Alcoholics Anonymous is an international peer-led mutual aid fellowship dedicated to abstinence-based recovery from alcoholism through its spiritually-inclined Twelve Step program. Following its Twelve Traditions, AA is non-professional and non-denominational as well as apolitical and unaffiliated.
The first AA Group
Father Dunlea had also tried to get a meeting going around the Sutherland area. There were some meetings going before the one that started in 1945 which is recognised as the beginning of AA in Australia.
A.A. began in 1935 in Akron, Ohio, as the outcome of a meeting between Bill W., a New York stockbroker, and Dr. Bob S., an Akron surgeon. Both had been hopeless alcoholics. Before their meeting, Bill and Dr.
How Did the Twelve Steps Start? Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith, the two men who founded AA in 1935, drew their inspiration for the Twelve Steps from the Oxford Group.
Bill Wilson, a former member of Alcoholics Anonymous, created the 12 Steps in 1938. During his experience, he wrote down his ideas and tips regarding sobriety. After combining these tips with a few other teachings and Christian inspiration, Wilson put the 12 Steps into action.
In 1939, Wilson and Smith wrote a book called “The Big Book,” which outlined 12 principles for recovery. These were heavily inspired by Christianity when first written, but many AA groups have modernized the interpretations of the principles to be more accepting and functional to a diverse audience.
The Twelve Traditions of A.A. resulted from a need for guidance in our growing organization. Co-founder Bill W. wrote them in the 1940s to address the various questions that arose among A.A. groups. These principles continue to provide A.A. groups with a framework for success.
Before we go there, let's start here…the word God appears 315 times in the books Alcoholics Anonymous and 12 Steps and 12 Traditions. That's a lot. In fact, God is all through all of the literature of Alcoholics Anonymous.
Are 12-step programs religious? No. While the 12 Steps were inspired by spiritual ideals, a 12-step program itself is not religious at all.
By the mid-1940s, a number of black alcoholics had found sobriety in the program. Jim S., a physician, was called the originator of A.A.'s first black group.
AA was formed by two former end-stage drunks, a stockbroker and a doctor, on 10 June 1935 in Akron, Ohio, USA. It was first established in Australia in 1945. Currently, it has some 2 million members in over 150 countries internationally.
We have three little mottoes which are apropos. Here they are: “FIRST THINGS FIRST” “LIVE AND LET LIVE” and “ EASY DOES IT.”
To find an AA meeting close to you or for information about quitting or reducing your drinking, contact AA or visit their website.
“If you're not honest about your beliefs, you're not going to meet someone who shares your beliefs, and they're usually there,” John says. Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous don't require you to believe in a certain way. “Most people in AA are very welcoming and open to agnostics and atheists.
AA Agnostica:
AA Agnostica does not endorse or oppose any form of religion or atheism. Their only wish is to ensure the still suffering alcoholic that they can find sobriety in AA without having to accept anyone else's beliefs or having to deny their own.
Is it religious? Alcoholics Anonymous has only one requirement for membership and that is the desire to stop drinking. There is room in AA for people of all shades of belief and non-belief.
All 12-step programs need to create an inclusive space for people with different religious values and beliefs. This is especially true because, when they participate, 12-step programs are just as effective for atheists as for theists.
From now on families will be split apart, three in favor of me, and two against—or two in favor and three against.
The Big Book mentions that the 12 Promises are “being fulfilled among us – sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly”. Some Alcoholics Anonymous members report that they experience the AA Promises early on, while others experience them gradually.
A.A.'s Seventh Tradition states: “Every A.A. group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.” This means that only A.A. members contribute financially to A.A. – and even A.A. members are limited in the amount they can contribute.
The Big Book, written by William G. Wilson—aka Bill W. —and first published in 1939, laid the foundation for the 12-step movement that revolutionized addiction treatment and helped millions of people get and stay sober. With more than 37 million copies sold, the Big Book is one of the bestselling works of all time.