Alcoholics Anonymous: Cult or Cure? [Paperback]

Charles Bufe (Author), Stanton Peele (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1998

This well researched, painstakingly documented book provides detailed information on the right-wing evangelical organization (Oxford Group Movement) that gave birth to AA; the relation of AA and its program to the Oxford Group Movement; AA's similarities to and differences from religious cults; AA's remarkable ineffectiveness; and the alternatives to AA. The greatly expanded second edition includes a new chapter on AA's relationship to the treatment industry, and AA's remarkable influence in the media.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Bufe ( The Heretic's Handbook of Quotations , See Sharp Pr., 1988) scrutinizes Alcoholics Anonymous, delving into the organization's origins and development. Tracing its roots to the Oxford Group movement, which was a revival of the Church of England begun in 1833, he demonstrates how major tenets of AA are derived from Oxford Group principles. He includes colorful details concerning organization founders. In critiquing the 12 steps, which are the heart of the AA recovery program, he leans heavily on the work of psychologist Albert Ellis. Bufe considers the AA religio-spiritual emphasis anathema. He also objects to AA's espousal of individual culpability for alcoholism, which does not acknowledge socioeconomic influences. His conclusion is that AA is a quasi-cult, devoid of harmful excesses but demanding strict adherence from its membership. Despite his purported objectivity, his secular bias is very much in evidence. The appendix includes descriptions of secular-based alcoholic recovery programs, and also a secular version of the 12 steps.
- Carol R. Glatt, VA Medical Ctr. Lib., Philadelphia
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Charles Bufe tried AA in 1983, hated it, and kept drinking until 1985, when he achieved sobriety on his own. Clearly, Bufe has something of an ax to grind, but for the most part he grinds it fairly. (At worst, the author's skepticism is no more extreme than the zeal of some AA supporters.) Bufe poses two major questions - Is AA religious? Is it a cult? - and raises some interesting points along the way. He traces the program's religious overtones to the Oxford Group Movement of the 1930s. This movement, he argues, heavily influenced AA founder Bill Wilson. Bufe supports his thesis with detailed, if not always fascinating, quotes and parallels. He concludes that AA is religious, a label sure to rile members who consider their program a secular one. His other conclusion - that AA isn't a cult - is only common sense: AA has no leader, makes no financial demands, and does not use highpressure tactics. Bufe raises a timely point regarding the seemingly endless spin-off groups that have adopted AA's 12 steps as their own. How do victims, such as members of Incest Survivors Anonymous, profit from steps designed for the addicted? Appendices include secular alternatives to AA and the 12 Steps. -- From Independent Publisher --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: See Sharp Press; 2nd edition (January 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1884365124
• ISBN-13: 978-1884365126
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #666,754 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Eye Opener, November 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Alcoholics Anonymous: Cult or Cure? (Paperback)

This book completely changed my life. Before I thought AA and other 12 step groups were above criticism. That they were perfect programs. Charles Bufe has showed that nothing is perfect. By having the courage to show the true secret history of AA, he has provided an invaluable asset to society. Criticizing the big book and the 12 steps is like taking on the Bible. However, the author does so with style and grace. He does not hesitate to point out the good aspects of AA, but also shows the dark side of the program. This book definitely has made me see 12 step groups differently. I now have a healthier perspective of the whole movement.

39 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Revealing the true menace..., June 19, 1999

By 

Christopher J. Dobney ([e-mail]) (Nebraska, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Alcoholics Anonymous: Cult or Cure? (Paperback)

Those who would dismiss this book as simply a diatribe against AA either have not read it thoroughly, or are so entrenched in 12-step dogma as to be impervious to evidence. This book is an analysis, not an indictment, of the tenets of AA and the myriad 12-step groups which have followed it's precepts.

Should virtually anything, watching "teletubbies," for instance, free a single person from the misery which is caused by pathologically heavy drinking, I would not hesitate to recommend it as a possibility to a suffering soul. The facts , however, as Mr. Bufe illustrates so well in this book, show that participation in this program not only is unlikely to result in abstinence, but may well discourage those who are made uncomfortable or who are offended by the unmistakably religious foundation of this paradigm from seeking alternative means of treatment. (For those who would take exception to this assertion, I would direct them to the first paragraph of the fifth chapter of the Big Book, ubiquitous at the beginning of the majority of AA meetings, where the unequivocal statement is made that those who do or will not recover as a result of attendance are "constitutionally incapable of being honest with themselves." If you do not, for any reason, agree with AA, you are engaging in self-deception.)

The critical chapter of this book (and the source of the heading of this review) is the one in which Mr. Bufe examines the effect which the various 12-step programs have had on our society in it's influence over our courts, and in the dilution of the popular concept of addiction.

For those interested in the subject, I would highly recommend "The Diseasing of America," by Stanton Peele,and "Heavy Drinking: the Myth of Alcoholism as a Disease," by Herbert Fingarette,both, of course, available at Amazon.com.

27 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good history of AA, April 23, 2000

By 

Shannon B McCain - See all my reviews

This review is from: Alcoholics Anonymous: Cult or Cure? (Paperback)

In "Alcoholics Anonymous, Cult or Cure," Bufe gives us an intelligible analysis of the largest recovery group in the United States and perhaps the world.

He gives the reader an in depth history of the foundations of Alcholics Anonymous - which are clearly religious in nature. He also does an excellent job of analysing the 12 step process and the 12 traditions of AA. His bibliography of sources is commendable and lend credibility to his monograph.

I would highly recommend this book to those medical professionals who are considering sending patients to AA for "voluntary" treatment. The courts should also take a look at this book - AA simply doesn't work for those who do not "want it." Court cases, 99% of them, have no desire to change their drinking patterns and AA, as a result, is a complete waste of time for these individuals.

This book is not so much of an overt attack on AA, as is Jack Trimpey's Rational Recovery, but nevertheless it does expose the dark underbelly of AA's "diseasing of America" concept proferred by Dr. Stanton Peele.

If you are in doubt about AA - this is a good book for you. However, if the Alcoholics Anonymous program is working for you - then you should avoid this text.