathering

O. - Of

D.-Drunks

if you pick up a drink there is another G.O.D.

G-Gathering

O-Of

D-Demons

It's your choice.

Just wanted to say thank you for these posts.  Aside from the negative comments, I did find this very helpful.  I have been stuck on 2nd step for awhile because of the God stuff.

Apr 21, 2011 -- 1:03AM, a_nonbeliever wrote:

  I shared this earlier today and wanted to put it to paper so i could remember it in a way that isn't so abstract. anyway, here it is. an Atheist's Second Step.
my step 2 is different from other people's because I don't believe in god. it doesn't mean I gloss over the step (any all the other steps that have an element of a higher power). my step 2 is derived from the idea that I can't stay sober by myself, but I can with the help of other AA's. it is sort of long, and convoluted, but it makes sense (to me) and has worked thus far. I also find a great peace in my step 2. it keeps me grounded and keeps me in the program. step 2 is the foundation of my program and it is the key to my understanding of AA as an atheist.
============================================================

so how can an atheist comfortably and honestly reconcile with step 2? I can only tell you how I have. I know that there is no god and that I'm an unperceivable blip on the chosmic radar. I am of no importance and am thus not special in any way. I also know that AA works for other people, whom I am no different than. as crazy as I think it is to believe in god, it would be even crazier for me to believe that I was so different from everyone else and so special that AA wouldn't work for me. my step 2 is a reformation that a: I am an alcoholic who can't drink or use drugs, b: I know AA does work for people, c: there is no god so I am not special, d: if it works for other people, it has to work for me, e: I can't stay sober alone, but I can with AA.

Whether there are 6 billion or 600,000 billion people on this planet still you're special just like those other 6 billion people. That simply means we are all equal in life.
Sorry for chopping your post but for brievity, if that’s possible for me!

I've been in the program for a while now and here's what I've heard so many time which is also part of my story. When I can to AA I'd lost all my faith in a Higher Power, if I've ever had any. Once I got here I found a group of wonderful people who were all too willing to be of help. They told me I needed a Higher Power that would/could help me maintain sobriety when times got tough. As sobriety mounted I realized that these people were my higher power. They kept me sober. They certainly see more powerful than me!

I was told to work the steps for that's what would make the changes in me so I could not only remain sobriety but enjoy it. Soon I began to realize that in times of difficulty when no AA members were around to help the steps seemed to kept me sober. Initiatively I seemed to know how to handle things as AA literature says.  Now I've come to realize that it was not the people but the 12 step of spiritual growth that was making the necessary changes within me to remain sober and begin to enjoy life. At this point it became clear that the 12 steps were my higher power.

The next phase began with my searching as to why would 12 simple steps keep me sober when nothing else did? Well I concluded that there must be a power behind/within these steps that had to account for this phenomena. So I now concluded that it was the actual power behind the steps that did the work but where did it come from? My conclusion - A God of MY understanding ...

Am I special?  To the degree everyone else.  I know today my family and friends think I am.

This is not everyone's journey of discovery, but, it is mine! Wherever you're at, don't stop seeking answers and looking for more and more. And as AA tells us - keep an open mind ...

All the best ...

I tried the steps as an atheist the first time around, it didn't work, without God the steps had no power to overcome the will. I couldn't do a meaningful 4th step.

Thats quite different from 'without God the steps have no power at all.'

I learned the steps without God were ego powered just like the rest of my mind. Thats was something I was supposed to be trying to be rid of, not reinforcing. So I stayed insane.

I became suicidal and had to admit my way didn't work, letting my ego re-write the steps to suit self can be dangerous and its definately futile, I might as well have tried a ouija board.  It was the same alcoholic insanity, change without changing.

The steps may be adapted for various forms of spiritual illness but not changed, taking God out changes the steps. 

Dr Bob puts it well.

"If you think you are an atheist, agnostic or other type of skeptic , or have any other type of intellectual Pride that keeps you from accepting what is in this book, I feel sorry for you."

God drove this alcoholic out of AA, but the pain drove me back.

Hi! I had totally forgotten about this thread I startd waaaaaaaay back!

New developement on this front! In my city (Toronto) a number of 'atheist/agnostic AA groups' have started up here. In a story too long to tell, our local intergroup ended up de-listing these groups from their published meeting list and on their website.

What is funny is the whole atheists in AA movement here has taken off. More of these groups started up and are thriving. I was wondering if this is happening in some of your areas.