WE AGNOSTICS I - Alcoholics Anonymous

1 chapter 4WE AGNOSTICSIn the precedingchapters you have learnedsomething of alcoholism. We hope we havemade clear the distinction between the alcoholic andthe non-alcoholic. If, when you honestly want to, youfind you cannot quit entirely, or if when drinking, youhave little control over the amount you take, you areprobably alcoholic. If that be the case, you may besuffering from an illness which only a spiritual experi-ence will one who feels he is an atheist or agnostic such anexperience seems impossible, but to continue as he ismeans disaster, especially if he is an alcoholic of thehopeless variety.

2 To be doomed to an alcoholic deathor to live on a spiritual basis are not always easyalternatives to it isn t so difficult. About half our originalfellowship were of exactly that type. At first some ofus tried to avoid the issue, hoping against hope wewere not true Alcoholics . But after a while we had toface the fact that we must find a spiritual basis of life or else. Perhaps it is going to be that way with cheer up, something like half of us thought wewere atheists or AGNOSTICS . Our experience shows thatyou need not be a mere code of morals or a better philosophy oflife were sufficient to overcome alcoholism, many of 8/13/07 10:55 AM Page 44 would have recovered long ago.

3 But we found thatsuch codes and philosophies did not save us, no matterhow much we tried. We could wish to be moral, wecould wish to be philosophically comforted, in fact,we could will these things with all our might, but theneeded power wasn t there. Our human resources, asmarshalled by the will, were not sufficient; they of power, that was our dilemma. We had tofind a power by which we could live, and it had to bea Power greater than But whereand how were we to find this Power?Well, that s exactly what this book is about. Itsmainobject is to enable you to find a Power greaterthan yourself which will solve your problem.

4 Thatmeans we have written a book which we believe tobe spiritual as well as moral. And it means, of course,that we are going to talk about God. Here difficultyarises with AGNOSTICS . Many times we talk to a newman and watch his hope rise as we discuss his alcoho-licproblems and explain our fellowship. But his facefalls when we speak of spiritual matters, especiallywhen we mention God, for we have re-opened a sub-ject which our man thought he had neatly evaded orentirely know how he feels. We have shared his honestdoubt and prejudice. Some of us have been violentlyanti-religious. To others, the word God brought upa particular idea of Him with which someone had triedto impress them during childhood.

5 Perhaps we re-jected this particular conception because it seemedinadequate. With that rejection we imagined we hadabandoned the God idea entirely. We were botheredWE 8/13/07 10:55 AM Page 45 with the thought that faith and dependence upon aPower beyond ourselves was somewhat weak, evencowardly. We looked upon this world of warringindividuals, warring theological systems, and inexpli-cable calamity, with deep skepticism. We lookedaskance at many individuals who claimed to be could a Supreme Being have anything to do withit all? And who could comprehend a Supreme Beinganyhow? Yet, in other moments, we found ourselvesthinking, when enchanted by a starlit night, Who,then, made all this?

6 There was a feeling of awe andwonder, but it was fleeting and soon , we of agnostic temperament have had thesethoughts and experiences. Let us make haste to reas-sure you. We found that as soon as we were able tolay aside prejudice and express even a willingness tobelieve in a Power greater than ourselves, we com-menced to get results, even though it was impossiblefor any of us to fully define or comprehend thatPower, which is to our relief, we discovered we did not needto consider another s conception of God. Our ownconception, however inadequate, was sufficient tomake the approach and to effect a contact with soon as we admitted the possible existence of aCreative Intelligence, a Spirit of the Universe under-lying the totality of things, we began to be possessedof a new sense of power and direction, provided wetook other simple steps.

7 We found that God does notmake too hard terms with those who seek Him. To us,the Realm of Spirit is broad, roomy, all inclusive; neverexclusive or forbidding to those who earnestly is open, we believe, to all 8/13/07 10:55 AM Page 46 When, therefore, we speak to you of God, we meanyour own conception of God. This applies, too, toother spiritual expressions which you find in this not let any prejudice you may have againstspiritual terms deter you from honestly asking yourselfwhat they mean to you. At the start, this was all weneeded to commence spiritual growth, to effect ourfirst conscious relation with God as we understoodHim.

8 Afterward, we found ourselves accepting manythings which then seemed entirely out of reach. Thatwas growth, but if we wished to grow we had to beginsomewhere. So we used our own conception, how-ever limited it needed to ask ourselves but one short question. Do I now believe, or am I even willing to believe,that there is a Power greater than myself? As soonas a man can say that he does believe, or is willing tobelieve, we emphatically assure him that he is on hisway. It has been repeatedly proven among us thatupon this simple cornerstone a wonderfully effectivespiritual structure can be built.

9 *That was great news to us, for we had assumed wecould not make use of spiritual principles unless weaccepted many things on faith which seemed difficultto believe. When people presented us with spiritualapproaches, how frequently did we all say, I wish Ihad what that man has. I m sure it would work ifI could only believe as he believes. But I cannot ac-cept as surely true the many articles of faith which areso plain to him. So it was comforting to learn thatwe could commence at a simpler a seeming inability to accept much on faith,WE AGNOSTICS47*Please be sure to read Appendix II on Spiritual Experience.

10 8/13/07 10:55 AM Page 47 we often found ourselves handicapped by obstinacy,sensitiveness, and unreasoning prejudice. Many of ushave been so touchy that even casual reference tospiritual things made us bristle with antagonism. Thissort of thinking had to be abandoned. Though someof us resisted, we found no great difficulty in castingaside such feelings. Faced with alcoholic destruction,we soon became as open minded on spiritual mattersas we had tried to be on other questions. In this re-spect alcohol was a great persuader. It finally beat usinto a state of reasonableness.