Are 12 Step Programs Religious Based?

I was pleased to see the differing thoughts on the Wall regarding whether or not 12 step programs are religious or spiritual based.

For some, understanding the difference may play a roll in their decision to attend a meeting or to continue down the same path they are currently on.

photo credit: Le Enfant Terrible®

When I found Al-Anon, had the program appeared religious based, I may have been turned off. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I was suffering from a spiritual void at the time. I’m happy today to say that I am no longer suffering from that void.

What I found was a program open to and accepting of all views of a Higher Power. You have the freedom to define what this means to you. For me, this is what makes Al-Anon and Alcoholics Anonymous a spiritual based 12 step programs, and not religious based, in the traditional sense.

I was reading How Al-Anon Works for Families & Friends of Alcoholics, published by Al-Anon Family Groups, and found The Suggested Preamble to the Twelve Steps:

Preamble

The Al-Anon Family Groups are a fellowship of relatives and friends of alcoholics who share their experience, strength, and hope, in order to solve their common problems. We believe alcoholism is a family illness and that changed attitudes can aid recovery.

Al-Anon is no allied with any sect, denomination, political entity, organization, or institution; does not engage in any controversy, neither endorsed nor opposes any cause. There are no dues for membership. Al-Anon is self-supporting through its own voluntary contributions.

Al-Anon has but one purpose: to help famiies of alcoholics. We do this by practicing the Twelve Steps, by welcoming and giving comfort to famiies of alcohlics, and by giving understanding and encouragement to the alcoholic.

Try a meeting out - decide on your own!

Do you have a topic you would liked discussed on Loving An Alcoholic? Would you like to have your experience and words of encouragement posted?

Send me your thoughts: support@lovinganalcoholic.com

As I will leave each post; If you, or someone you know, loves an alcoholic or addict, I would encourage you to find a local Al-Anon 12 step meeting to attend. This is your first step towards healing.

Custom Search

What is a 12 step program?

Wikipedia defines a 12 step program as a set of guiding principles outlining a course of action for recovery from addiction, compulsion, or other behavioral problems.

When people refer to a 12 step program, they are usually referring to the 12 steps originally published for members of Alcoholics Anonymous. The Twelve Steps were first found in the book, Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How More Than One Hundred Men Have Recovered From Alcoholism in 1939.

Alanon uses the same 12 steps, traditions and basic principles you find in the Alcoholic Anonymous recovery program. You will find variations of these steps used for other 12 step groups such as Narcotics Anonymous, Over-eaters Anonymous and Gambling Anonymous. There are really too many 12 step programs to mention them all.

The 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous and Alanon as written in Courage to Change One Day At A Time In Alanon II:

Step 1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.

Step 2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

Step 3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.

Step 4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

photo credit: Svadilfari

Step 5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

1. Step 6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
2. Step 7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
3. Step 8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.

Step 9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

Step 10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

Step 11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His Will for us and the power to carry that out.

Step 12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

If you are new to the concept of a 12 step program, or Alanon, I would encourage you to focus on the first three steps.

To boil these down to their most basic meaning; I can’t, God can - and I’ll let him!

By applying the first three steps to the way I view my loved one’s alcoholism, it allows me to give up  responsibility for my wife’s sobriety. The first three steps set me free to focus on myself.

 As I will leave each post; If you, or someone you know, loves an alcoholic or addict, I would encourage you to find a local Alanon 12 step meeting to attend. This is your first step towards healing.

Custom Search