Renewed Commitment

While I welcome America’s interest in publishing an article in which a person relates his recovery from alcoholism to a renewed commitment to Catholicism (12/24/01), I am concerned that the article might give a mistaken impression of A.A. to those who know little about it (and so might discourage those in need of its help from seeking it, with fatal consequences).

There is nothing in the article to suggest that A.A.’s program of recovery is incompatible with the hatred the author felt toward the church both when he was drinking and in his early sobriety. Indeed, he gives the impression that it was only later in sobriety, when he made the Spiritual Exercises, that he was presented with an opportunity to develop a healthy attitude toward the church. The 12 steps, however, emphasize the need for recognizing early on the danger resentments pose for the alcoholic, as well as the urgent need of doing something to be rid of them. As the founders of A.A. put it: If we were to live, we had to be free of anger. The grouch and the brainstorm were not for us. They may be the dubious luxury of normal men, but for alcoholics these things are poison. Holding a grudge against the church (even if the church or its ministers be in the wrong) is dangerous at any stage of recovery.

Also, the author seems to imply that the church would be better off if it were more like A.A. Independent of whether or not this is true (I do not believe it is), it should be pointed out that one reason for A.A.’s distinction between religion and spirituality (taken from William James) is to keep A.A. from grandiose meddling in, or evaluation of, an individual’s religious beliefs. Arguing from the principles of Alcoholics Anonymous to a program of religious reform, however well intentioned, is contrary to the spirit of A.A. An obvious danger of not making this point clearly is that a person suffering from alcoholism might feel as if she had to choose between sobriety and Catholicism (or that she might be turned off by the feeling that A.A. will tell her that she has to adopt a certain version of Catholicism to recover).

Certainly, individuals are free to make use of the resources of A.A. as they see fit. This pluralism is arguably A.A.’s greatest strength. But it is also important that when A.A. is presented to the public in magazines like America, an individual’s reflections on his or her experience in A.A. emphasize that they present one of many paths through A.A. to sobriety and need not be taken as typical or representative of A.A. (especially in matters of religion, on which A.A. has no position).

Mark B.