Personally, I really didn’t know anything about AA before I came in, and so I did not have many prejudices against joining. As a matter of fact, I did see that AA was helping my son Andrew before I came to my first meeting. So I was grateful that AA was there for Andrew.

The problem is that for many people looking for help have turned to AA but have had experiences that can only be described as bad AA. Also, many have heard exaggerated stories about AA. Both these experiences have left people with no desire to associate with AA.

So today, I would like to discuss some of the most popular misconceptions about AA and what our understanding is. We will look at 5 popular reasons why people say they hate AA and we will try and see if we have reasonable responses.

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AA is a cult - why do you think AA is not a cult?

Cult - a system of religious veneration and devotion directed toward a particular figure or object.

Preamble - Alcoholics Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. There are no dues or fees for A.A. membership; we are self supporting through our own contributions. A.A. is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization or institution; does not wish to engage in any controversy, neither endorses nor opposes any causes. Our primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety.
AA has a hidden agenda - do you think AA has a hidden agenda? Do you think certain members of A have a hidden agenda? What are they? What can we do about it?

Hidden Agenda - a secret or ulterior motive for something.
Our primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety.

“No one should be told they’re ‘powerless'”. Are you powerless? What does this mean?

Powerless - unable to do something or to stop something
Powerless over alcohol, but responsible for your recovery
“You’re just replacing one crutch with another”
Yep

“It doesn’t work. Only a 3% success rate.

Need to research this
http://recoveredcast.com/uncategorized/12-step-under-the-microscope

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Ben from Tuscon
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Justin from LA
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Alex from Austin
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What would you say to the new guy about this topic?