An Atheist's 12 Steps To Sobriety

"Hello, my name is (your name), and I'm an addict." If you've attended an AA or NA meeting then chances are good that you've said these words. They are the most well known 12-step programs in existence, and they have helped many addicts get clean. And a major component of both programs is a heavy reliance on a "higher power"/God/spirituality despite not being "religious programs". What is an atheist who does not believe in a higher power/God/spirituality supposed to do? This page breaks down into different sections looking at the AA/NA 12 steps, principles, and traditions then modifies them to remove any religious/spiritual connotations while still striving for the same end goal - sobriety. I won't address the efficacy of 12-step programs vs. secular programs on this page.

I will also be making efforts to improve this page based on recommendations/feedback or suggestions for other secular organizations. You can email me at [email protected] with your ideas. Negative ideas/feedback can go straight to /dev/null.

The 12 Steps

Since NA is an offshoot of AA it makes sense that they would share a lot similar (or identical) steps. I'm only going to address the relevant steps.

2. "Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity."
3. "Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him."
6. "Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character."
7. "Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings."
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."
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."

2. "We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity."
3. "We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him."
5. "We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs."
6. "We were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character."
7. "We humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings."
11. "We 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."
12. "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to addicts, and to practice these principles in all our affairs."

1. We admitted we were powerless over drugs – that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. We came to accept and to understand that we need strength beyond our awareness and resources to restore us to a substance-free life.
3. We made a decision to engage with a recovery program that best fits our worldview in order to regain control over our lives.
4. We made a deep and fearless moral inventory of our current character and past actions.
5. We admitted to ourselves and to another human being without reservation the exact nature of our addiction.
6. We became ready to accept help in addressing our defects and addiction.
7. We sought to overcome our shortcomings through an on-going effort of self-improvement and situational analysis.
8. We made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them.
9. We make direct amends to such people wherever possible except when to do so would injure them, others, or present a danger to ourselves.
10. We continue to take on-going inventory of our actions, and when we were wrong, we promptly admitted it.
11. We sought through on-going self-reflection to improve our lives, seeking only for knowledge and power of a substance-free path.
12. Having had an intellectual and sober awakening as the result of these steps we try to carry this message to other addicts, and we practice these principles in all our affairs.

This version of the steps convey a similar message without relying on a higher power/God/spirituality. The only real sticking point is the 3rd step - "...engage with a recovery program that best fits our worldview". Once a treatment program that fits your worldview has been chosen this step changes to "We made a decision to engage with (insert your program name here) regain control over our lives. The rest of the steps remain the same regardless of the program chosen. I tried to stick as close to some of the original 12 steps as possible simply because those steps intellectually make sense and are easy to follow. Other secular programs will have their own internal consistency, logic, and treatment methods, but the atheist's 12 steps can be used in conjunction with those to bolster/backup the treatment process without interfering.

The 12 Principles

Every AA principle corresponds with the associated step. For the most part the words and their dictionary definitions are easy to understand. However, things get a lot messier once AA/NA's explanation of each step comes into play as the "higher power"/God/spirituality comes out. That being said different AA groups explanation of each principle will vary (example). I choose a site that explains the principles a lot more in depth.

1. Honesty - Why the 12-step Journey Begins With “Powerlessness”
2. Hope - What 12-Step Programs Mean by “A Higher Power”
3. Surrender - The Third Step & “God As You Understand Him”
4. Courage - Taking Your Fearless Moral Inventory
5. Integrity - How Admitting Your Wrongs Can Propel Your Recovery
6. Willingness - Addressing Character Defects
7. Humility - Removing Our Defects: The Ask That Takes Guts
8. Love - Making A List For Amends
9. Responsibility - Making Amends: How to Approach Step Nine… and When Not To
10. Discipline - Tips for Taking a Continued Personal Inventory
11. Awareness - Deepening Your Connection with a Higher Power
12. Service - Sharing Your Spiritual Awakening With Others

These 12 principles are more or less the same as AA's so I'm not quoting them here.

1. Honesty - Admitting there is a problem is the first step to addressing it.
2. Hope - There is no cure for addiction, but it is treatable and manageable.
3. Engagement - Trying out then selecting a program that fits our worldview will best enable a person to treat their addiction.
4. Courage - We need to know to our past actions and current behavior. Once we know where we are we can make a plan to get to where we want to be.
5. Integrity - Once we’re honest with ourselves it’s time to be honest with another person. Opening up about our addiction to another person or a group helps build a support structure that can be used during the tough times.
6. Willingness - Admitting there’s a problem and talking about a problem are significant steps. Accepting help is often difficult for most, but it’s the final step to the first step of the journey towards a substance-free life.
7. Improvement - We need to discover what factors are causing our addiction then address those issues.
8. Responsibility - We acknowledge that our addiction led to destructive behaviors. As such we made a list of those we had wronged, and we take responsibility for our actions.
9. Forgiveness - We ask for forgiveness and make amends.
10. Accountability - We are accountable for our actions, right or wrong. And when we are wrong, we acknowledge our mistakes then try to improve ourselves.
11. Awareness - Using all these principles in tandem we seek to improve our lives so we can continue to live a substance free life.
12. Service - “Pay it forward” is the best way to describe this step.

