A History of Agnostics in AA

I’m admittedly off genre with this book, A History of Agnostics in AA by Roger C. However, the topic is of interest to me and I’ve agreed to report about what I’m reading. Although AA suggests a belief in a higher power, a “God as we understand him,” there is no doubt that the organization was founded by Christians who assumed that their god was the necessary way to healing a spiritual malady. For nonbelievers who need help with sobriety, that’s hard to swallow. So, the agnostics and “free thinkers” have been growing in numbers and importance despite some significant resistance to old school AA’ers. I found the history going back to early member Jim Burwell and Silvia K. to be fascinating. Quotes from founder Bill W were impressively supportive of this nontheistic trend. Atheistic beliefs are often perceived as threatening to alcoholic believers, and along that tune, I thought a quote from Thomas Jefferson was most interesting, “It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.” If the topic interests you, the book is worth reading.