• prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    3
    ·
    edit-2
    8 minutes ago

    Someone showing up to AA must believe in something outside of themselves as being more important than themselves otherwise why would you improve yourself?

    Because I don’t want to be an addict anymore? I have major issues with this. It’s like when people need the threat of eternal damnation in order to not be a complete piece of shit.

    I don’t need to believe in a higher power in order to not want to be an addict anymore.

    • petrol_sniff_king@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      14 hours ago

      It’s like when people need the threat of eternal damnation in order to not be a complete piece of shit.

      Outside of the obvious religious propaganda, this is just an external motivation. It could just as easily be somebody’s family: an ailing mother for whom they need to be ready to take care of, or a spouse and children for whom throwing their life away would be tragic.

      I could say the reason I’m a humanitarian now is because I have a firm belief in happiness. If I lost that today, I probably wouldn’t change, but if I never had it, I have no idea if I ever would have gotten here.

      If someone is in a bad place now and does not have an external motivation, I’m not saying it should be this or that, but it would make sense to give them one.

      I mean, I do think AA is being coercive. I would prefer that they helped their… patients(?) find a motivation that was already meaningful to them instead of just imposing Christianity onto them. I have a lot of other problems with religion besides.