This is an excerpt of a document that was written on an Olympia manual typewriter and circulated by John L in New York City in 1976. You can read the complete text on the internet. There is nothing at all in this work that does not apply today, thirty-five years later. John’s sobriety date is February 1968; he currently has 43 years of continuous sobriety.
By John L.
All too many A.A. meetings end with a group recitation of the “Lord’s Prayer” (also known as the “Our Father”), a prayer peculiar to the Christian religion. This practice is wrong — contrary to the spirit of AA unity, and in obvious violation of the Third Tradition and the A.A. Preamble.
A.A. members can believe in anything they wish, including the fables of the Christian religion, but they have no right to exclude freethinkers from full membership in the A.A. fellowship. And we atheists and agnostics are not the only ones involved. There are also Jews, Moslems, Buddhists, Hindus, and many others who are recovering alcoholics.
The AA Preamble
The A.A. Preamble states: “A.A. is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization or institution.” This is clear enough. If anyone claims that the habitual recitation of the so-called Lord’s Prayer does not violate the A.A. Preamble, then he has the obligation to explain what the Preamble secretly means, as opposed to what it so clearly says.
The Third Tradition
The Third Tradition says: “The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking.” It does not say, “first-class membership for Christians, second-class membership for everyone else.” It is true that no one is “forced” to say the “Lord’s Prayer”. The fact remains that someone who is not a Christian is forced into either dishonestly saying something he doesn’t believe, or feeling left out as everyone else in the room participates in a Christian prayer ritual. This is unfair and unnecessary.
The Honesty Part of the Program
Many A.A. members are not Christians, and their sobriety compares favorably with that of the Christian religionists. Nevertheless, the pressure towards conformity is sufficiently great that most of these non-Christian members stand up during the “Lord’s Prayer” (though many of them don’t say anything, or just mumble, or keep their eyes open). They are afraid of “standing out,” and probably — with reason — of being ostracized.
No one’s sobriety is helped if he is forced to pretend to be something he’s not, forced to say something he doesn’t believe, and forced to do something he believes is wrong. A.A. should encourage honesty, not hypocrisy.
But Isn’t It Traditional?
Reciting the “Lord’s Prayer” after meetings is indeed a habit, and if it is a bad habit, then it ought to be broken. Every sober A.A. member has broken a dangerous and insidious habit, and it should not be too hard to stay away from the “Lord’s Prayer,” one meeting at a time.
What Makes A.A. Work?
Probably all sober alcoholics would agree that a requirement for sobriety is not picking up the first drink. Aside from that, alcoholics would give a variety of answers, for A.A. is an individual program.
I would say that for me, A.A. consists of the realization that I am powerless over alcohol; that total abstinence is required on a 24-hour basis; that alcoholics can provide practical help and moral support for each other; that life is worth living and things can get better; that honesty is the basis for lasting sobriety; and so on.
There is no evidence that religious belief is necessary for good sobriety. Thousands of alcoholics have stayed sober and helped others to sobriety without having the slightest belief in the supernatural, let alone the Christian version. In the Scandinavian countries, the steps have been reduced to seven, eliminating all references to “God”, and A.A. seems to work just fine without “Him.”
What Harm Does It Do?
The “Lord’s Prayer” recitation is offensive to non-Christians. It makes it harder for us to feel comfortable in the A.A. fellowship and it undoubtedly prevents many non-Christian alcoholics from coming to A.A. in the first place. Who knows how many thousands of alcoholics never made A.A. because they were afraid it was a religious organization. And their fears will hardly be dispelled when they hear a Christian Prayer at their first meeting.
What If The Group Conscience Wants The Lord’s Prayer?
If so, then the group should officially designate itself a Christian group, whose meetings would be terminated with a Christian prayer. It would be a special purpose group, and should be so listed in the meeting book. Just as there are special purpose groups for young people, or men, or women, or gay people, this would be a special group for Christians.
If a group is open to all who have a desire to stop drinking, then its meetings should not feature a sectarian religious practice that excludes those who are not Christian religionists.
Conclusion
The “Lord’s Prayer” should no longer be recited at the end of A.A. meetings.
John L. (East Village)
1976
I feel so sad when I read these posts and John L.’s article. If you still believe you can be “forced” to feel anything, or do anything then you are already starting from the victim’s point of view. We alone are responsible for our feelings and our reactions to this world. If you are choosing not to go to meetings because of one prayer, you are missing the beauty of the forest for the ugliness of one tree. If we all waited for AA to be perfect and just as we believe it should be, we would never be done waiting. Life is imperfect. AA is imperfect. Bill and Bob were imperfect. Christianity is imperfect. So what? And beyond that I would question what is my motivation here? Why do I feel the need to control and change AA? The bottom line is justified anger, rigid negative attitudes. All luxuries that we alcoholics cannot afford. Alcoholism’s greatest weapon is isolation. If we are too busy separating ourselves from the very people who could help save our lives, what chance do we have for true sobriety? i.e. emotional sobriety? Emotional sobriety is about acceptance and ceasing the fight against everyone and everything. Emotional sobriety does not include contempt for my fellows, and an article peppered with passive agressive slams and intellectual pride is not hurting those you would like to “prove” your point to. It only hurts you. We are all just human. Wallowing in this poison and hoping others will die is only harming you, and those you could be of service too.
