...........For anyone reading this thread, please be assured that atheists, agnostics, and freethinkers, from its very inception, have always been welcome in AA. It is by no means a requirement to believe in God to recover from alcoholism. All you need is a power greater than you. That could be AA itself, or any other positive power that will help you to stay sober and recreate your life. That's what AA is and has always been.
Let Bill Wilson, the co-founder of AA, and author of The Big Book, tell you himself.
Responsibility Is Our Theme
Newcomers are approaching AA at the rate of tens of thousands yearly. They represent almost every belief and attitude imaginable. We have atheists and agnostics. We have people of nearly every race, culture, and religion. In AA we are supposed to be bound together in the kinship of a common suffering. Consequently, the full individual liberty to practice any creed or principle or therapy whatever should be a first consideration for us all. Let us not, therefore, pressure anyone with our individual or even our collective views. Let us instead accord each other the respect and love that is due to every human being as he tries to make his way toward the light. Let us always try to be inclusive rather than exclusive; let us remember that each alcoholic among us is a member of AA, so long as he or she so declares.
Bill W.
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