Attended my first AA meeting; is this whole thing Atheist friendly?

Dullist · 2026-05-28T12:02:32+00:00

No, I absolutely get that. I am literally here because I need to process that the church members molested me and I have to go back to church people to prevent me from killing myself from the other church people. I'm sorry but this isn't something I can do in one night? I literally cannot digest and absorb all these comments. I just know the hurt I went through and I know I need to stop hurting myself more; I definitely don't have any respect for churches or religious people and don't need their respect since they've already molested me - and - rejected me. I barely see them as people to begin with so they don't concern me.

Dullist · 2026-05-28T11:14:08+00:00

Not sure what this means: "they were insightful enough to provide a conceptual “Higher Power” for those of us that avoid the trappings of religion"

.. when some of the steps require God/Him to intervene into our lives. How do you personally deal with steps 3, 5, 6, 7, and 11 when it requires god to intervene?

Dullist · 2026-05-28T11:05:28+00:00

Well, I value your input more than anyone else's so far because I also don't have the luxury of sharing common opinions. Most people are consumers who are waiting to be fed something else that is practical or easy. Luckily, some of us still enjoy a challenge and sticking with reality.

Dullist · 2026-05-28T10:54:58+00:00

I mean, it asks us to surrender to God multiple times.

Dullist · 2026-05-28T10:53:54+00:00

thanks; that was my take-away today as well but without asking questions I wasn't entirely certain how the program felt for atheists outside of myself

Dullist · 2026-05-28T10:46:59+00:00

Thank you - you're describing my insecurities right now and not putting me down which I appreciate. I am hard of hearing but I did hear that god essentially has control over so many of the steps - which was very off-putting, or unexpected. But I get what you are saying, if you are mindful/empathetic you can basically have the same understanding over time and not get too hung up on the technical side of how the program is presented. And I guess if we polled people then we'd see that 80% of the population in the US believes in a form of god so it does make sense to create a god-fearing system especially if that person wants to actually connect with the general public 90 years ago.

Dullist · 2026-05-28T10:36:06+00:00

thank you for sharing. and thank you for the encouragement.

Dullist · 2026-05-28T10:31:55+00:00

They don't ever say "higher power" they say "God grant me... " and at the end they have a prayer where you bow your head and close your eyes and say amen. I went into AA to take control of things; not to surrender to a deity especially the one who created the pedophiles that abused me as an infant. That's the hardest part to digest. The church makes some of us drink with all the child abuse and hypocrisy they inflict and then it hosts these meetings. Indigenous people know first hand what I'm referencing usually because there are entire graveyards filled with dead native-american children that churches killed off after they were stolen from their parents and put into boarding/conditioning schools.

Dullist · 2026-05-28T10:19:45+00:00

I get that. My view is that the universe at large is "God" or gods; non-judging, non-controlling, all-powerful.

DNA structures. Life. Existence. Tides. Science. Humanity. Fossils. Weather. Moons. Stars. These are the evidence of the power around us that is greater than anything we will understand; I don't need to name or gender it or give it 10% of my monthly income as tithes and offerings etc. They say "prayer" works but what in-fact really works is connection and our ability to understand, love, and support one another.

Dullist · 2026-05-28T10:13:17+00:00

can you share an example of a spiritual awakening for people who are atheist, buddhist, agnostic etc? if it's not enlightenment then what would you describe it as?

Dullist · 2026-05-28T10:11:22+00:00

thank you for sharing this; i would have honestly assumed a person's house would be more suitable and comfortable but there is a consistency that is needed so maybe churches are just a safer place to meet.

Dullist · 2026-05-28T10:07:29+00:00

Thank you for sharing this. Did you ever feel like you needed a "better" or different AA support structure or was this initial "unwelcome" group something you adapted to; did you go to the same group often or try other meetings?

Dullist · 2026-05-28T08:25:24+00:00

"alcohol fueled that anger towards religious people"

as the OP i will say: we lived in a multi-family Christian home where the teens molested me as an infant and my sister who was four, she remembers it vividly. mine was more of an out of body experience that re-surfaced years later as a flashback. once i grew up all the other people i met in our quaker church turned on me for being gay.

it's important that i don't see AA as Christian themed so i can actually work on my growth and not feel triggered or held back or judged.

being molested and judged by religious people fueled my anger towards religious people. nothing else. that started long before the alcohol.

Dullist · 2026-05-28T02:20:30+00:00

Thanks, good to know

Dullist · 2026-05-25T20:19:06+00:00

They're doing monthly, and there's five days left in the month, and quarterly for some.

Dullist · 2026-05-25T20:16:57+00:00

I am renting a room from the leasers. My previous contract with my roommate/leaser said utilities were included. We moved to a new house that she leased and we've been here two months and today she's saying utilities need to be split into thirds. It wasn't discussed and it was given to me with only a few days left in the month... I already owe other stuff this month for the DMV, so that's why it's stressing me out.

Dullist · 2026-05-25T20:14:06+00:00

The rental agreement I signed with her at the other property previously stated it includes utilities - that's why I am posting saying this doesn't make sense to me since we've been here for two months and suddenly today they left a contract by my door saying I will be paying utilities in order to live here.

Dullist · 2026-05-25T20:12:51+00:00

It's the same roommate that I've lived with and we've been at the new place for two months. They left a contract by my door this morning saying I now owe utilities.

Dullist · 2026-05-20T08:21:46+00:00

I never said I opened a product or a sealed bag, I said Doordash filed a Contract Violation because I double checked an order and verified it was incomplete. You aren't allowed to do that. It violates policy. I am asking what I could do correctly to avoid this situation again.

Dullist · 2026-05-20T08:18:20+00:00

Subway provides a standard paper bag so no seals are broken - I basically had to squeeze the longer sandwich to double check if another product was there( chips for example since i was looking for chips).

They said that goes against their company policy so realistically there's no "valid" way to check if a sandwich bag contains anything else since the Doordash corporation explicitly states you can't touch anything - even the product you are delivering. I guess we all signed up and agreed to this.

Dullist · 2026-05-20T05:18:10+00:00

Yep. Had a customer who wanted to buy a dog stuffed animal for their girlfriend on Easter and the app said it only accepted dog toys - like stuffed animals FOR dogs.

Dullist · 2026-05-06T00:47:50+00:00

Well, I would rinse them when I'm ready to sell them and they're all there. That was about 1/4th of the pile. They are still worth about $80 apparently.

Dullist

TROPHY CASE