I hope for any of you that are struggling with this issue of prayer in meetings, the peace of accepting others and yourself exactly as you are, and encourage you to concentrate instead on what is good. Holding hands at the end of the meeting is about unity and fellowship. Not religion. If you need to state how you feel about a particular prayer, let your group know. Then say your own prayer or slogan, whatever works for you. Please for the sake of someone like me, who just wants to hold your hand and feel that acceptance and kinship, put down your weapons and concentrate on the ties that bind us, not the differences that separate us.
Thank you.
Although I agree with John L.s point that reciting the Christian Lord’s Prayer can be offensive to non-Christians, I don’t agree that it necessarily violates the Third Tradition. While it may make an agnostic or atheist uncomfortable, and do the same for those who are Jews, Moslems, Buddhists, Hindus and other faiths, it doesn’t exclude them from the fellowship.
I also think there is a better approach to handle this than John L.’s proposal that the Lord’s Prayer be unilaterally prohibited, unless the AA group that uses it officially call itself a Christian group and be designated “a special purpose group, and should be so listed in the meeting book.”
First, to prohibit the Lord’s Prayer in an AA group is a violation of the Fourth Tradition, which allows each AA group to be autonomous. This kind of mandate is as distasteful as one that would require the Lord’s Prayer. Prohibiting or requiring anything in an AA meeting, except the desire to stop drinking, are the flip sides of the same coin and undermines the autonomy of all AA groups.
Second, who would issue the order to cease all Christian Prayer, else designate the group as Christian? The General Service Office (GSO)? The Area Service Offices / Intergroups? I hope this kind of power is never given to those offices. Would these offices then order any AA group that recited a Jewish prayer to list itself as Jewish? What about Moslem prayer?
Instead, the solution to this should be at the grass-roots level, not through a dictatorial mandate. Those members of AA who object to the Lord’s Prayer should talk to their group members about this. They should explain the reasons it is objectionable (John L.’s article is an excellent source to find words to talk about this with the group) and offer an alternative. One alternative would be to ask the group to switch to a secular version of the Serenity Prayer:
Undeniably, being pro-active about addressing this issue with their groups may be very uncomfortable for some AA members. One way to help mitigate the discomfort could be to bring this issue up with the group’s trusted servant, after the meeting. Ask the trusted servant to add this to the agenda for the next business meeting, where the group conscience can make a decision. If the group votes to switch to the secular serenity prayer, well and good. If they vote to keep the Lord’s Prayer, so be it. That is “Live and Let Live” in action.
AA has a PR crisis. Only a couple of decades ago, all but a few thought well of AA. In my work in PI I see that times are changing. Fewer people have a positive impression of AA than before. If we did eliminate Christianity from the meeting formality, or as the writer says, list these groups as Christian AA, we would have more cred with the masses.
More on John L (his 43 years anniversary address, feb 2011)
http://paganpressbooks.com/jpl/ALK-FREE.HTM
I’ve thought all this for my entire sobriety. This time around it’s 14 years. It does say in the appendix on spirituality, I believe, that “some of our more religious members prefer to call their higher power God.” That sums it up for me! Call your higher power God and you are automatically religious and probably monotheistic. It’s possible that we are second class members of AA because the easy to say phrase “pray” or “I’ll pray for you” doesn’t fit and just maybe this is too great a challenge for people who are really suffering as they try to get a handle on their addiction. I have not been impressed with the support given to me in AA, but feel that members are incapable of really supporting others who don’t share their religious views. It does force people to develop their human support sklls and maybe these are minimal in a programme that prides itself on simplicity. Yes, we do need to talk about our higher power, but that’s another big topic for later.
Why are aa groups allowed to even use a christian prayer at meetings? I totally agree with John L.. and I know ppl who wouldn’t go to meetings because of the “religious” thing.. I also feel that Bill W. was a hard core christian when he wrote the big book and some of the book contradicts itself on the no religion thing. Even the word “God” refers to a deity, which is religious..
I myself have stopped going to meetings because of shit like this, along with sexist language and refusal to update the book to the 21st century..:)
I am one who became uncomfortable to the point I no longer attend meetings; quite frankly I got to a point I no longer felt welcome. Being agnostic and willing to believe one thing however I am not willing to feel my truths are not worthy of AA…..I am tired of being viewed as one of those lost souls that will one day see the AA light. Even I am very comfortable in my beliefs who am I to say there is or there is not a God? On the other hand, who is AA to tell me my beliefs are not within their beliefs? AA is a wonderful fellowship and some day I hope they will recognize their need to be as accepting of atheists and agnostics as they ask us to be about what we don’t believe. I do not feel that I am right or that I am wrong….I am simply following my beliefs and I am unwilling to be the odd man out. Thanks to those of you that support the broader cause of living spiritually without alcohol.
I agree 100%. I have been among the ones who join the hand held circle and remained silent during the prayer. More and more lately, I feel like a hypocrite doing this and have serious concerns for the newcomer who may perceive that this is a religious program and may not come back. I think that I will decline to participate in this ritual to at least let that newcomer know that it is ok to abstain.