God and the Steps

Each recovery fellowship is autonomous and decides the wording of their own materials according to their own group conscience. There were four prioritized guidelines in deciding how to word the GAA Twelve Steps. We were clear that our goal was to clearly describe how members work the steps, and not to change how the steps are commonly worked. Our list of priorities were:

1. Maintain the prescribed work of the steps, sticking to the actions that decades of trial and error have proven effective for recovering from addiction.
   
2. Use language that is clear, helpful, and unambiguous.
   
3. Use language that takes into consideration the wide variety of religions, spiritual practices and higher power concepts.
   
4. Otherwise keep the wording familiar.

We had just come through a tumultuous time with numerous problems stemming from not closely following the Twelve Traditions. The surviving members were intent on formally adopting and following the traditions as much as possible. The traditions guide us to avoid all sources of outside controversy, the two biggest ones being politics and religion. Choice of religion is a personal choice, an outside issue on which GAA has no opinion. GAA as a whole does not say things that imply affiliation with any religion. GAA does not promote specific religious beliefs or higher power concepts nor implies an additional membership requirement involving those beliefs.

We saw it was important to include the main higher power concepts that our members use and not falsely imply that God is the only concept in use. You can use any higher power of your own understanding. It’s a spiritual program, not a religious one.

If we had literally added in each of the higher power concepts that members might use, Step Two would have read: “We came to believe that God, Allah, Gaia, Yahweh, Brahma, Atman, Jehovah, the Tao, the Eightfold Path, the Divine Spirit, the Buddha Within, the Holy Spirit, the saints, guardian angels, the Universal Consciousness, the collective consciousness, loving groups of people, the GAA fellowship, Nature, the Universe, spiritual principles, and/or spiritual practices could restore us to sanity.” This is too long and unwieldy. The solution was to use a general term that includes all of these concepts. Since the terms “higher power” and “power greater than ourselves” were already widely in use, we used those terms in GAA’s Twelve Steps. The singular word “a” does not precede “higher power” because in fact many of our members use more than one of those higher power concepts and we don’t want to imply that people are expected to choose just one.

When speaking about oneself using “I” statements, there is never a problem.

• “For me, higher power means God, who I believe can restore me to sanity.”
• “I pray to God each morning and night.”
• “In working Step Three, I turn my life and my will over to God.”

Similar statements using “we” and talking about the whole group or program imply that we all have or are expected to have a particular spiritual belief. Such misinformation can mislead newcomers who are deciding whether to be involved in GAA.

• “We turn our lives and wills over to _____.”
• “In GAA we come to believe in _____.”
• “In the steps we ask for help from _____.”

When someone says or implies one of these, the problem is not the concept inserted in that blank. It wouldn’t matter if it were atheistic, polytheistic, or monotheistic. The problem is what is implied by the rest of the sentence. It’s not true that “we all believe” or “everyone is expected to believe,” which deny several realities. Our international fellowship has a wide variety of beliefs and higher power concepts. We’re all free to be true to ourselves and our own spiritual beliefs. Members successfully work the program and reap the benefits while relying on various sources of higher power. GAA as a whole has no opinion on or affiliation with any religious belief.

When using “I” statements and talking about one’s personal spiritual experience, rather than making broad statements involving the fellowship or program as a whole, we easily avoid this mistake.

For example, consider the same question with the name of a deity other than God. Let’s pick an example, say Gaia, and consider how we’d feel if a member talks about Gaia in a meeting.

If a member is talking about working the steps and simply mentions the fact that he prays to Gaia, others would likely feel pleased about his courage to open up, curious to learn more about him, and happy to know that our program is working for him. We certainly wouldn’t feel offended or upset.

On the other hand, what would be the effect if he says or implies that his beliefs are shared by everyone in GAA? Or that praying to Gaia is part of the GAA program? Or that coming to believe in Gaia is required to work the Twelve Steps? Or that it’s okay to use another higher power concept until you come to believe in Gaia?

If newcomers are present, some members would find these false statements upsetting. Unless that misinformation were quickly corrected, new people might conclude they’re in the wrong place and leave never to return.

Everything above is true regardless of the type of religious or spiritual belief, including belief in God. If mentioned while talking about one’s personal recovery, people are likely to feel pleased and connected, not offended or upset. But if claims are made about the belief being shared among all members, embedded in the Twelve Steps, or required to work the program, some members will be upset about these false statements which may convince some gaming addicts that GAA is not a place where they belong.