ARE THE 12 STEPS SPIRITUAL?

[janbear]

ARE THE 12 STEPS SPIRITUAL?
ELIMINATING THE SPIRITUAL ONES!
1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol--that our lives had
become unmanageable.
There's nothing spiritual about this admission. Any drunk can
truthfully make it. So we will keep this one - we admit we are in a `mess'.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore
us to sanity.
Came to a belief in God - in spiritual things. If we do not accept the
`spiritual side' of the program then we must eliminate this step .
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of
God as we understood Him.
Here we make a decision to lead a spiritual life, a life surrendered to
the Will of God.so we must eliminate this step too .
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
"A moral inventory" - morality postulates a law -the moral law.
Without God and His Commandments we could not have a moral law. We take
this inventory in order that we might adjust ourselves to this moral law -
which again is to live a spiritual life. So step four is out .
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact
nature of our wrongs.
There's God again, so that's out .
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of
character.
God.that's out .
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
We can't do it if there is no spiritual side . we can't use this step,
it's spiritual .
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing
to make amends to them all.
Justice and rights . again postulating the law of God. but there's no
`spiritual side' . no submission to God's Will and Law . no restitution . no
taking of the eighth step .
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to
do so would injure them or others.
A corollary of step eight . emanating from obligations of justice . so
we can't use this one .
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong
promptly admitted it.
But only a truly spiritual man need pay attention to right and wrong .
to morality . to God's Law . so we discard this step also, it's spiritual .
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious
contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His
will for us and the power to carry that out.
This step is loaded with the very essence of spirituality . we could
never include it .
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we
tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these
principles in all our affairs.
Spiritual! There could never be a twelve step if we deny there is a
spiritual side .
Now what have we left of the program after having thrown out al the steps
that are spiritual? We admitted we were powerless over alcohol -that our
lives had become unmanageable.

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