The God Idea by the Rambling Bricklayer

Atheism, alcohol.......or God. There are many sober alcoholics in Alcoholics Anonymous who find themselves caught up in a highly mythical group of addicts who have taken up camp in the "spiritual but not religious" playing field.From early sobriety many addicts tend to peddle the notion that being attached to a so called higher power is enough to maintain good sobriety. Many believe they have independence from God by choosing an individual relationship to some strange made up spiritual...
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Atheism, alcohol.......or God. There are many sober alcoholics in Alcoholics Anonymous who find themselves caught up in a highly mythical group of addicts who have taken up camp in the "spiritual but not religious" playing field.From early sobriety many addicts tend to peddle the notion that being attached to a so called higher power is enough to maintain good sobriety. Many believe they have independence from God by choosing an individual relationship to some strange made up spiritual concept. Many addicts believe they are in a deeper more profound relationship with a god of their own understanding, than perhaps Christians who may have been coerced via a church leader. Many share an attitude that seems to say addicts can receive more of that "spiritual feeling" with a made up god that is recognized somehow as more ethical than having to fit in with the doctrine, practices, rules and observations of a formal institution that has been handed down from previous generations. To be sure, the "spiritual but not religious" camp offers no positive exposition, understanding or explanation of a body of belief, or set of principles of any kind. The addicts, particularly those in early recovery, are left struggling in their own mind set. Under these non-spiritual conditions their thinking gets worse, never better. Using fabricated higher powers is often an excuse to get drunk again, to avoid the change via redemption that can be found within the 12 Step Programme. Certain close friends of mine were part of an apparent spiritual scene that predominantly claimed spirituality rather than admitting the need for any so called religious dogma. The concept that they held on to was bound up with individualism and intellect. To be sure, their cause had extremely limited boundaries. On many occasions the beginning of a conversation was also very close to the end. Quite often I heard a more experienced addict claiming to be spiritual, with the new comer nodding in agreement and that was the end of it, which is a dangerous place to be for an addict who is searching a way out of their dilemma. This particular group of old friends knew all along that they were once again being swallowed up in a non-spiritual void where their own thinking was being replaced with another way of their own thinking. They just found it difficult to admit such facts, and therefore reverse the process. Having any one of them explain their faith was impossible, or plain ridiculous. Each individual boasted of books, spiritual group memberships or retreats, and knowledge that had nothing whatsoever to do with anyone else within the same group. The cry of absolute loneliness to be replaced with togetherness is always so evident in the defunct addict who first enters Alcoholics Anonymous, only to be soon replaced with individual spiritual gobble-de-gook, and eventually madness or more beer. The very fact that addicts have the audacity to dictate where they are spiritually is appalling, and far from any reality. To advocate the perception that we were independent from any religious group, therefore we could cope alone, which is proclaimed in low rent church halls, is plain ridiculous. My book deals with much more than the higher power shenanigans we find in AA, and further looks at Darwin, Marx and Freud concluding that each offer nothing more than confusion and mayhem. Please read more in my book, thank you Graham Hevey