Well,that'sexactlywhatthisbookisabout.

ItsmainobjectistoenableyoutofindaPower
greaterthanyourselfwhichwillsolveyourproblem.
AlcoholicsAnonymous,p.45

IdisagreewithwhatIbelievetobethecentralclaimofallTwelveStepprogramsthataddiction
isasupernaturalproblemwithasupernaturalcure.

TheOxfordDictionaryofEnglishdefinestheadjectivesupernaturaltomeanattributedto
someforcebeyondscientificunderstandingorthelawsofnature.Ithinkitgoeswithoutsaying
thatbeyondscientificunderstandingheremeansfundamentallyandpermanentlybeyond
scientificunderstanding,notjust
currently
beyondscientificunderstanding.

TherearemanythatwoulddisputemycharacterizationofTwelveSteprecoveryasdepending
onabeliefinthesupernatural.OnexaminationIthinkyouwillfindthatmanyoftheseobjections
boildowntoassociatingthewordsupernaturalwithbeliefsthattheobjectordisagreeswith,or
findsoffensive.Formanypeopleofmainstreamreligiousfaithstheseoutsiderideasmight
includedivination,ESP,ghosthunting,reincarnation,theNewAge,Etc.Butifthecriteriagiven
inthedefinitionisappliedtoideassuchastheefficacyofprayer,creationism,faithhealing,or
everlastinglifeinacelestialrealm,itisclearthatthesetooareindeedsupernatural.

Myownclaimis,thatbeliefintheefficacyofrecoveryfromaddictionviatheTwelveSteps,
requiresbeliefinthesupernatural.

ThetermsHigherPower,aPowergreaterthanourselves,God,andGodaswe
understoodHim,areusedinterchangeablyinTwelveStepprograms.Oneofthesetermsorthe
pronounHimreferringtothem,ismentionedinsixofthethetwelvesteps.Illusetheterm
HigherPowerforconsistency.

YoucanfindalistoftheTwelveStepshere:
http://www.aa.org/assets/en_US/smf121_en.pdf

WearetoldinmanygroupsthatyourHigherPowercanbeanythingadoorknob,atree,orthe
groupitself.WearelatertoldtobelievethatthisHigherPowercouldrestoreustosanity,to
makeadecisiontoturnourwillandourlivesovertothecareofit,toadmittoittheexact
natureofourwrongs,tobecomereadytohaveitremoveallthesedefectsofcharacter,askit
toremoveourshortcomings,andtoimproveourconsciouscontactwithitthroughprayer
andmeditation.Whethergod,dog,doorknoboruniverse,allorsomeofthesecantbetrue,
occur,orhaveaneffectonanythingatallandstillbeintherealmofthenatural.

TheuseofgodorgodsasaHigherPowerisclearlysupernatural.Isattributingwilland
sentiencetotheuniverseanylessso?Howcouldadogoratreeremoveyourcharacter
defectsandstillbeanythingbutsupernatural?ThewholeoftheTwelveStepsasapathto
recoveryfromaddictionisapracticeinsupernaturalism.

IllwalkusthroughsomeoftheTwelveStepsusingdifferenthigherpowerstoshowclearlythe
needforabeliefinthesupernatural.

Wellstartwithadoorknob.Thisiseasy,adoorknobwouldhavetobemagictodoalmost
anythingaskedoftheHigherPower.Ifyouhonestlybelievedyouwouldthis,youwouldhave
morepressingproblemsthanaddiction.

NextwelluseTheUniverse,godasequivalenttonature,orthetotalityofallexistence.Thisis
formallycalledPantheism.Thisgodisneither
transcendent
(separateoroutsideoftheworld)
norpersonal(abeingwithwhomyoucanhaveapersonalrelationshipandinterferesinthe
world).FamousPantheistsincludeAlbertEinstein,BaruchSpinoza,WilliamWordsworth,Walt
Whitman,RalphWaldoEmerson,HenryDavidThoreau,andforatimeevenAbrahamLincoln.

RightoffwewouldhavetogiveupthisHigherPowerormodifyourviewinadirectionthat
requiresmoresupernaturalismthanthebasicnotionofPantheismrequires(somemightsayit
requiresnone).StepTworequiresthatweacceptapowerthatcouldrestoreustosanity.Thisis
clearlyinterferenceintheworld.StepThreemightbealittletrickyasitonlyasksustomakea
decisiontoturnourwillandourlivesovertoourHigherPower.Butwhywouldwedothatifwe
didntbelievethatitwouldenterintothiscontrollingrelationshipwithus?Stepfourhasus
admittingthingstoourHigherPower,thatrequiresapersonalrelationship.StepSixisabitlike
threeinthatonlyasksustobereadytohaveourHigherPowerremoveourDefectsof
Character.StepSevenaskedhimtoremovetheseshortcomingsisapersonalrelationship
andinterference.StepElevenSoughtthroughprayerandmeditationtoimproveourconscious
contactwithGod,asweunderstoodHim...Ithinkyougetthepoint.

FinallywellconsiderusingtheGroupasaHigherPower.Somepeopleusetheacronym
G.O.D.,GroupOfDrunks.Admittedlywithsomeextremementalgymnastics,youmightadapt
thestepstothisHigherPowerwithoutthesupernatural,butitwouldrequireorresultin
madness.Abdicatingyourwillandyourlifetoanyoneletaloneagroupofanonymousaddicts
isnotahealthythingtodo.Andarewereallysupposedtoexpectthemtorestoreustosanity
orremoveourdefectsofcharacter?Helpus,orshowushowtodothesethingsmaybe,but
then
we
wouldberestoringandremoving
nottheHigherPower.
Wouldwebeexpectingprayer
andmeditationtobeimprovingoursocialskillstoaidintheinteractionwiththeGroup?No,in
practicethoseusingtheGrouparejustattributingtoitthesuperpowerscommonlyattributedto
God.

SonowthatIveshownthatTwelveStepsprogramsofrecoverydependonabeliefinthe
supernaturalandtheideathataddictionissupernatural,sowhatismydisagreement?Idont
believeinmagic.

Isnotouragecharacterizedbytheeasewithwhichwediscardoldideasfornew,bythe
completereadinesswithwhichwethrowawaythetheoryorgadgetwhichdoesnotworkfor
somethingnewwhichdoes?

AlcoholicsAnonymous,p.52