Preoccupation With Growth As An Indication Of Cult

One of the primary features of AA that distinguishes it as a cult rather than a healing institution is its interest in expansion and in increasing its membership. Cures are meant to be finished at some point in time. Sometimes – as with HIV – symptoms can only be held at bay, but this does not mean that the search for a real cure is forsaken. People are expected to remain in AA for the rest of their lives because of two untested propositions: (1) that a person who becomes chemically dependent was already organically defective from birth, and (2) regular contact with other abstaining persons is the only true safeguard against this defective condition. The theological ideas of Original Sin and Mother Church are very much alive in the AA cult.

If AA is a healing institution - which I believe it must strive to become – then it will count its success by the people it has helped who have moved on to live their reclaimed lives. However, AA - as an institution and as reflected in the oldtimer party line – only counts its successes by the people that stick around for years, donating valuable services to the organization. AA, like any other cult, is concerned with its survival and expansion – a true cure longs for the day when it will not be necessary.