The 12 Traditions

The traditions for AA/NA, while differing greatly in verbiage, both deal with roughly the same ideas: how members handle each other, how members address the outside world, and simple organizational issues. However, that doesn't stop a "higher power"/God/spirituality from appearing. The traditions are far too long to restate so I'll specifically address anything that relates to a "higher power"/God/spirituality.

2. "For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority–a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience."
5. "Each Alcoholics Anonymous group ought to be a spiritual entity having but one primary purpose–that of carrying its message to the alcoholic who still suffers."
6. "Problems of money, property, and authority may easily divert us from our primary spiritual aim. We think, therefore, that any considerable property of genuine use to A.A. should be separately incorporated and managed, thus dividing the material from the spiritual..."
7. "...Experience has often warned us that nothing can so surely destroy our spiritual heritage as futile disputes over property, money, and authority."
12. "And finally, we of Alcoholics Anonymous believe that the principle of anonymity has an immense spiritual significance. It reminds us that we are to place principles before personalities; that we are actually to practice a genuine humility. This to the end that our great blessings may never spoil us; that we shall forever live in thankful contemplation of Him who presides over us all."

2. "For our group purpose, there is but one ultimate authority—a collaborative discussion resulting in essential group consensus through our group conscience." - This comes from AA Beyond Belief.
5. "Each Alcoholics Anonymous group ought to be an entity having but one primary purpose–that of carrying its message to the alcoholic who still suffers."
6. "Problems of money, property, and authority may easily divert us from our primary aim. We think, therefore, that any considerable property of genuine use to A.A. should be separately incorporated and managed..."
7. "...Experience has often warned us that nothing can so surely destroy our heritage as futile disputes over property, money, and authority."
12. "And finally, we of Alcoholics Anonymous believe that the principle of anonymity has an immense significance. It reminds us that we are to place principles before personalities; that we are actually to practice a genuine humility."

2. "For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority—a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern."
12. "Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our Traditions,ever reminding us to place principles before personalities."

Atheist's Version of NA's 12 Traditions

2. "Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern."
12. "Anonymity is the foundation of all our Traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities."

The 2nd tradition can be tweaked upon as needed by each individual:
Example: "We respect the rights and opinions of others in the group and the group chair. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern."

Conclusion

In the end it doesn't matter what program you choose. There are other versions of the "Atheist's 12 Steps" that can be found here. It's worth reading. It's of utmost importance to choose a program that works be in AA/NA/Lifering/SOS/etc. Never forget - it's a marathon, not a sprint. You'll slip and fall, but when that happens, stand up, brush yourself off, and get back at it! :)

Secular Support Groups

AA Agnostica - A Space For AA Agnostics, Atheists And Freethinkers Worldwide
AA Beyond Belief - Beyond Belief
Advocates For Recovery Colorado - We Believe Recovery Is Possible
Beyond Belief Sobriety Podcast - Sober and Secular
Freethinkers In AA - A Secular, Non-religious Expression of Alcoholics Anonymous
Lifering - Sobriety, Secularity, and Self-Help
Moderation Management - MM Is Dedicated To Reducing The Harm Caused By The Misuse Of Alcohol
NA Agnostica - Secular Recovering Addicts in tune with Agnostics, Atheists and Freethinker
Rational Recovery - The New Cure for Substance Addiction (Book On Amazon)
Secular AA - International Conference of Secular AA
Secular AA Worldwide Meeting List - Google Drive Spreadsheet
Secular NA - Information, Resources, Groups & Contacts
Secular Organizations For Sobriety - Escape From Addiction, Thrive In Sobriety
SMART Recovery - There’s Life Beyond Addiction
The Agnostic Approach To The Twelve Steps - An Interpretation from The Beyond Belief Group in Toronto
Women For Sobriety - An Organization of Women, For Women

Disclaimer

I'm quoting short and long snippets of the AA/NA under the "Fair Use" doctrine for criticism purposes. I'm not affiliated with either group aside from having been a member. This page exists due to the serious conflicts between atheism and the "higher power"/God/spirituality concepts/messages. This page is purely for informational and educational purposes. This page last last updated 2021-08. I can be reached here.