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Out of the thicket of church and humanist opposition to Christian AAs in recovery Apr 18, 2008
By Daxton Lyon
Many today are backing away from A.A. This happens, as I have experienced, because religious leaders see the idolatry in today's recovery language, or see the absurd names for a "higher power" or believe A.A. is not "of the Lord." On the other hand, many in A.A. are backing away by saying A.A. is too religious, has "too much God," and is too Christian oriented. My own experience is that you can be in A.A. or in recovery or in a 12 Step program and still: (a) Believe in God. (b)Be a Christian and thus a child of God. (c) Study the Bible. (d) Pray. (e) Seek God's guidance. (f)Fellowship with like-minded believers. (g) Lead others to Christ and help them get straightened out by the power of God. And all this is exactly what Dick B. has told me in his history titles about the early A.A. Christian Fellowship, its 75% to 93% successes, and its simple Christian technique. Now---is A.A. Christian today? No. Are Christian AAs banned from A.A. today? No. Is there room for Christians and those who want to come to Christ to do so in A.A. today? Yes. This book explains the "way out" of the cross-fire from anti-A.A. churches and ministers and anti-A.A. humanists and atheists and unbelievers. The way out is the Way. Learn the history. Stand on your beliefs. Apply the A.A. principles from the Big Book and Twelve Steps. Look to God for protection and cure--even while the bullets fly. As Dr. Bob said on the last line of his story in the Big Book (p. 181). Your Heavenly Father will never let you down. You can be a victorious Christian in or out of A.A. All you need to do is stand, obey, and walk to the glory of God in love and service for those who still suffer IN A.A. This book is an inspiration for me and can be for the reader. I certainly endorse it.
Companion to Dick B.'s A New Way In Nov 14, 2006
By John Albert Hill Jr.
"Bible student in recovery"
Reviewing Dick's new title A New Way In, I pointed out that it dealt with the need for an effective way of presenting early A.A. history and successes to the newcomer today in such a way that he or she would see their value, learn their content, and use them in recovery. The way in is the way in to the heart of the suffering newcomer or old-timer who, despite Christian beliefs, feels uncomfortable in the backwash of "higher powers," "spirituality," and absurd names for a deity that predominate in 12 Step thinking today. Now--in A New Way Out--Dick explains how to keep the newcomer and oldtimer comfortable within A.A. today, rooted in, and practicing their own Christian beliefs just as the founders did. To be sure, the newcomer Christian needs to know that the early fellowship was a Christian one, studied the Bible, had prayer meetings, and relied on the Creator. And teaching him those facts is paramount. But the next task is preventing him from splitting for the door and joining a humanist or religious fellowship because of the spiteful things he hears in the rooms about his own religion and belief, about religion in general, and about A.A.'s own shortcomings. How do you show him the way out of the "way out inclination?" You do it by showing him the successes, rates of cure, and precepts of pioneer A.A. and then persuading him that the way out is not the way out. The way to stay in and profit and love and serve is either to ignore or repudiate those who seek to intimidate with wrong ideas. Religion and churches and clergy often spurn A.A. by saying it is godless and lacking in specific references to God, the Bible, and Jesus Christ. And that may be the case at times today. It was not in the 1930's. But religion and churches and clergy need to know that a Christian in A.A. today can stand on the rock of Christ, knowing that his predecessors did likewise with great success and that A.A. cannot and does not prohibit one from believing in God, in accepting His son, and in studying the Bible. Now what about the humanists and atheists who hit him from the other side. Oddly, they say that A.A. is religious, that it fosters cultlike and prejudced religious views, and that it offers little in the way of success when one turns to God for help. Now what's the answer? The answer lies in telling it like it is: God is, and He rewards those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:16). God heals those who believe. The answer for me is not to flee, not to cut and run, and not to allow myself to be intimidated by those who don't know the real A.A. The real A.A. today still has a glowing history, it has an early success rate, and today it has adopted universalist and secularist ideas to the point that many think A.A. is a queer religion and that it discriminates against the people of other lands and creeds. Not so. A.A. is not going to change or be changed. The changing took place after the first twenty years. But you can't change God, can't change Jesus Christ, and can't change the truths in the Bible. They were the standards for success for the pioneers. And anyone in A.A. or a 12 Step Fellowship today needs to know that he doesn't need to flee from A.A. to find religious comrades and escape atheist badgering. He needs to stand for what he stands for and let others do likewise. Love and tolerance are our Code, wrote Bill Wilson. And that still holds today. Dick's two books present the problem and the solution for the devoted Christian who wants to get sober, who loves the fellowship of A.A., who is quite willing to read its text and "work" its Steps, and who sees the importance of placing the Good Book right beside the Big Book without feeling guilty.
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