Interestingly the following information was taken from a site with an anti AA agenda. It is quite ironic that in some quarters AA itself is regarded as a cult (in the pejorative sense) and we find ourselves in a situation where we have to deal with our own brand of this nuisance within the Fellowship. In the course of our researches we have had to peruse some sites which to be frank are quite shocking in their vehement and sometimes violent condemnation of AA. It is sometimes difficult to believe that the AA that these individuals are describing bears any resemblance to the AA that we know and have known. In the past these views have been dismissed by AA members as merely the outpouring of bitter resentment on the part of “drunks” who have not applied themselves with significant vigour to the recovery programme of AA – the fault, if it might be put that way, lies with them and not with AA. We however think that it is no longer sufficient to simply dismiss these criticisms in this fashion. We believe that we should be listening to these expressions of discontent and where they may be justified, acting to rectify those wrongs; to respond otherwise we would suggest is the height of complacency and downright arrogance. It may be that it is time that the Fellowship as a whole reviews its response to these negative viewpoints and perhaps takes on board some of them rather than deflecting the responsibility away from where it should lie.
We would further suggest that a lot of this adverse comment is not so difficult to understand if one considers the role of the cult within AA. It is the case that this division within AA actively seeks to contain newcomers within its own meetings and as far as possible seeks to ensure that they have as little contact with mainstream AA as possible until they have been sufficiently conditioned. The abuses that are frequently alluded to in these anti AA websites are not so far fetched when you consider the conduct of core cult members towards newcomers (see check list below). We would argue that a significant proportion of anti AA sentiment (though not all) is a direct result of the cult’s increasing impact within AA with respect to the way in which new people experience the Fellowship. Far from being a revivifying influence within our society (an uninformed view asserted in some quarters) they are in fact destroying the Fellowship and bringing the AA name into disrepute. If they are allowed to continue with this behaviour then it augurs ill for the future of AA and its relationship with outside organisations.
We would conclude therefore that there should be mechanisms put in place which direct complaints to those who are in the best position to respond to them. “Outsiders” to AA are frequently astonished that we have nothing resembling any kind of complaints procedure, that there seems to be nobody who will investigate a grievance and ensure that the responsibility is duly allocated, whether it be at individual, group, intergroup etc level. For example, a member recently contacted York (GSO) with reference to some bullying behaviour to which they had been subjected. GSO referred them to their Intergroup not realising that this was the grouping responsible for the bullying in the first place.
Finally it seems to us that it is hardly surprising that people denied simple justice within AA will quite naturally use other media to communicate their dissatisfaction - and this largely to AA’s detriment.
Checklist:
- The guru is always right
- No exit
- No graduates
- Cult-speak
- Group-think
- Personal attacks on critics
- Denigration of competing sects, cults, religions . . .
- Indoctrination of members
- Instant community
- Instant intimacy
- Instant friendship
- Surrender to the cult and its ways
- Cloning --- You must redefine yourself and your life in cult terms
- Confusion, contradictions, hypocrisy, and out-right lies
- Personal testimonies of earlier converts
- Creates a sense of powerlessness, covert fear, guilt, and dependency upon the group
- Don’t trust your own mind, it is out to get you
- You owe the group
- You need the cult
- Black and white thinking
- Circular reasoning
- Thought-stopping language and thought-terminating clichés and slogans
- Disturbed leaders and mentally ill followers
- Mentoring /sponsoring
- Intrusiveness
- Newcomers can’t think right
- Different levels of truth
- Appeals to “holy” or “wise” authorities
- Insistence the cult is “the only way”
- The cult and its members are special
- Dual purposes
- The cult implants phobias
- Confession sessions
- The cult takes over the individual’s decision making process
- Enemy making and devaluing the outsider
- Veneration of either living or dead leaders
- Vicious lies and rumours are spread about those who leave the cult
