International Conference of Secular AA (ICSAA) 2023 - The "Real" Alcoholic (and Other Mythical Beasts)

Secular AA's Podcast

This is the audio of the session "The 'Real' Alcoholic (and Other Mythical Beasts)" from Day 1 of Virtual ICSAA 2023. Recordings from the conference are being edited for public sharing and are being uploaded as they are made ready. Follow/subscribe to us on buzzsprout to be alerted as your favorite episodes are available. For information on ICSAA 2024 in-person in Orlando in September, check out www.aasecular.org/in-person-conference and register soon!
“I’m (your first name here) and I’m an alcoholic.” Most of us preface everything we say in an AA meeting with this, and we do so…religiously? How many of us have heard someone call out, “Who are you, what are you?” when anyone forgets to do it? Yet we mean very different things by the term “alcoholic.” Many believe that no “real alcoholic” can stay sober without divine help, and therefore no atheist with long term sobriety really belongs in AA. Hence the term is sometimes weaponized to exclude. With that in mind–what does it mean when secular AA members go along quietly with that norm? The medical community doesn’t use it anymore. Are their reasons good ones? Panelists with various views will discuss the positives and negatives inherent in this term in AA culture, and then attendees will be invited to comment and question.
For more info on secular AA including Zoom meetings, in-person meetings, and virtual gatherings, check out:
- https://aasecular.org
- [e-mail]

Secular AA is AA sobriety that is neither religious nor irreligious, focusing on the practical, humanist tools of Alcoholics Anonymous and borrowed from the wider recovery community. Secular AA is a growing subculture within AA, offering 100 agnostic/atheist/freethinkers AA meetings every day + regional events and the International Conference of Secular AA (ICSAA). More @ https://aasecular.org