I believe Bill W said, "take what you need and leave the rest".
Twelve-step dilligence brought me out of blight and into the light, however, at this stage of my recovery (for the sake of sounding like a broken record) I prefer an "Integrated" recovery.
12-step is deeply rooted in christianity by announcement of most fellowships, even though the choice of your "higher power" is yours to make in the literature. Being Pagan, I live by one of the highest principles of finding your own path which means, following scripture and arguing the interpretation of it is sabotage to the individual path. Therefore, while following my own path and being guided by my own higher power (God/Goddess) and many of them, I use the 12-step principles that apply to me and those that don't I leave behind. Perhaps those that I left behind apply to somone else's path. That is why they're there. The minute I become subjective in my recovery, and lose the ability to be objective, I am not in my own recovery and I am not being "Pagan".
I have had some horrific experiences in early recovery standing by my chosen religion and staying in the "GRAY" objective mindset. There are no "absolutes" in my life or religion. So with that being said, as long as 12-step philosophy gives the edge of being "objective" in the literature, which is in contrast to some fellowships I've attended, the philosophy will always of course be a part of our website. The minute the literature changes to alienate addicts as some of the 12-step fellowships do, the philosophy goes "into the toilet". The same could be said for any "cut and dried" philosophy and there are plenty of them out there.
The bottom line is as I interpret the 12-step literature, it leaves an opening for new thought (especially the big book of AA). It is non-alienating. Fellowships who judge others do not concern me as they are merely groups of people that can be left behind.
Truthfully, I have been in utter turmoil about 12-step and its interpreted application, however, I do not want to be less of a person by censoring or restricting a philosophy that works for many. Without outside influence (simply reading the literature), in my opinion it does give choice of religion, and it does not imply cultish behavior. The over-zealous who have traded one addiction for another are the ones that have twisted the 12-step literature into something that they think it means; a highly subjective black and white philosophy. I prefer to interpret it as objective, leaving the addict or alcoholic responsible for his/her own actions, with the will to choose (after solid recovery has been established) what parts of it apply to the individual and what parts do not. I for one am not a proponent of the 12th-step. It is against my religion to proselytize, rather listen to the inner voice and help those find their own responsible path.
There are thousands of programs and methods, religions, and therapies. True statistics do not show that any one program or philosophy has an edge of success. The most popular program does not mean it is the most successful--it simply means it has the most people.
Another good thread on "Integrated" thought
Brandon
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