btnben's blog

Cult Test

I found this, just for a bit of fun at first, but was surprised by how they define a cult.

http://www.insolitology.com/rationally/culttest.htm

By my reckoning AA scores 33, but I may be a bit biased. Have a go and see how you rate them.

Let's have a laugh

WE had a blog on here about a year ago, maybe more, where people posted funny YouTube links re AA. It seems like a good time to resurrect it, and hopefully add to it, as we seem to have quite a flow of new people coming in.

Here's 3 links to get the ball rolling

Penn and Teller - 12 step Bullshit

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uU2YliYttnQ

Roseanne - My name is Bev

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wK8rhnuku68

"You can check out any time you want....."

I found this on another forum and it made me laugh so much I felt I had to share it. (Fuck AA - even had a little cringe using the word "share"). It was posted by one of the more militant (euphemism for bat-shit crazy) members. It's so typical of AA's "shift the blame" attitude and really belies so many of the arguments put up by the faithful.

Maybe it would be fun to add a few reasons why people left - any ideas.

PS. I highlighted the part that confirms that if you leave you will be shunned. There's no better source than the horse's mouth.

Codex Gigas - The Devils's Bible

"The Codex Gigas is the largest extant medieval manuscript in the world. It is also known as the Devil's Bible because of a large illustration of the devil on the inside and the legend surrounding its creation. It is thought to have been created in the early 13th century in the Benedictine monastery of Podlažice in Bohemia (modern Czech Republic). It contains the Vulgate Bible as well as many historical documents all written in Latin.

Did Bill W relapse in 1943?

This article was pointed out to me by Avogadno and raises some interesting questions.

http://www.ohio.com/news/local/local-history-police-raid-at-alcoholic-ho...

The paragraph of particular interest is as follows :-

Let's start pulling things together

It's clear from reading this forum, and from other chats that people have had, that there are several members who are engaged in collecting and collating various forms of information about the "not so publicized" goings-on in AA. I know from my own experience that there is a lot of useful information contained in these blogs that is becoming more and more difficult to find as the size of the forum's history grows.

Can't seem to find the money!!!!!

Recently I was trying to find some information which involved going through the GSB Form 990 tax returns. This site seemed to have all the information I needed :-

http://www.eri-nonprofit-salaries.com/index.cfm?FuseAction=NPO.Form990&E...

Congratulations Orange Papers

Over 2.8 million hits in March - a new record. Soon going to be breaking the 3 million mark. The word must be getting out.

Did Bill W start AA as a con from the very beginning?

In one of his earlier writing (can't remember which, but someone will) Bill W stated that you had to approach several hundred alcoholics to get just a handful interested. Did Bill W accidentally come across the spontaneous remission rate for alcoholics and turn it to his own advantage?

A letter complaining about the religious nature of AA

This has been posted before, maybe a year ago or so, but I can't find it, so here goes again. I think it succinctly covers the heretical nature of AA. I wonder how many church basements would still have AA meetings in them if the clergy knew the truth?

Any comments Larry?

"Dear Father XXX

Is this a blast from the past? lol

I was looking around the e-AA form having been directed there by someone, and I came across this. Does it sound familiar to anyone?. Can anyone hazard a guess as to who it could be? No prizes, I'm afraid. It's a bit too easy this one.

Someone called Teddy top posted about being on an anti-AA site. He was just asking if anyone else had encountered such sites and was immediately labelled "troll". It seems that someone is hurting because she can't post on here any more lol

In AA everything is a "Suggestion"

Look up "suggestion" in Wikipedia and the first line is :-

"Suggestion is the psychological process by which one person guides the thoughts, feelings, or behaviour of another."

I wonder if this is what Bill W really meant?

Just how successful is AA?

I have great faith in statistics. I've used them many times in my working life. They are a powerful tool for planning engineering. The use of statistics has improved many people lives without them realising it.

Just for a bit of fun, I thought we could look at AA success rate from a marketing point of view. First, let's identify the potential market.

Just a few words from the great Charlie Chaplin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=fvwp&v=WibmcsEGLKo&NR=1

The only problem is, you can't just talk about it, you've got to do something.

Have a great Christmas everyone

I'm not any kind of practitioner of religion, but I do find a bit of peace at times in some of what has been written. This is probably my favorite bit from the bible. It doesn't matter what you believe in. truth is pretty universal to all doctrines or non-doctrines.

In the wake of all the high feelings about the recent shootings and all the talk about non-solutions, I was, sort of, guided back to this. I don't know why.

The Sanity of AA Members

I've just found this in the OP. Worth rereading. Could be a fun little game - who fits into which category...lol.

'Michael Lemanski observed:
In AA, the bald assumption is that following "the AA way of life" will inevitably "restore [alcoholics] to sanity."

The Promises of Leaving AA...lol

"We will be amazed before we are half way through and then give up. We will regret the past and proceed to lie about it. We will comprehend the word obsession and we will know lust. No matter how far down the scale we have gone we will continue to sink and hit new lows. Our experience can't benefit others - no one cares. That feeling of uselessness and self pity will increase. Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will become warped. Economic insecurity will leave us as we go on SSI. Situations that use to baffle us still do.

Be nice to Orange

He's an expectant father.

http://www.orange-papers.org/orange-letters307.html

These times are never easy...lol

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