A "fundy-based AA group"? No, I strongly doubt it.
I've heard that Bush quit drinking through help from a fundametalist church; AA was not involved. Three things come to mind...
First, many people have a tendency to assume that all alcohol-recovery groups are AA. That is not true. AA was the first organization of it's kind and is the most famous, but it does not hold a monopoly on the rehabilitation of alcoholics.
Second, even if Bush did attend AA, it was in addition to his fundamentalist church. It could be that his two sources of help were thought to be the same by some reporters.
Third, many AA groups meet in churches. AA pays for the rental of a room in the church. We refuse to accept a freely-offered meeting space, as this would constitute a contribution from an outside source. Renting a room in a church does not mean AA endorses that church or that the church endorses AA, though AA and churches do tend to get along well because they both try to help drunks get sober. Again, a reporter who wasn't aware of these details could easily misconstrue the significance of seeing an AA group at a church.
AA is faith-based in the sense that it suggests members find the strength in their own religion which will help them to quit drinking. However, AA itself endorses no particular religion. Therefore AA is open to members of all religions - and I've known Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Wiccans, atheists and agnostics in AA.
If there is or was an AA group which endorsed evangelical Christianity, then that group is violating the principles which AA was founded on. They may call themselves AA, but no other AA members around the world would agree with them. Because of the way AA works, such a group can't be stopped or kicked out of AA. But such "disciplinary actions" aren't needed anyway - groups which break AA's traditions almost always fall apart of their own accord. I've seen it happen - religious arguments among the members tear the group apart from the inside. Kind of like a bunch of Maiden fans arguing about who's the better god, Adrian Smith or Steve Harris.
I've heard that Bush quit drinking through help from a fundametalist church; AA was not involved. Three things come to mind...
First, many people have a tendency to assume that all alcohol-recovery groups are AA. That is not true. AA was the first organization of it's kind and is the most famous, but it does not hold a monopoly on the rehabilitation of alcoholics.
Second, even if Bush did attend AA, it was in addition to his fundamentalist church. It could be that his two sources of help were thought to be the same by some reporters.
Third, many AA groups meet in churches. AA pays for the rental of a room in the church. We refuse to accept a freely-offered meeting space, as this would constitute a contribution from an outside source. Renting a room in a church does not mean AA endorses that church or that the church endorses AA, though AA and churches do tend to get along well because they both try to help drunks get sober. Again, a reporter who wasn't aware of these details could easily misconstrue the significance of seeing an AA group at a church.
AA is faith-based in the sense that it suggests members find the strength in their own religion which will help them to quit drinking. However, AA itself endorses no particular religion. Therefore AA is open to members of all religions - and I've known Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Wiccans, atheists and agnostics in AA.
If there is or was an AA group which endorsed evangelical Christianity, then that group is violating the principles which AA was founded on. They may call themselves AA, but no other AA members around the world would agree with them. Because of the way AA works, such a group can't be stopped or kicked out of AA. But such "disciplinary actions" aren't needed anyway - groups which break AA's traditions almost always fall apart of their own accord. I've seen it happen - religious arguments among the members tear the group apart from the inside. Kind of like a bunch of Maiden fans arguing about who's the better god, Adrian Smith or Steve Harris.
--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/biggrin.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'biggrin.gif\' /][!--endemo--]
--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/tongue.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'tongue.gif\' /][!--endemo--] , And sorry to spoil it for ya but religion will never fade, it will merely change and adapt like everything else that wishes to survive does. That's why we (human race) have gone from polytheism to monotheism to a wierd ass mixture of science, pseudo-science and religion (I'm talking about the wierd french canadians the Regelians that believe we are clones from Aliens or clones created by Aliens.)